Under a brilliant blue sky and blinding sunshine, a group of about 20 travelers milled around the courtyard at King Arthur Flour in Norwich last week waiting for their tour to begin. They were half of a group that had arrived earlier on a sightseeing bus from Massachusetts, and just one of numerous groups of tourists flocking to the Upper Valley to gaze at the turning leaves.
Despite predictions by national meteorologists of a lackluster foliage season in the Northeast due to the drought, area attractions have not seen a drop in out-of-state or local leaf-peepers. In fact, many tourism professionals throughout the area report an uptick.
“We haven’t seen a decrease. If anything we’ve seen an increase in the amount of tours compared to last year,” said Katie Walker, public relations manager for King Arthur Flour. “Nearly daily we get calls from buses that (are not booked and) would like to stop by. Last Saturday we expected four buses but got six, which may not sound like a big increase, but it makes a big impact.”
Doris Metivier was reading up on the history of King Arthur Flour as she waited for her tour to begin. She booked the bus trip about two months ago through the Council on Aging in her hometown of Grafton, Mass.
“It’s beautiful, better than I expected,” Metivier said. “The television is telling you that the foliage is not going to be great, but it really is beautiful. We have nothing at home. We have no colors. I imagine in a couple of weeks it will start where we are,” she said, adding that the colors in her area are never as good as they are in the Upper Valley.
Over in Quechee, PJ Skehan, executive director of the Hartford Area Chamber of Commerce, also reports an increase in sightseers.
In September, about 10,000 people flowed through the doors of the Quechee Gorge Visitors Center, continuing a trend set over the past several months. Skehan said local inns, B&Bs, hotels and campsites are booked as usual for the Columbus Day weekend.
“The vibrancy of the colors varies from year to year, but it’s always spectacular and our visitors are always in awe of the brilliant foliage,” Skehan wrote in an email. “We get many tourists from as far away as Europe, Australia and the Middle East who are thoroughly captivated by the scenery. The upside of the dry weather is that visitors and locals have been able to get outside more to enjoy the scenery and hike the trails.”
Summer and fall are the busiest times of year for the Quechee area, and Skehan said he expects more than 400 tour buses to include the gorge on their itineraries over the September-October period.
It’s the same story in nearby Woodstock, which had well over 25 buses in town on a single day last week.
“Yes the color is a bit dull but I haven’t seen any drop in visitors,” said Beth Finlayson, director of the Woodstock Chamber of Commerce. “The stream of folks at the Welcome Center has been steady with both American and foreign visitors. People are a little disappointed that the color isn’t as vibrant as usual, but most are charmed by the beauty of the village, the green hills and of course the covered bridges.”
Across the river, Tim Fenton, co-owner of Sunapee Cruises, reports brisk business.
“It doesn’t seem like the forecast has affected us at all,” Fenton said. “Fall in general is a busy time, fall weekends especially, and this year is busier than last. We get a few hundred people per boat during the weekends, and during the week we’ve had tour groups and private charters.”
Fenton pointed out that, because Columbus Day weekend comes earlier this year, the main foliage business seems to be spread over Columbus Day and the weekend after.
“Both weekends seem strong right now, but we do have room for more guests,” Fenton said.
Sara Colson, executive director of the Lake Sunapee Chamber of Commerce, is seeing more foot traffic and day-trippers from Massachusetts arriving to take in the autumn colors.
“Compared to the last couple of years I feel like I’m seeing more people already,” Colson said, noting that in many areas the foliage still hasn’t turned.
“In the marshy areas and on a stretch of (Route) 114 that is a little marshy, the trees turn before anywhere else, and the foliage we’re seeing there is beautiful.”
Tourism officials in both New Hampshire and Vermont expect a robust foliage season. A statement released by the New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism Development predicts a record-breaking fall season, with a forecasted 5 percent increase in visitors and a 6 percent increase in spending compared with last year. New Hampshire is projected to see 9.5 million visitors and realize $1.42 billion in direct spending this fall, according to the statement.
Last year, Vermont saw 3.2 million visitors who accounted for $600 million in travel-related expenses, and spent $109 million on overnight accommodations, giving the state $37 million in meals and tax revenue for September, October and November. Oct. 10-12 was the highest traffic volume three-day period, and officials expect that to be the same this year.
“We’ve been optimistic the entire fall that this would be another superb foliage season in Vermont,” said Philip Tortora, communications director for the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing. “Without question it has been an unusually dry year, but Vermont has not experienced the drought conditions that other nearby states had to endure.”