Block Island’s tourism-dependent business owners entered the summer fearful of the damage the COVID-19 pandemic would do to their livelihoods, but most report that they had a “decent” tourism season that will tide them over into 2021.
“We were down, but we were way better than we thought we would be,” said Jessica Willi, Block Island Tourism Council executive director. “No business has closed, as of now. But it’s still a struggle.”
Willi said island tourism was “flat or down slightly” overall in 2020 after a slow start in June. Business picked up dramatically in the shoulder season of September, a much-needed boost after a less-than-stellar July and August, which is normally the high season when tourists flock to Block Island by the thousands each day, Willi said.
Her assessment was reflected in the town of New Shoreham’s 2020 tax revenue.
Town officials said $29,524 in local hotel tax – 1% charged on room rentals – was collected in June, down more than 27% from the $40,868 collected in June 2019. By comparison, the hotel tax collected in September was $54,331, a 21% increase over the $45,018 brought in the same month a year earlier.
Overall, New Shoreham’s hotel tax revenue totaled $271,184 from June through September, a 1% decrease from the $274,147 collected during the same period in 2019.
Steve Filippi, the owner of Ballard’s Inn, said 2020 wasn’t great, but the popular beach resort has weathered leaner years.
“It was worse in 2009 during the heart of the recession,” Filippi said. “I think we were 5% or 6% worse than this year. 2009 was the worst year that I ever had. It was worse than 2020.”
‘Our goal, and hope, was to get through the summer.’
JOHN CULLEN, owner of Block Island Tees, Solstice and True North Outfitters
John Cullen, owner of the retail stores Block Island Tees, Solstice and True North Outfitters, said navigating health protocols made things challenging, in part because extra cleaning supplies and safety measures such as plexiglass shields increased expenses even before his businesses opened for the season.
Because many of those cleaning and safety products were difficult to find on Block Island, Cullen said he often paid double the normal prices.
“Add to that the face masks we had to wear, tape all over the floor marking safe spacing, and monitoring and enforcing capacity limits made the summer of 2020 as far from normal as I could have ever imagined,” Cullen said.
In the end, however, Cullen and other business owners appear to have reached their ultimate objective for 2020: survival.
“Our goal, and hope, was to get through the summer without us or our employees getting sick, which we were able to do, thankfully, and make enough money to feed our family and pay the mortgage for the winter,” Cullen said.
Uncertainty still lingers, however, particularly as COVID-19 cases surge on the mainland, even as a vaccine is being distributed.
Anxiety over the 2021 tourism already appears to be setting in. If tourists don’t return in larger numbers next spring and summer, sluggish Block Island businesses may need government aid, Cullen said.
‘Things are changing every day, and the future is uncertain,” he said. “So, we may very well need help, such as another Paycheck Protection Program loan, to survive the next 12 months.”
Cassius Shuman is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Shuman@PBN.com.
