Many small tourism dependent businesses around Montana didn’t know if they would make it through the summer with the looming pandemic. But with state level relief grants, many eked by, and some were busier than they expected. One business owner managed to navigate the complicated summer. Now she’s looking ahead to an uncertain winter.
In mid March, the phone rang nonstop at Whitefish Bike Retreat, a 19 acre camping haven that sits at the intersection of coast to coast cycling routes and a cherished local trail system outside Whitefish, people were calling to cancel their summer reservations.
Then, when the phone and world fell silent for two weeks, owner Cricket Butler thought she might have to close her doors.
"When COVID hit, it was very surreal. How am I going to pay my bills? This is my home too, it's not just a business. So it was more than just being threatened to lose my business, it was a threat to lose my home, and that was really scary," Butler said.
Butler came into the season thinking it would be her busiest yet, but a closed Canadian border and stay at home orders wiped the calendar clean. Like nearly 23,000 other small Montana businesses, she received federal Paycheck Protection Program loans. But the loan was small, forcing her to lay off her usual seven summer staff.
"They based that assistance on the three months we were shut down, our normal shoulder season. And so, I didn’t get assistance a lot of businesses got."
So she worked alone in April and May preparing for summer visitors by creating new sanitation and social distancing procedures.
"It took me weeks to figure out how to reopen safely. It was just me and my kids trying to figure this out," she said.
Butler credits Montana’s Business Stabilization Grant for helping keep her doors open. The Department of Commerce provided grants to about 11,500 Montana businesses with aid totaling $188 million. The grant allowed her to hire back two staff members, pay rent and refund customers who had to cancel. All things considered, by midsummer Butler was happy with the changes.
"It’s been fine. So we've been operating two staff members and myself managing again, which actually was amazing because I've been back in the office with the people and, you know, talking to everyone, getting to know everybody again, and it's been fun."
As Canadians were forced to cancel reservations, a new clientele filled the campground: families from Montana -- kids biked around in their PJ’s until 10 p.m. on most nights. But despite being one of her busiest summers yet, things have felt different.
"What's really cool on a normal summer is having people from different parts of the world. And I love sharing a cup of coffee with our guests and hearing all their stories, and they also love hearing the stories. And that is missing this year."
Montana’s tourism industry anticipated a dry year, according to surveys from the University of Montana’s Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research. And spring business proved thin by at least one metric, tax revenue from lodging facilities statewide was down 57 percent from April through June compared to last year. Tourism operators braced for the worst, but by summer bookings picked up a bit, bed tax revenue only recorded a 15 percent decrease from July through August.
Butler weathered the summer thanks to state grants and a surprising number of last minute, in state visitors. But as she looks to winter, the season seems no less murky than it did last spring.
"With the numbers of COVID spiking, I think people are just a little apprehensive to book right now and maybe travel for the winter. Being a business owner and being unsure and not knowing what that looked like, I did take advantage of a third grant," Butler said.
The Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research’s s October report noted 60 percent of tourism dependent businesses say winter bookings are down compared to last year. Jeremy Sage, the institute's incoming director, says that like summer, it’s possible that Montanans may make last minute reservations as they cancel out of state travel plans.
Butler will open for the season next week, but she won't be renting fat bikes or grooming trails. Instead, the retreat will serve as a basecamp for visitors to enjoy the surrounding winter recreation. She also hasn’t lost hope.
"After surviving last spring and last summer, we are stronger than ever for next year. With the help of Montana with the grant program, we will survive this winter."
This story was made possible by the Matthew Hansen Endowment for Wilderness Studies Fund at the Montana Community Foundation.
