Summer in review: Northern Michigan tourism levels out as travel restrictions lift

NORTHERN MICHIGAN — Going into summer 2022, Northern Michigan was expected to have another record season as the state continued to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. In some ways those expectations were met, but in others, this summer was on par with 2021.

During the pandemic, Northern Michigan was a refuge for travelers in Michigan and the Midwest. With lots of outdoor activities and lodging options, many chose to vacation Up North rather than risk air travel. As travel restrictions have lifted and the vaccine has made COVID-19 less of a risk for many, more people took trips that were put off during the pandemic.

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While areas like Petoskey and Charlevoix didn’t have a record-breaking summer, hotels were still booked and stores and restaurants were still as busy as they were in summer 2021. Northern Michigan remains a popular travel choice even as travel elsewhere opens up.

“We’ve always known that some of this rapid growth was going to slow down as travel patterns returned to normal, as people started getting on planes again and as things return to a bit of normalcy,” said Jim Powell, director of the Petoskey Area Visitors Bureau. “Generally, what I heard from our members, the lodging community, here in Petoskey or Harbor Springs and the region is that it was a good, good summer.”

According to Powell, occupancy was down 2 percent for the months of June, July and August compared to the previous year. Due to rising costs, however, hotels and other forms of lodging had raised prices and that helped make up for the slight drop in occupancy.

Charlevoix had a similar summer with tourist traffic leveling out a bit, but not dropping below summer 2021. Amanda Wilkin, executive director of Visit Charlevoix, said while summer took a bit of a downturn, visitation is up for the year so far. 

“Overall our visitation numbers are up for the year so far, which shows that our non-peak season traffic is up,” Wilkin said in an email. “We have been very strategic in spending the bulk of our marketing fund on off-season promotion for the past five years. It is our goal to help create a sustainable year-round flow of visitor traffic because it is better for our local businesses and also a better experience for the visitor.”

When travel to Northern Michigan started picking up during the pandemic, the Petoskey Regional Chamber of Commerce created posters asking visitors to be patient during a time when businesses were struggling to meet demand with a limited workforce. Other chambers in the area began to post similar messages.

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In July, during Charlevoix’s Venetian Festival, the East Park Tavern closed early after staff dealt with harassment from rude customers. According to Charlevoix Area Chamber of Commerce President Sarah Van Horn, this was the most extreme incident that she knows of, but visitors did seem to be less patient than they were the past two years.

“We did still see that customers were being respectful and patient as best as they could. We also saw that some of that had worn out a little bit based on the two years previously, when pandemic restrictions were a little more visible,” Van Horn said. 

“I think it was harder for people to understand the barriers that businesses faced because it wasn't on the front lines so much. It was more with inflation costs and staffing and they might not have seen it in the terms of needing to distance tables or wear masks or that type of thing.”

More:Charlevoix restaurant closes early after bad behavior during Venetian

For Sault Ste. Marie, tourism has continued to grow year-round even as travel has opened up. With the last of the COVID-19 restrictions at the Canadian border lifting on Oct. 1, visitation in Sault Ste. Marie is expected to continue to rise.

According to Sault Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Linda Hoath, her office had prepared for a 3 percent increase in overnight stays in July compared to the same time in 2019, their busiest year on record. Instead, she found that overnight stays were 10 percent higher in July 2022 than in July 2019.

“I was shocked at July's (numbers), just shocked,” Hoath said.

As Sault Ste. Marie closes out its busiest season and goes into fall, tourist traffic isn’t expected to lessen by much as visitors come to see the fall leaves, experience the outdoors or pass through on their way to Canada, especially now as restrictions are about to lift.

“That's going to really help the businesses in town. That's going to be another big influx. Especially if it's just across the river, they come over for the day, that is going to mean so much to our businesses,” Hoath said.

— Contact reporter Tess Ware at tware@petoskeynews.com. Follow her on Twitter, @Tess_Petoskey