York-area hotels find varied success in inauguration
York area hotels got a boost from Barack Obama's inauguration on Jan. 20, but the county wasn't sold out of rooms as projected.
The York County Convention & Visitors Bureau was expecting York to sell out of its 3,300 rooms, but spokeswoman Allison Smith said that goal wasn't met.
The visitors bureau won't know how many vacant rooms there were until it receives a county tax report in February, but last-minute cancellations meant rooms were still available in the York area.
However, several hotels and bed and breakfasts were full or near-full from overflow in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, she said.
The cold weather probably
kept some people away, she said, but she's still happy with the turnout.
"Considering January and February are two of our slowest months of the year, it's all icing on the cake," she said.
But how much "icing" varied from hotel to hotel.
No-shows: York Township's Holiday Inn Express, 140 Leader Heights Road, was booked solid for the inauguration by the end of November.
But there were a couple of big last-minute cancellations for which the 132-room hotel couldn't make up, said General Manager Terri Elfner.
A group from Italy booked 30 rooms but canceled a day before its scheduled arrival because of an issue with flight plans, she said.
A 20-room group from Canada also canceled. Then Monday night, there were 14 people scheduled to arrive, and they never showed up, Elfner said.
"I never had 14 rooms no-show," she said. "One no-show is typical per night."
The hotel did only 10 percent more business than is typical for Jan. 20, she said, adding that there are several possible reasons for the cancellations.
Some people got rooms closer to Washington, D.C., because other people canceled their plans and rooms opened in other hotels, she said. People also might have encountered financial problems or weren't able to get off from work.
Some people were likely scared off by the below-average cold weather, the snow or the fears about traffic congestion. Some might have just changed their mind, she said.
"I think when he was elected everyone else was like, 'Oh, my God, I've got to be there,'" she said. "They were just so excited, they made reservations ... and then they thought about the planning involved."
But you can only fool Elfner once; she said she'll create some rules about booking and cancellations for the next historical inauguration.
"If a woman ever gets (to be president), there will be some rules and regulations," she said.
A 'sell-out': But the big parties actually showed up at the Holiday Inn York, 2000 Loucks Road.
General Manager Dan Johnson said the hotel was busier than expected throughout the weekend before the inauguration.
Among the large crowds to show up was a group of 70 students from Florida and their chaperones, he said.
The group came to the hotel Sunday night and went to Gettysburg on Monday. Hotel staff made the children breakfast at 3 a.m. Tuesday so they could leave for Washington, D.C., he said.
There were just a couple of rooms open in the 180-room hotel, which Johnson said he considers a "sell-out."
"I'll put it this way, it was much better than Jan. 20, 2008, or Jan. 20, 2010, will be," he said.
The hotel generally runs about 50 percent vacant in January, Johnson said.
Äàòà: 2009-01-24 13:45:07. |
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