You didn’t need to own a cash register to know it was a slow start to the tourism season in Ely. Taking a left-hand turn on Sheridan was easy, plenty of parking around town, and no wait at restaurants most of the time.
But that doesn’t spell well for Ely businesses. For one reason or another, there just weren’t as many people coming here to spend money. Add in out-of-work miners, and our economy needs some help.
But is this just a one or two-month slowdown? Or is it a sign we’re not doing the best job we can to get people to come here, preferably to live and work, but if not that, to at least vacation here?
This was a part of a discussion at a meeting of the Ely Area Lodging Tax Board recently.
Here, the numbers are flat, which means lodging is down since rate increases are not factored in. There has been a change in how lodging tax dollars are spent, with the work being done locally instead of farmed out to Chicago or the Twin Cities.
But let’s throw something else in as well. We have experienced a significant decline in resorts, similar to the rest of the state and country. Instead of the resort owner going out and marketing their business, and Ely, we’re banking on Airbnb and VRBO. But maybe that’s not the answer. Time will tell.
But right now, the lodging tax numbers are not where they should be, and cash registers are proving that true. We need to bring people here to spend money. That’s the number one goal.
