{"id":22441,"date":"2020-04-16T16:33:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-16T22:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyhinews.com\/news\/tourism-without-tourists\/"},"modified":"2020-04-16T16:33:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-16T22:33:00","slug":"tourism-without-tourists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/local-news\/tourism-without-tourists\/","title":{"rendered":"Tourism without tourists"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"681\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2020\/04\/Tourism-shn-041720-1024x681.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2020\/04\/Tourism-shn-041720-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2020\/04\/Tourism-shn-041720-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2020\/04\/Tourism-shn-041720-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2020\/04\/Tourism-shn-041720-1536x1021.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2020\/04\/Tourism-shn-041720-2048x1362.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><figcaption><strong>Never Summer Mountain Products is one of many businesses that have shut its doors in wake of the COVID-19 crisis. As a tourism based business, the outdoor recreation store is facing many of the struggles seen all across Grand County during the statewide stay at home order.<\/strong><br \/><em>Sky-Hi News file photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The order to \u201cstay at home\u201d is hitting hard in Grand County, an economy dependent on tourists who want to get away.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Grand is a place where almost everyone who wants a job has one, a few good summer or winter months can tide a business over for the year and tourism reigns supreme. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment has skyrocketed, once busy businesses are closed and the county seems like it\u2019s changing faster than the seasons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Public health officials have made it clear halting travel is one of the best ways to ensure the county\u2019s limited health care resources aren\u2019t overwhelmed. In response, the county has restricted lodging properties and is imploring second-home owners to not visit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">While the biggest drivers of the county\u2019s economy are being told in no uncertain terms to stay away, many businesses want to support their employees and are trying to stay afloat. The next months carry incredible uncertainty for the businesses that make up Grand, but one thing is for sure: They want to be here when it\u2019s over.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\">\n<div class=\"row shn-donation shn-donation-mobile p-0\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2020\/02\/shn-logo-2x-wht.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2020\/02\/shn-logo-2x-wht.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"col-xl-8 p-3 text-center\">\n<h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.skyhinews.com\/donate\/?utm_source=article&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_campaign=donation&amp;utm_term=&amp;utm_content=mid-article\">Donate<\/a><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">Day to day<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">David Craig has been watching the outbreak from a couple perspectives. He is a general manager at C Lazy U Ranch, the president of the Grand County Tourism Board and a chairman for the Grand Lake Fire Protection District. The full impact of COVID-19 dawned on Craig when the fire chief started describing local preparations for this virus.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWhen I began to realize it was hitting our community, I knew business as we know it had kind of changed forever,\u201d Craig said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">C Lazy U Ranch stopped taking reservations March 15 and plans to be closed until at least April 30. While the ranch is closed, it\u2019s still trying to help its roughly 70 employees, Craig said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cA ranch is many things, but it\u2019s the quality of staff that distinguishes you and makes you go from good to great,\u201d Craig said. \u201cThat\u2019s an asset we want to work hard to protect.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Craig outlined some of the measures the ranch is taking to assist these workers, including complimentary housing for those living on the grounds and three free to-go meals every day. Some staff are also able to continue working.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">While the ranch is closed to visitors, the livestock still need fed, facilities need cleaning and the property is being improved. Employees aren\u2019t required to work, but they have the option to get some income performing essential duties. Craig said he is managing decision-making during the constant uncertainty by taking it one day at a time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe right thing to do is wait and make the right decisions in the day for the day,\u201d Craig said. \u201cIn a couple of weeks, we\u2019ll know if things are improving or deteriorating. Both of those come with a different set of solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">Recreation wrecked<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Never Summer Mountain Products, an outdoor goods and apparel store based in Grand Lake, typically closes for only three days a year. As COVID-19 started moving into Colorado, owner Patrick Randall began reconsidering that plan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In early March, other recreation based businesses in Grand Lake started closing. Then, the ski areas shut down. Winter Park Resort and Granby Ranch subsequently had to lay off more than 1,400 employees combined.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe decided we needed to close our doors too, and join the rest of the businesses in town to basically not give any other reason for folks to come up here and spread the virus,\u201d Randall said. \u201cGiven that we live in an aging community with very few health care options up here, it felt like the right thing to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Gov. Jared Polis\u2019 executive order closed non-essential businesses, but allowed some room for recreation. This led to an unwanted surge of visitors to rural communities as the restrictions rolled out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">With the closures of ski areas, Berthoud Pass became crowded with skiers. Even though the National Park Service removed entrance fees, Rocky Mountain National Park had to close down because of the concern of drawing more tourists to rural communities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Randall said seeing the national park shut down reassured him that he made the right decision. While Never Summer is closed, it is offering products online with curbside pickup and monitoring calls and emails.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">A new problem<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Up until this crisis, Grand County was facing a different challenge when it came to local business: a scarce workforce.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In September, the county\u2019s unemployment rate fell to 1.6%, which tied for the lowest monthly jobless rate ever recorded in the county, according to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Even in February, unemployment only reached 2.2% with 232 people seeking jobs out of a workforce of more than 10,300. While these low numbers were good news for workers, business owners struggled to find sufficient staffing and it restricted expansion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">According to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, 448 unemployment claims were filed in Grand County during the last week of March alone, and claims totaled 546 for the month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Industries filing the highest number of claims across the state include accommodation and food, health care and social services, entertainment and recreation and retail trade, industries that account for many of the jobs in Grand County. According to the US Census Bureau, roughly 40% of the county\u2019s employees work in one of these industries.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Randall has about five employees right now. He said that even before the paycheck protection program, a federal business loan program, he made the decision to keep paying staff for scheduled hours as long as possible.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cEmployees are our greatest asset and we want to make sure they\u2019re supported as we walk this out,\u201d Randall added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">Will it bounce back?<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">For C Lazy U Ranch, Never Summer and other businesses in the county, recreation could again become the county\u2019s greatest draw. The Grand County Tourism Board is banking that the county\u2019s outdoor emphasis will appeal to tourists wanting to get outside once the coronavirus shutdown is over.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">While the tourism board is following government regulations, Grand County is still advertising its brand as a return to nature and the outdoors. Craig is optimistic that once social isolation ends, Grand County will see its much needed boost.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cGrand County is defined by fresh open spaces, fresh air, things to do outside and a wholesome culture,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is going to be the ideal destination. People will not want to explore a city as much as they\u2019ll want to explore open spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The economic effects of COVID-19 are already palpable, but what this means for the long term is not yet understood. Much of that will likely depend on when folks can \u201creturn to normal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThis is one of the hurdles the ranch will have to overcome in its 100 year history,\u201d Craig said. \u201cIt\u2019s something we have to get through and something we have to get through together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">With enough support, there is hope that the tenacity of businesses can persist until tourism returns.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.skyhinews.com\/news\/tourism-without-tourists\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Sky-Hi News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Never Summer Mountain Products is one of many businesses that have shut its doors in wake of the COVID-19 crisis. As a tourism based business, the outdoor recreation store is facing many of the struggles seen all across Grand County during the statewide stay at home order.Sky-Hi News file photo The order to \u201cstay at [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-22441","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-20 08:24:05","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KRKY Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22441\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}