‘Lot of unknowns.’ KY tourism spots hope for visitors as coronavirus limits ease.
Conley Bottom Resort was a swarm of activity in recent days, with employees cleaning rental houseboats at the marina on Lake Cumberland and workers finishing new bathrooms and putting siding on a new ship store and office building.
There were updated gas pumps to be installed on the dock and boxes of T-shirts, hoodies and other merchandise stacked in the store in preparation for the Memorial Day weekend, the traditional kick-off of the summer tourist season.
But what will tourist season look like in Kentucky with the novel coronavirus still causing concern and restrictions on gatherings?
The answer could depend on the attraction.
Several marina operators around Lake Cumberland said they’re optimistic.
They think that with some attractions still closed this summer or operating at reduced capacity, and with many people still leery to take cruises, visit large cities or board an airplane, the lake — with plenty of room to get away from people — will be popular.
“I feel like a lot of people will come to the lake,” said Fred Piercy, whose family owns Conley Bottom, in Wayne County. “With COVID-19 everywhere, I think everyone will come to the lake and practice their social distancing.”
People at other attractions said the picture is less clear for them.
Gov. Andy Beshear announced recently that lodges at most state parks will reopen June 1, with campgrounds to follow on June 11, and museums, aquariums, outdoor attractions and distilleries can reopen on June 8.
The state hasn’t yet issued guidance on doing that, but representatives of popular Kentucky attractions said they expect limits on the number of visitors, similar to the rule initially limiting restaurant dine-in seating to one-third of capacity.
That obviously will affect the bottom line.
Continued caution is necessary to make sure reopening tourist venues doesn’t cause a rebound in COVID-19, said Mike Berry, secretary of the state Tourism, Arts & Heritage Cabinet.
A resurgence in coronavirus cases that forced a return to shutdowns could do irreparable harm to many tourism businesses, he said.
There’s no firm timeline for further easing restrictions “except that we want to safely get back to normal as soon as possible,” Berry said.
Many of the distilleries on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail may wait until mid-June to reopen, and that will be with limitations on tours and tasting rooms to protect visitors, employees and production, said Eric Gregory, president of the Kentucky Distillers’ Association.
The association hired an infectious disease doctor from the University of Kentucky to consult on safeguards.
The trail drew nearly two million visits last year, but it’s hard to project what will happen this year.
One question, for instance, is whether restrictions on other events and attractions will reduce crossover visitation to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.
“There are a lot of unknowns,” Gregory said.
Mammoth Cave National Park, which protects the longest known cave system in the world, has been open for outdoor activities such as hiking and kayaking on the Green River, but the cave tours that usually draw more than 400,000 visitors annually have been closed.
Park officials are working on plans to re-start the tours, but no date has been set to do that, said Molly Schroer, a spokeswoman.
When it does happen, there will likely be limits on how many people can go underground at a time in order to keep people a safe distance apart.
Edmonson County Judge-Executive Wil S. Cannon said it hurt tourism revenue for the county when the lodge at the park shut down. Most of the park lies within the county.
Cannon said many people are “getting itchy” to get out after being under coronavirus restrictions for months, so he thinks visitors will come.
How quickly is uncertain.
“I think we’re probably going to lose out a lot the next quarter,” Cannon said of tax revenue from lodging at the park.
The campground at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington will open for recreational vehicles and self-contained campers on June 11, and officials are working on a re-opening plan for the park.
There are big questions for Kentucky and other tourist destinations, including whether people will have money to travel and how comfortable they’ll be going places.
State officials believe there are opportunities, however.
A recent national survey by the U.S. Travel Association found that 20 percent of travelers are willing to drive at least 500 miles, one-way, for a leisure trip in the next six months, according to the Kentucky Tourism, Arts & Heritage Cabinet.
With Kentucky a day’s drive from half the U.S. population, officials think that will be a plus.
“We believe that it positions us well to benefit from people who are going to take a road trip,” Berry said.
Berry said he thinks tourism in Kentucky will bounce back more quickly than in places people must fly to reach.
Tourism officials also think there could be more in-state travel this year.
There already has been a hopeful sign for businesses that rely on tourism — travel spending increased from $19 million the week ending May 2 to $34 million the next week, according to the cabinet.
Berry said when the state-park reservation system opened May 19, people booked more than 500 room nights in the first 48 hours.
“There’s a demand out there,” he said.
The parks will hold rooms open for 24 hours after visitors check out to clean and sanitize them, Berry said.
Whatever happens the rest of the year, it will likely be better than March and April, when aggressive measures to limit the spread of coronavirus by keeping people home hammered tourism spending.
Visitors from inside and outside Kentucky spent almost $7.6 billion in the state in 2018, which translated to an estimated total economic impact from tourism of more than $11 billion, according to the Tourism, Arts & Heritage Cabinet.
So far this year, however, the loss in travel spending has totaled nearly $1.4 billion, the cabinet said.
That total will likely grow by the end of the year with events canceled and attractions operating at lower capacity.
The Kentucky Derby and spring racing meet at Keeneland were among the casualties.
The Derby has been rescheduled for Sept. 5, and Churchill Downs recently began its postponed spring racing meet, though without spectators in the stands.
Keeneland is working on getting some race dates in July, said Vince Gabbert, vice president and chief operating officer at the historic Lexington horse track.
Canceling the spring meet was a $100 million hit to the local economy, Gabbert said.
“It’s heartbreaking that we weren’t able to race in April,” Gabbert said, though there was no choice because of the need to stem the spread of coronavirus.
Gabbert said Keeneland will hold its fall sale and the October race meet, even if there are still limits on the number of spectators.
State officials said every sector of the tourism industry suffered the last couple of months, but that small businesses which rely on attractions to bring in visitors — a snack bar near a lake — were probably hurt the worst.
Those are businesses like Timber Pointe Resort, which has a 12-room lodge and 10 cabins near Lake Cumberland in Russell County.
Tina Begley, who operates the resort with her husband, Barry, said business was down 75 percent in March and April from the prior year.
“I started wondering man alive, what am I going to do? The bank still wants their money,” Barry Begley said.
Things are looking better with a sell-out for Memorial Day weekend.
“It might be helping us that there’s nothing else to do,” said Tina Begley, mentioning the absence of youth sports that keep many families tied up in normal times. “You can get out there on that lake and get away from everyone.”
Still, some visitors don’t know what to expect and are not making reservations as far in advance as usual.
Jeremy Enck, manager at Safe Harbor Jamestown on Lake Cumberland, said the marina and resort rented out all its houseboats, smaller boats and lodging for Memorial Day weekend.
Sales at the ship store will be down because of limits on the number of people in retail shops, but Enck said he believes visitation will be good this summer.
“I am not worried one bit,” Enck said.
J.D. Hamilton, who owns Lee’s Ford Resort Marina and Lake Cumberland Marina, said the lake will benefit from restrictions such as public pools being closed, and from concerns over taking flights.
“It’s a great safe option,” he said of the lake.
Marina operators said they are taking precautions to protect health, such as making hand sanitizer and masks available and doing extra cleaning.
Visitation is likely to be lower than in prior years, but tourism in the Lake Cumberland area will fare better than in places without that kind of unique place to visit, said Michelle Allen, executive director of the Somerset-Pulaski County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“We’re gonna have fall-off” in visitors, Allen said, “but we’re more lucky than someone who doesn’t have a natural attraction. I think it’s gonna be a little bit slower . . . but is it still gonna be okay? Yes.”
Elena Blevins, executive director of the Kentucky Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau in Marshall County, said there had been an uptick in calls and online queries about visiting the lake in Western Kentucky.
Canceled fishing tournaments and the closed camping at Land Between the Lakes hurt visitation in March and April.
This summer will be better than the spring, Blevins said, but she doesn’t expect a complete recovery.
“I definitely do not see us getting back to where we were last summer,” she said. “It’s a huge question mark.”
This story was originally published May 22, 2020 at 11:32 AM.
