ROCKPORT, Maine — The parking lot looked full, but the hotel rooms stayed empty. That’s been the routine for weeks at the popular Samoset Resort in Rockport. The resort is able to donate much of its space to host a vaccine clinic with Pen Bay Hospital and Maine Health because the resort is actually closed. The Samoset shut down at the end of December and will reopen on April 30.
“We are looking for relief in 2021,” long-time General Manager Connie Russell said.
“The vaccinations are favorable. Certainly, the Governor's office has released favorable news by removing some restrictions, that will help our industry tremendously.”
Last year saw hotels and resorts lose a majority of their bookings for the year because of the COVID pandemic. Many workers were never hired, and for months most out-of-state travels couldn’t even come to Maine without quarantine or a negative test.
The hospitality industry was arguably the hardest hit sector of Maine’s economy, but Greg Dugal of the trade group Hospitality Maine agrees this year is looking far better because people are eager to travel again.
“I would say I am a living and breathing example of pent-up demand. I can’t wait to go anywhere, to be honest with you, and I think a lot of people feel the same way.”
Dugal said most hotels and resorts are expecting a significant improvement in business.
At the Samoset, Russell said he sees it in the form of advance reservations, for rooms, and also a return of conference and meeting business, which for decades has been a big part of the Samoset’s income.
“They’re already booked. We will start to see them potentially in May and we reopen April 30,” he said Friday.
“Our repeat long-term Maine associations will be back and we’re starting to have some other groups from around the country that have booked and have again this year, along with weddings.”
Dugal said bringing back wedding business to Maine is “huge” for the hospitality industry, as the state has become a popular wedding destination. 2020 saw a tremendous number of weddings postponed, but both Dugal and Russell said many of those are back on for this year, along with new ones. Maine’s current COVID rules have no restrictions on the size of weddings outdoors.
Dugal predicted, “I think there will be a lot of tent rentals this summer.”
And he also said the return of hospitality business is also complicated by a return of the labor shortage those businesses were facing in the years before COVID. He said there are delays with visas for foreign workers, and again a reluctance of Mainers to fill many of those jobs.