{"id":33365,"date":"2020-06-19T11:48:07","date_gmt":"2020-06-19T15:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/?p=33365"},"modified":"2020-06-19T11:52:44","modified_gmt":"2020-06-19T15:52:44","slug":"lake-george-unconventional-start-to-summer-season-has-some-people-optimistic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2020\/06\/lake-george-unconventional-start-to-summer-season-has-some-people-optimistic\/","title":{"rendered":"Lake George Unconventional Start To Summer Season Has Some People Optimistic"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Officials say Memorial Day weekend proved to be a good draw for crowds in Lake George.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Susan E. Campbell
\nThe long Memorial Day weekend at the end of May marks the beginning of summer each year and with it, traditionally, comes an influx of consumers on which many Lake George businesses depend.
\nBut this year has been overshadowed by coronavirus pandemic. Village Mayor Robert Blais was concerned about whether the community, one of upstate\u2019s most popular tourist areas, would draw its usual surge of visitors.
\n\u201cI wondered if people would take the time and expense to come here and rent a room and then find enough to do,\u201d he said.
\nThe weekend proved to draw good-sized crowds and hotels were busy. The mayor attributed the success of the weekend to Lake George itself.
\n\u201cThe water is consoling and mesmerizing,\u201d Blais said. \u201cNever before have we learned how important it is to have that lake. What saved us was the state opening up Million Dollar Beach.\u201d
\n\u201cPeople came from other parts of the state as if it was going to be different here, but we had to explain that we were still in Phase I\u201d of the state\u2019s reopening, said Gina Mintzer, executive director of Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce.
\nGenerally speaking, everyone was respectful of social distancing and about nine out of 10 wore face masks during the holiday weekend, she said.
\n\u201cPeople were very responsible guests and so were businesses,\u201d she said. \u201cWhile it was not a \u2018normal\u2019 weekend, the business community had been practicing new safety protocols and now it was \u2018real life.\u2019\u201d
\nWhereas foot traffic in the days prior was sparse around the Village, Blais said the beach and Battleground Park drew crowds as people walked, went swimming, took boat rides, had picnics and enjoyed the scenery. Even the new dog park was packed, he said.
\nTo comply, it was necessary that the village invest $16,000 in a fence around the beach to control the influx, he said.
\nOnly half the normal amount of visitors are allowed in public places as New York progressively reopens. Blais said Million Dollar Beach was busy for two days during the long weekend. On the third day, they had to turn some away per the state\u2019s guidelines.
\n\u201cWe wanted all to know\u2014the employees, the guests and the community\u2014that preparations exceeded state and federal guidelines,\u201d said Michael Bittel, executive director of Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce.
\n\u201cGuests knew that if they went across the street to a different hotel that it would live up to the same quality level,\u201d he said. \u201cThe hoteliers put competitiveness aside and it warmed my heart.\u201d
\n\u201cWe have learned the strength of working with each other, because Lake George is a family of family businesses,\u201d Mintzer said. \u201cIf we are taking care of staff, then they are taking care of our neighbors, and they can take care of our guests.\u201d
\nMinter said that early on in the new world of COVID-19, the restaurant community came together with best practices for service, outdoor seating and other issues specific to food and beverage businesses.
\nAfter the weekend, Mintzer conducted a video meeting among Lake George chamber members. She said there were 30 respondents, of which nearly half were hotels and a third were restaurants.
\n\u201cOur goal was to make sure a safety plan was in place, to assess where customers were coming from and to learn how many visitors were new to area,\u201d she said.
\nFinancially these establishments were at approximately 20 percent of last year\u2019s levels, or an 80 percent drop from last year, she said. Another key finding was that 96 percent of customers surveyed reported that they felt safe.
\n\u201cThe chamber encouraged hotels to let their guests to know in advance how the client experience was going to be different,\u201d Mintzer said. \u201cWhat we got out of this is that people were pleased to see additional protocols in place and appreciated special training among the staff.\u201d
\n\u201cAdditionally, many saw an influx of new guests, so word is getting out about Lake George,\u201d she said.
\nIn early June the Lake George business community was adjusting to the cancellation of Americaide. Mayor Blais said he was pleased to learn that people in large numbers came anyway.
\n\u201cWe asked them why, and they explained their vacations had been scheduled weeks ago and reservations made,\u201d he said. \u201cThey came to see the people they had built friendships with over the years.\u201d
\n\u201cOur challenge now is to make sure we are not moving forward too quickly, or are moving quickly enough to re-open the economy,\u201d Mintzer said. \u201cSince we are inviting visitors to the area, we want to make sure everybody is operating responsibly while reassuring our neighbors and guests.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Susan E. Campbell The long Memorial Day weekend at the end of May marks the beginning of summer each year and with it, traditionally, comes an influx of consumers on which many Lake George businesses depend. But this year has been overshadowed by coronavirus pandemic. Village Mayor Robert Blais was concerned about whether the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":196,"featured_media":33366,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nLake George Unconventional Start To Summer Season Has Some People Optimistic - Glens Falls Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2020\/06\/lake-george-unconventional-start-to-summer-season-has-some-people-optimistic\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lake George Unconventional Start To Summer Season Has Some People Optimistic - Glens Falls Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Susan E. Campbell The long Memorial Day weekend at the end of May marks the beginning of summer each year and with it, traditionally, comes an influx of consumers on which many Lake George businesses depend. But this year has been overshadowed by coronavirus pandemic. Village Mayor Robert Blais was concerned about whether the […]\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2020\/06\/lake-george-unconventional-start-to-summer-season-has-some-people-optimistic\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Glens Falls Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-06-19T15:48:07+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-06-19T15:52:44+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2020\/06\/lake-george-summer-season-hc.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"668\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"jessewinters\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"jessewinters\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2020\/06\/lake-george-unconventional-start-to-summer-season-has-some-people-optimistic\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2020\/06\/lake-george-unconventional-start-to-summer-season-has-some-people-optimistic\/\",\"name\":\"Lake George Unconventional Start To Summer Season Has Some People Optimistic - Glens Falls Business Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-19T15:48:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-06-19T15:52:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/b937a48daf87d7a8bd713a73b5d6a1ae\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2020\/06\/lake-george-unconventional-start-to-summer-season-has-some-people-optimistic\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2020\/06\/lake-george-unconventional-start-to-summer-season-has-some-people-optimistic\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2020\/06\/lake-george-unconventional-start-to-summer-season-has-some-people-optimistic\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lake George Unconventional Start To Summer Season Has Some People Optimistic\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/\",\"name\":\"Glens Falls Business Journal\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/b937a48daf87d7a8bd713a73b5d6a1ae\",\"name\":\"jessewinters\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b496e0843f9d888b12500994b6a8562b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b496e0843f9d888b12500994b6a8562b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"jessewinters\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/author\/jessewinters\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lake George Unconventional Start To Summer Season Has Some People Optimistic - Glens Falls Business Journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2020\/06\/lake-george-unconventional-start-to-summer-season-has-some-people-optimistic\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lake George Unconventional Start To Summer Season Has Some People Optimistic - Glens Falls Business Journal","og_description":"By Susan E. 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