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Business looks good for the Fourth |
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Saturday, 04 July 2009 |
By Catherine Billey
Mammoth Times Staff Writer
 Mammoth Times Photo/Diane Eagle. The Village at Mammoth offered two-for-one deals this spring and looks to provide free events for visitors and locals like, such as Movies Under the Stars.
Before weighing in with tentative projections for the Fourth of July weekend, Danna Stroud, Director of Tourism and Recreation, explained how forecasting works in Mammoth Lakes.
“When we do our forecasting for the upcoming week, we do it based on response from both condos and hotels. And so this past week, we put in our forecast for the June 26 weekend, and in that we provided an early forecast for next week,” she said.
So what’s in the cards?
“For the Fourth of July weekend, we’re forecasting, as of last week, about 45 percent. That’s 10 days out from the holiday,” she said.
“The reason for that is we’ve seen throughout the winter and into the summer that bookings’ lead time has shrunk to two days out when people are making their plans,” Stroud said.
That’s how it worked over the Memorial Day weekend, when forecasting showed 45 percent occupancy on the Thursday immediately prior to the three-day weekend.
“We don’t have actuals yet, because the way the reporting is done through the finance department, we’re about six weeks to two months behind. That’s how the TOT remittance goes.”
When the Finance Department remits Transient Occupancy Tax figures, they also report occupancy, Stroud said.
And that’s not just for hotels and condos in town. Campground hosts for the sites in the lakes basin also remit TOT, and many visitors to Mammoth come for the camping.
Stroud said advance reservations at places like Lake George are very strong. “We’re seeing indications that those types of vacations are going to happen and that those sites are starting to see lots of traffic,” Stroud said.
Anecdotally, Stroud said some hotel properties were close to full, and others were far from that.
“In speaking to restaurants and retail, some of our stakeholders and partners out there, some had a very strong Memorial Day weekend, and then you will also hear in the same breath that some didn’t have the same level of business,” she noted.
Stroud said that’s in line with the trend that has been seen across the country.
“Travelers are out there, but they’re electing to spend their money on a smaller scale, and they’re continuing to look for value and stretching their dollar.”
This trend will continue throughout the summer, according to Stroud. Families visit Mammoth, thus providing stimulus to the local economy, but instead of dining out five nights a week, they might dine out two nights a week.
“That really speaks to what we’ve been talking about for literally the past 12 months – value, value, value,” Stroud said.
“It’s great that the Village throughout the spring offered their two for one deals, we thought that was great.”
Betsy Smith, Executive Director of the Village, anticipates that the Fourth of July will be strong. The most recent holiday, Memorial Day, was steady, she said. And over the June 19-21 weekend, when the Village hosted the Expo event – where everybody who has an outdoor activity in Mammoth was invited to create a summer demo day – was also good.
“It was a great first-year event. We got it off the ground. We’re looking forward to it growing next year and adding more summer outdoor components and vendors,” she said in a phone interview. “We want to bring in more of the hiking, mountain biking and golfing.”
Smith doesn’t have lodging numbers for the Fourth of July weekend, but believes they are strong from what she has seen.
As for the all important “value, value, value” noted by Stroud, the Village at Mammoth is providing some great free events for visitors and locals alike with their Movies Under the Stars series, for example.
The perennial favorite Casablanca was offered just after dusk on Sunday, June 28, as part of the Village’s classic movies series, and every seat was taken, according to Smith.
For those events, the Village makes provisions for dinner, with a good beverage purveyor, but people are also welcome to bring their own food and beverage. “We wanted to create an inexpensive activity for adults,” Smith said.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 13 July 2009 )
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