KILLINGTON, Vt. – The state’s tourism industry has pushed for more information and clarity on what spring and summer pandemic restrictions will look like, and while a letter sent out on Friday helped, some would like more information.

Josh Eckler, owner of the Trailside Inn, said Wednesday that in late January the Lake Champlain Chamber will join forces with companies and groups such as the Champlain Valley Exposition, Catamount Arts, Higher Ground, the Nordic Cup Tournament, Farrell Distributing, and Burlington Parks, Recreation and Waterfront, sent a letter to Lindsay Kurrle, Secretary of the Agency for Commerce and Community Development (ACCD), asking for more predictability and certainty about the type of pandemic restrictions that hospitality and related businesses will be under.

Eckler said the industry would like to see some benchmarks of what can happen when infection and vaccination rates reach certain levels.

“We’re not asking the state for a reopening, but for the actual reopening metrics they’re looking for so we can give our couples some kind of comfort and confidence that Vermont is looking to have weddings this summer. Vermont wants safe weddings and that we allow them, ”said Eckler.

He reported that State Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine at a press conference a few weeks ago said people should be optimistic after being asked about Memorial Day parades.

“But we wanted to emphasize that you can’t wake up on a Wednesday and say that parades are safe and then there’ll be one on Sunday,” Eckler said, adding that a wedding of just over 100 typically takes three months to lead. A wedding of 150 or 200 people takes closer to six months.

“As of March 1st for me, because our first wedding is the first weekend in June, I’m going to lose one wedding a week without guidance, and every wedding that goes away is 20 local caterer and florist and photographer jobs and stuff “, he said. Eckler said Kurrle’s Friday letter would be helpful.

“We emailed this to our couples for this summer but it definitely gave them a lot more confidence and they were very happy to hear that,” he said.

Kurrle’s letter reiterates Governor Phil Scott’s announcements on Friday about lifting quarantine restrictions on vaccinated individuals, saying that things should be better this summer than last year.

“For your planning purposes, however, you should at least expect that sometime this spring we will collect and tour a tour guide that corresponds to (or is better) the one we did last August,” explained Kurrle. “We understand the need for more security when combining metrics that lead to specific policy changes. If we could give security, we would. The unfortunate reality is that this is a very dynamic and often unpredictable environment and policy making is always a difficult and delicate balance. “

keith.whitcomb @ rutlandherald.com