Sandpoint Chamber: Pulling together to have a successful year
Mickey Quinn
Here we are, finally, in the heat (pun intended) of our busiest season of the year — SUMMER! The Greater Sandpoint economy gets roughly 43% of its annual revenue from tourism. That’s a significant percent, and the summer season represents a significant portion of those dollars. After this past fall/winter with its late arrival of significant snowfall, resulting in a lackluster ski season, a successful summer business season is critical to our local economy.
The hospitality and retail industry businesses have a direct correlation of impact between visitor traffic and sales results, but the ripple effect goes way beyond the direct correlation of visitors dining, shopping and staying in local establishments. Every dollar that is spent by a visitor goes into that pool of money that is then spent by our local business owners and employees within our community. So, embrace the influx of visitors. They bring their dollars, and we all benefit in direct, or indirect, ways.
One of the biggest summer events that attracts the most out-of-town visitors to our beautiful small town is the Festival at Sandpoint. This event kicks off on Thursday, July 25 and runs through Sunday, Aug. 4. Since 1983, The Festival at Sandpoint has brought music of all genres to our little neck of the woods. By its fourth season in 1986, it created the Schweitzer Institute of Music where young professional musicians traveled from all over the U.S., and the world, to come to Sandpoint to train with world-famous teachers in conducting, composition and performance. If you were around at that time, you might remember the beautiful music that cascaded from Schweitzer Mountain. It took an army of volunteers to coordinate finding private homes/condos to house the participants and to move instruments (including pianos!).
A lot has changed in the past 41 years since the Festival at Sandpoint started, but what hasn’t changed is the fact that this event is incredibly important to the Sandpoint, and the surrounding area’s economies and is something that should be embraced by our local residents.
If you find yourself grumpy, or worse yet, despising the “tourist season” and dreading the influx of visitors it is understandable, yet tourist season is absolutely necessary for the continuing success of our local economy. Here is a tip to survive the tourist season and in turn, have a better mindset and overall, a more positive outlook:
When getting stuck in traffic (Wait. What? We have traffic in North Idaho?) Rather than cursing the influx of tourists, when you get stopped, or slowed while driving, ask yourself this question: “This is good because…” and fill in the blank. No, none of us enjoy getting stuck in traffic, but we can find something for which to be thankful. Look up. Look around. What business do you see that you never noticed before? How does the sky look? Take a deep breath. Being present in the moment is very calming. At the very least, be happy you get to live in this beautiful place we get to call home.
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Mickey Quinn is the executive director of the Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce.
