Courtesy Salem News November 11, 2005 page 1:
Halloween in Salem: Tourism down, business mixed
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By Tom Dalton
Staff writer
SALEM
— October was the best of months for the downtown economy — and
also the worst of months. It all depends on who you ask.
"Our
October was our best ever," said Juli Lederhaus, general manager of the
Hawthorne Hotel.
"My
October was off quite a bit," said Elaine Carreiro, owner of Port Maia, an
American craft gallery and gift shop on Pickering Wharf.
That
appears to be the split opinion on this Halloween season, the most important
month of the year for local businesses. The big hotels and many restaurants did
well, while the small shops appear to have struggled.
"As
far as I can tell, it was a mixed bag," said Rinus Oosthoek, executive
director of the Salem Chamber of Commerce.
Two
important October numbers are indisputable and interrelated. Salem had more
than 11 inches of rain during the month and 158,000 visitors — a decline
of 65,000 from last year.
"The
wet weekend weather was a real deterrent," said Peter LaChapelle, chief of
visitor services at the Salem Maritime National Historic Site.
LaChapelle
also pointed to skyrocketing gasoline prices and the poor foliage season for
hurting tourism.
Despite
all that, many businesses said they did well.
"The
first part of the month was a little slow with the rain, but the last two
weekends were great," said Ken Rothwell, owner of A Taste of Thyme
restaurant on Washington Street. "I think I was up 21 percent for the last
weekend and 18 percent the weekend before that."
John
Drivas, the owner of Red's, a popular local restaurant, also did well. "It
was up over last year," he said.
October
was a good month for the hotels and inns, which got a boost from the Harry
Potter convention at the start of the month.
The
Salem Waterfront Hotel, which went through its first Halloween season in full
operation, had a "very good month," according to General Manager Bob
Byrnes. "Every weekend sold out, and we were over 80 percent (occupancy)
for the month."
The
bad weather actually helped business, according to Lederhaus, who runs the
Hawthorne Hotel. "When it's rainy and cold outside, it drives people
indoors. We kind of had the perfect storm of good business."
Tourist-related
businesses reported mixed results.
"It
was down, definitely down," said Barbara Szafranski, owner of Angelica of
the Angels, a retail shop that does psychic readings. "I don't know if it
was due to the weather, but I think a lot was the economy, too."
Shawn
Shea, who operates the Salem Wax Museum and Salem Witch Village, two of the
city's major attractions, said business was down about 15 percent for the
month, which was typical for 2005.
"It's
been a terrible year," Shea said. "Don't let anybody tell you
differently."
Biff
Michaud of the Salem Witch Museum, the city's No. 1 attraction, said he drew
about 65,000 visitors, which was "pretty much the same" as last year.
Business
jumped significantly for Leah Schmidt, operator of the Salem Trolley and the
Haunted Footsteps ghost tour.
"The
walking tours catapulted through the roof this year," she said. "We
were having so many people we were calling in recruits to get extra staff to do
the tours."
OCTOBER
VISITORS
2001
—
141,708
2002
— 145,838
2003
—
172,777
2004
—
227,776
2005
—
158,157
Source: Salem Visitors Center