Page 35 - BusinessWest March 31, 2021

Mary Kay Wydra says Western Mass. is well- positioned to raise its profile in the tourism world.
because they couldn’t go anywhere last year. That’s music to the ears of Stacey Warren and
Gillian Amaral, two veterans of the hospitality industry who recently launched their own enter- prise, Three Chics Hospitality, which seeks to market its clients to group-tour operators.
“Our clients are group-friendly restaurants
“A great number of people are planning to travel, and Western Mass. is well-positioned to get summer travelers. We have that combination of indoor and outdoor attractions and all this green space for recreation.”
and attractions interested in having motorcoach groups come to their establishments or attrac- tions; we offer consulting and marketing for them,” said Warren, who has worked in the hotel field for 17 years.
She called such connections “vital” to the region. “Every single bus that comes in may need 20 or 25 overnight rooms, then you have 20 to 25 dinners at different restaurants, attraction tickets ... one bus is really a big impact on the economy.”
Amaral agreed. “Based on multiple tours we can bring in, the economic impact to the region will be huge,” she said. “And just based on con-
escape New York City or Boston at the height of the pandemic. That’s evident in the surging real- estate market, but also in the optimism many in the tourism and hospitality sector are beginning to feel about what lies ahead.
It can be detected in Hampden County’s hotel occupancy, which was 39% in January — down from the 49% recorded a year earlier, but signifi- cantly higher than the statewide figure of 29%, and on par with national numbers.
It’s also impacting surveys, like a recent ‘senti- ment study’ conducted by American Express that found that 84% of Americans have travel plans in
the next six months, the highest figure since the earliest days of the pandemic. And 69% of those intend to take advantage of ‘second-city’ destina- tions, Wydra noted — in other words, those out- side of big cities and top tourist spots.
Places, she said, like Western Mass.
“A great number of people are planning to travel, and Western Mass. is well-positioned to get summer travelers,” she added. “We have that combination of indoor and outdoor attractions and all this green space for recreation.”
One more statistic from the survey: 61% of travelers intend to spend more than normal
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