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Updated: May 18, 2020

CT’s top tourism destination readies for city travelers, shorter stays and social distancing during pandemic

Photo | Contributed Businesses serving Mystic’s tourism industry are looking to salvage the summer travel season despite the COVID-19 outbreak.
By Joe Cooper
By the numbers: Connecticut’s tourism industry 
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Memorial Day typically signals the start of Mystic’s busy tourism season, but the coronavirus pandemic has quieted the tiny village of less than 5,000 residents as many local businesses wonder if there’s still time to recoup summer travel spending.

The rapid spread of COVID-19 has forced the temporary closure of more than half of Mystic’s 80 or so restaurants, in addition to numerous hotels, craft brewery taprooms and retail shops. Two of Connecticut’s most popular tourist attractions — Mystic Seaport Museum and Mystic Aquarium — have also closed their doors and furloughed hundreds of workers.

Meantime, a plan to build a 26-room boutique Delamar Mystic Hotel and restaurant has been put off for at least a year.

Some venues are expected to reopen May 20 when Connecticut begins to gradually loosen economic restrictions, however, many believe it could take several months before consumer spending is restored in any significant way.

Mystic, a small enclave part of both Stonington and Groton, may have the most at stake in terms of COVID-19’s impact on tourism, since the industry drives the village’s local economy.

“I think demand in the marketplace for social activity is unknown right now,” said Roslyn Gilhuly, senior vice president of external relations at Mystic Aquarium, which is estimating a $4.5-million sales hit during its ongoing shutdown. “But I do believe confidence will return over time.”

As statewide coronavirus hospitalizations continue to decline, Mystic’s tightly connected tourism industry is hoping its seaside destinations will become an attractive option for travelers looking to avoid crowded city centers. There’s also optimism that Mystic will experience a surge in day trips and that tourists are ready to spend untapped travel funds in the summer and fall seasons.

“Depending on how they were affected by the pandemic, people haven’t spent anything traveling,” said Tim Brown, a co-owner of the Inn at Mystic. “I think a seaside destination with the ability to social distance will be very popular this year.”

Brown is one of many operators in Mystic developing social-distancing guidelines in conjunction with the state’s specific rules that eligible businesses must follow in order to reopen starting May 20.

For restaurants, that means transitioning to outdoor-only dining services, disposable paper menus and guests being asked to bring and wear face masks. At brick-and-mortar stores, capacity will be capped at 50% as visitors are required to wear masks, make appointments and avoid gatherings of more than five people.

The initial response to these new mandates in Mystic — which accounts for half of annual tourism activity in Connecticut — could foreshadow how the state’s larger $15.5-billion tourism industry fares this summer and beyond.

Tourism’s health is especially important because the industry — prior to the pandemic — is Connecticut’s eighth largest employment sector with nearly 85,000 direct jobs, and generates more than $2 billion a year in annual tax revenue.

Randy Fiveash, director of state tourism, says the industry may not fully recover this year from coronavirus, but he still sees an appetite for travel in the coming months.

“One of the great things about the tourism industry is that it’s resilient,” Fiveash said. “The industry will be different, but it can handle it.”

Photo | HBJ File
Mystic, Connecticut's top tourism destination, is home to more than 80 restaurants.

Feet on the street

The Olde Mistick Village is no stranger to overcoming uncertain economic conditions. After all, the shopping center debuted in a recession almost a half-century ago and is now home to more than 50 shops and restaurants.

Chris Regan, a property manager for the retail corridor his family has held since 1973, sees another path for store operators to overcome this recession and salvage a considerable chunk of summer tourism spending with the use of online shopping, curbside takeout sales and expanded outdoor seating options.

Regan says more than 70% of businesses in the shopping/dining center, employing a combined 500-plus workers, have been helped by federal stimulus funds as they prepare to ramp up seasonal hiring and implement new social-distancing and sanitation rules. The remaining 30% of businesses are also seeking federal aid.

Regan, a member of the Mystic Chamber Foundation and the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce, says there’s evidence of pent up demand for spending as eateries like Vault Coffee/Deviant Donuts, Go Fish Restaurant, Mango’s Wood Fired Pizza Co. and Pink Basil, among others, have been yielding significant takeout sales in recent weeks. Mistick Village alone attracts more than 1.5 million visitors a year.

Restaurants in the center, home to Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, Liberty Bank and a luxury movie theater, are also being patronized by couples and families that are now more apt to hold picnics along the Mystic River. Those types of outdoor activities, fit for the center’s predominant demographic of those between the ages of 30 to 54, will grow in popularity this year as people avoid city vacations, Regan says.

“I think we will get an influx of people coming here from the cities,” he said, adding that Connecticut tourism venues should be expecting mainly day trippers this summer. “I think Boston and New York people will come in this direction because they will feel like it’s less dense and more comfortable.”

Many visitors parking within the Mistick Village are also likely to visit nearby Mystic Aquarium.

An executive order effectively closed the marine aquarium on March 16, resulting in a massive layoff of roughly 240 of 300 mostly seasonal employees, Gilhuly said. Remaining staff have continued the expensive task of animal care and are streaming live videos of some of the 4,000 or so animals on-site to maintain engagement with 14,000 membership households.

Gilhuly said the aquarium is losing at least 15% of the 800,000 visitors it draws annually from being closed in March, April and May. That marks a major blow to the organization, which recorded $21.5 million in revenue and lost nearly $2.5 million in its most recently available 2017 federal tax filing. Its local counterpart, the Mystic Seaport Museum, by comparison, recorded $19.3 million in revenue and lost $1.4 million that year.

Photo | Mystic Aquarium
Mystic Aquarium has received $6 million from a federal pandemic-relief program.

It’s not yet clear when the aquarium will reopen, or which social-distancing rules it will adopt. For now, Gilhuly said the aquarium is focused on maintaining core members through improved benefit packages, including bundling day trips with nearby hotels and restaurants, she said. The aquarium is also developing ticket packages with the Mystic Seaport Museum, which plans to reopen May 23 for outdoor use only.

“We are in constant contact with our partners” in the area “to amplify the message that Mystic is open and ready for you to come back,” Gilhuly said.

A hotel’s response

The historic, 52-room Inn at Mystic is one of many local lodging venues that will depend on the resurgence of foot traffic downtown this summer.

Luckily, the Inn has been steadily increasing its outdoor dining capacity and banquet/wedding entertainment business in recent years. Operators are hoping larger gatherings for weddings will be allowed later this summer. In the meantime, a resort license will allow the Inn, once it reopens, to serve food and alcohol anywhere on the 14-acre property.

“We can create all different types of seating areas on the lawn so people can drink, eat and enjoy the weather,” said Brown, who is part of an ownership group that acquired the property in 2014. “There’s more than enough space for social distancing.”

The Inn, where annual occupancy hovers around 70%, will likely limit rentals and ramp up deep cleanings to ensure guests feel comfortable when it scales up operations.

Brown concedes the summer months will be considerably slower unless there’s a sharp decline in new coronavirus cases over the coming weeks. But he still forecasts a busy fall season as big cities lose favor and people reacclimate to large social gatherings.

“People are going to have the resources in the fall, when they feel more comfortable and everything eases up considerably,” Brown said. “If the weather cooperates we are hoping to have the best fall ever.”

By the numbers: Connecticut’s tourism industry

$15.5B
The amount of money Connecticut’s tourism industry posted in total sales in 2017.

$4.2M
The amount Connecticut’s current-year state budget allocates for tourism.

5.3%
The percentage of all jobs in Connecticut supported by tourism.

84,254
The number of direct jobs supported by state tourism.

Source: Office of Tourism

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