Before this season, if guests told Jean Ouellette that they had “never seen a winter like this”, she would call her bluff. Ouellette has run Martin’s Madawaska Motel for nearly 20 years and maintains meticulous paperwork in her office. From a green Christmas to snow banks at power lines, she’s seen everything.
That was all before COVID-19, of course.
The combination of the pandemic and late first significant snow meant a difficult season on top of a difficult year for many St. John Valley hotels and motels. And it all boils down to losing the most important background situation in the district’s economy: snowmobilers.
“It’s pretty much the only deal we have,” said Ouellette. “Having snowmobilers here in winter is an important part of our business.”
Snowmobiling makes hundreds of millions of dollars every year in Maine’s economy and supports thousands of jobs. These effects are particularly felt in the St. John Valley, a national snowmobiling destination. But instead of just having a shortage of snowmobilers, the hotel industry faces a more complicated problem this year – a confluence of pressures related to COVID-19 and the restrictions intended to prevent its spread, including restrictions on gatherings and the closed border between the US and Canada.
While the weekends are still busy for Ouellette, she estimates that business at the motel has declined by around 40 percent from previous years.
Have all the snowmobilers just parked their sleds in the garage for the winter? Not so.
“Apparently the trail traffic is insane,” said Ouellette.
Brett Labbe, General Manager of Fort Kent Powersports, doesn’t remember such a winter either. But for Labbe, it’s because this has been the busiest season he’s ever seen.
Snowmobiles were parked at Long Lake Sporting Club in St. Agatha on February 24th. Photo credit: Jessica Blalock / St. John Valley Times
When the snowmobile sales season began at Fort Kent Powersports last summer, employees immediately noticed the increase in demand, selling their Ski-Doo inventory as early as June and having to refill more frequently. Purchasing has remained strong throughout the season, according to Labbe, and when it comes to demand for replacement parts, manufacturers cannot keep up.
“It’s confusing at times,” said Labbe. “That’s how busy we are.”
A major barrier to local hotels and motels is the restrictions on travel outside of the state, which requires incoming visitors to present a negative COVID-19 test result 72 hours prior to entry. Travelers based in New Hampshire and Vermont are exempt. Hotel and motel owners are used to seeing an influx of guests outside of the state, but this has been limited by Maine’s travel restrictions.
“I have a lot of customers from Pennsylvania and some from California that I unfortunately couldn’t see this year,” said Ouellette.
In Fort Kent, Northern Door Inn general manager Carl Pelletier said business is going well this season despite the restrictions. The demographic composition of the clientele is changing, however.
“What we saw is less out of state and more southern Maine,” Pelletier said. “They don’t have reliable snow in the hinterland.”
Canadian snowmobilers who travel south frequently in a regular season to enjoy Aroostook County’s trails cannot come this year. The border was closed to non-essential travel in mid-March last year and will not open until mid-March this year at the earliest.
For hotels and motels, which are popular with Canadian tobogganists, this year was particularly brutal. Elaine Dionne has owned the Four Corners Inn and Suites (formerly Gateway Motel) in Madawaska for a year and a half and said a large percentage of her winter business are snowmobilers from countries outside of Canada, and Canada in particular.
“Last January and February we were 90 percent [capacity] for the month and this year we’re 25 percent, ”said Dionne. “And we miss her.”
Dionne got through the slow season because of their Four Corners Bar and Grille restaurant, which has stayed open thanks to local customers.
North Carolina’s Randy Lee is one of the underdogs who made it to The County this season. Lee is a hot air balloon pilot most of the year and spends a month each winter in Maine at the Aroostook Hospitality Inn in Washburn.
He said the specific requirements of the travel restrictions – like the 72-hour window of time between getting a test and arriving in Maine – made it difficult to coordinate his trip.
“It takes a lot more planning,” said Lee.
Ground restrictions also make the usual snowmobile routine a challenge. For example, restaurant capacity limitations lead to delays as sleigh riders stop to eat throughout the day.
“They go and move on to the next one, hoping to find a vacant seat,” Lee said.
Lee says he has seen more vacationers looking for alternative accommodations as a result – he knows two or three groups who usually stay in hotels and eat in restaurants but have chosen to rent efficiency apartments.
Maine COVID-19 Hotels and Motels Security and hygiene mandates – such as wearing masks and increased cleaning regimes – will also hold back potential customers who defy these guidelines.
“There are still a lot of people who have an attitude towards it [COVID-19] If you follow the restrictions, they won’t … come to your company, ”Ouellette said.
Steve Dobson, who owns the Aroostook Hospitality Inn and is a member of the Maine and Aroostook Counties Tourism Associations, said he was confronted with a customer who was outraged that Dobson was strictly following the rules and threatened to move his business to another Bringing local hotel that violates policy.
“That really bothered me,” said Dobson. “If no one follows the rules, or if we don’t do anything about it, it will never go away. If companies don’t take it seriously, it’s not fair to other companies, it’s not fair to other people you deal with, it’s not fair to the community you are in. “
In addition, the whims of snowmobile tourists are unpredictable. Dobson operates two locations of the Aroostook Hospitality Inn – one in Washburn and one on the border in Van Buren. He said his Van Buren location was as good as dead despite the heavy traffic in Washburn.
“I can’t explain why,” said Dobson. “Two weekends ago I barely had two sledges on a Sunday in Van Buren.”
Ultimately, it’s a season like no other. From state-level travel restrictions to the sealed Canadian border and policies associated with complying with COVID-19 safety guidelines, St. John Valley hotels and motels are under more pressure than ever.
Many are waiting for the summer for renewed construction projects and hopefully a reduction in COVID-19 to result in better business.
“We have never seen anything like it and hopefully never will,” said Ouellette.
