Will tourists find places to eat in Vermont during 2024 eclipse?

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Tens of thousands of tourists will visit our region in April looking to catch the total solar eclipse. Northern Vermont and the North Country are in the path of totality. Local hospitality industry members say it’s a chance to put Vermont’s best food forward.

Hotel Vermont’s Hans van Wees has already stocked up on hundreds of copies of an eclipse guidebook for guests coming to stay at the Burlington hotel for April 8th’s total solar eclipse. They’re working on other eclipse-related programming, too.

“So guests will have things to do and we’ll make suggestions on where best to watch it,” van Wees said.

Despite higher-than-usual prices, it only took two days for his rooms to sell out. Other hotels report similar bookings. Prices are at a premium during what’s normally not a busy time.

“It’s fairly quiet generally in Vermont, April is stick season– it’s a quiet time,” van Wees said.

But that might mean local hospitality workers need to plan ahead. The eclipse itself is on a Monday, a time when many local restaurants take a breather. Van Wees says this is a chance to put our best foot forward for people who might not otherwise have visited Vermont.

“It’s so important, even though it’s a slower month, that the services are available in town,” van Wees said. “I would certainly urge some of those restaurant owners to say, ‘Hey, we’ll be open for those dates.’”

His concerns aren’t unfounded. I did an unofficial count of restaurants in Burlington and I found that almost 40 of them are closed on Mondays. So I asked if some of them are considering changing that for the eclipse.

Jason Lenihan, the general manager of Halvorson’s Upstreet Cafe, said, “We consider that a sun is shining and make hay kind of moment.”

It’s a bit ironic because it’s due to the fact that the sun won’t be shining for a few minutes that restaurants will have a chance at those extra dining dollars. Lenihan says while Mondays are usually a day for staff to rest, they will be making an exception for the day of the eclipse.

“We pull everyone out to try to take advantage of the opportunity,” he said.

But we already know at least one prominent dining spot on Church Street, Leunig’s, which is currently closed on Sundays and Mondays, told WCAX News they currently aren’t planning on changing their hours.

Lenihan acknowledges other restaurants may say they just can’t swing it because of staffing shortages.

“I don’t blame people who don’t lean on people harder than they already are,” he said.

Still, for those that can, he says having tens of thousands of extra visitors would make the eclipse bigger than other events that they rely on, like UVM graduation, Jazzfest, the Festival of Fools and more. And it could turn a typically slow weekend into a busy one.

“We lose money six months out of the year, so if we can start making money earlier in the year, let’s do it,” Lenihan said.

With more tourists at the tables comes more traffic on the roads. The Vermont Short-Term Rental Alliance says their lodging is in high demand, too, including outside of Chittenden County and on some back roads that aren’t usually heavily traveled during mud season.

“I will be curious to see how Vermont roads will handle this influx of traffic and tourism during what is most likely to be mud season. This is a time where normally vacation homes close their doors to do their annual maintenance and protect their roads from extra traffic,” said Julie Marks, the director of the Vermont Short-Term Rental Alliance.

I asked VTrans if they’re planning for how to handle the influx of tourists to places like the Champlain Islands or back roads. VTrans says the details are still being worked out but they’re using mobility modeling and traffic control support to try to make it a positive experience for all travelers.

I looked at car rentals from the Burlington International Airport during that eclipse weekend. The prices are actually not that high– yet, $100-$200 for the whole weekend on average. That could mean many of the visitors coming into town are planning to drive in.

One thing that could also make or break that day is the weather. People may cancel if the forecast doesn’t look good for skywatching. So those in the hospitality industry are hoping that Mother Nature shows her hospitable side that day.

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