We've heard about wineries and the economic pain with lack of visitation. Some have been helped by more shipping via their websites. The other parts of the hospitality industry in the wine country are hotels and restaurants.
Hotels are seeing occupancy rates of about one-quarter to one-third below 2019's rates. This is close to the state-wide average. They are charging less per night so revenue is about half of 2019's. Air travel is way down so there are few out-of-state visitors. Luckily for Sonoma and Napa the Bay Area is close by so weekend overnight stays were helping -- when tasting rooms and restaurants were open (as I write this they are all closed again).
Most realize restaurants are in bad shape as the news media focuses on them though most every other small business in in trouble, too. During the summer and fall months restaurants operated with limited outside dining plus takeout. Now it's strictly takeout. Restaurant wine sales, a profitable piece of their business, is dead. Restaurants, of course, come and go, but there are a significant number that have closed permanently or said they're closed for the pandemic. In the tourist towns of Healdsburg and Sonoma there will be people willing to buy the closed restaurants and start something up once things improve.
In 2019 visitor spending was over $2 billion in Sonoma County and over $12 billion for California. The state's tourism dollars spent were cut in half for 2020. In Sonoma County one in ten jobs are there because of tourism. I should say were there.
Let's all hope normalcy starts to return the second half of 2021!
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