PUT-IN-BAY - While the swift growth in visitors to the region has been great for local economies struggling due to the pandemic, business and tourism officials are stressing that guests, too, need to be following all of the state’s remaining social distancing requirements.
As Ohio has been gradually reopening over the past several weeks following months-long closures due to COVID-19, more and more visitors have been flocking to the Lake Erie region.
“We’re seeing more traffic coming into the area and I think that’s only going to continue to increase as the state puts out more announcements about the ability for different attractions to open,” said Larry Fletcher, president of Lake Erie Shores and Island.
In fact, Fletcher said he has heard from some area business owners that have even seen record-high sales numbers in June.
“Some business owners told me that they have had some of their best, busiest days ever,” he said. “You have to have something of this magnitude occur to give you your best business day ever, but they can certainly use the cash flow.”
Port Clinton Mayor Mike Snider said he had heard the same thing — record-high sales — from a business owner in the city’s historic downtown district, which has had tremendous success with its “Meals on Madison” project.
It is a similar situation for Lake Erie’s most popular island, too. Peter Huston, of the Put-in-Bay Chamber of Commerce, said the island’s retail businesses have been doing very well, including at least one garnering its second-highest retail sales ever.
However, Fletcher also pointed out that this certainly has not been the case for every business, nor the region as a whole, and that there is still a “big hole to dig out of” from the enormous impact the pandemic and subsequent closures had.
But, as the region’s businesses try to ease into reopening, what has emerged as one of the biggest concerns is the number of people not adhering to safety protocols when visiting the area, according to Fletcher.
Put-in-Bay has seen that as well.
“There still seems to be a lot of people who are unclear that we still have to follow the same rules here that the rest of the state of Ohio does,” Huston said.
Among many other state requirements, bars and restaurants have much smaller maximum capacities for guests as they must ensure there is a minimum of 6 feet between parties.
On a busy day at Put-in-Bay, that can mean having to wait for seating or ordering to-go. But people only visiting for the day, Huston explained, may not have a place on the island to take their to-go order, often drinks.
If visitors are not prepared for the waits or social distancing requirements, Huston said, it puts a strain on the staff of the bars and restaurants, which are already limited as well.
Despite the challenges, the higher-than-expected number of visitors is viewed positively.
“Generally speaking, everyone seems to be happy,” Huston said. “There’s a lot of people here fairly happy with where we are at this point in the season.”
At Lake Erie Shores and Islands, staffers are continuing to do everything they can to reinforce the message to visitors that businesses in the region need their guests to follow the social distancing requirements, Fletcher said.
At its website, Lake Erie Shores and Islands’ provides links, which are updated weekly, to detailed policies on social distancing and other safety measures that many area businesses have in place at their respective establishments.
“We hope that sends a message to people that there are some expectations for you as a guest when you come here,” Fletcher said. “That’s a mission we will continue, doing what we can to reinforce that message.”
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