Three East End businesses say 'we're ready' for a return to normalcy

Small business owners in the East End's tourism industry, most of them hurt when last year's season was cut short by the pandemic, are hoping to describe this summer with two simple words: "more normal."

"Many of them have been through the ringer ... emotionally and financially," said Kristen Reynolds, CEO of Discover Long Island, the area's official tourism promotion agency.

Industry insiders are betting on "a completely different summer than the rollercoaster that was 2020's," she said.

"More and more people are getting the vaccine, the governor is easing virus-related restrictions, and for small business owners in our travel and tourism sector, that's a source of great optimism and excitement in terms of what this summer could bring," Reynolds said.

Pent up demand for "a classic Long Island summer" by residents and visitors alike will bode well for the region, she said.

Roger Dow, CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, a non-profit trade group and advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C., agrees. Long Island is well-positioned to attract tourists this summer, he said, but warned a complete return to normal is still years away.

Long Island is "a drive market," ideal for day trips, including beach visits and outings to farms and vineyards, he said.

The Island's "many beautiful open spaces" make it an attractive destination for guests who are still wary of the virus, and — vaccine or not — want to continue practicing social distancing, Dow said. That makes the region likely to bounce back quicker than other areas, he said.

But challenges impeding the tourism sector's full economic recovery remain, Dow said.

"Many international travel restrictions are still in place and a lot of companies are still opting to conduct business virtually ... the loss of international and business travel is still a big concern on the Island and elsewhere," he said.

"Getting tourism numbers back to pre-pandemic levels, that'll happen more slowly and take a much longer time."

A full industry recovery could take five years or more, according to a Travel Association forecast.

In 2020, international travel spending plummeted 79%, while business travel spending in the U.S. fell $245 billion, or 70%, to $103 billion, according to Philadelphia-based research firm Tourism Economics. Leisure travel spending declined 30%, from $824 billion in 2019 to $577 billion in 2020.

"As far as recovery goes, we're counting on leisure [travel] to carry the day," Dow said.

We spoke to three Long Islanders who run tourism businesses on the East End, about their pandemic-related struggles and progress as things inch back to normal. Here are their stories:

First a dip, then a boost

When the pandemic hit last year, Susan Halladay, business manager of Jamesport Bay Suites, a South Jamesport property with 14 rental units, said the inn saw "a sudden dip ...no, a nosedive" in business.

"The cancellations poured in and we had to refund everyone," she said. She estimates the business lost $10,000.

Halladay, who also manages paddleboard and kayak rental company Adventure Paddleboards & Kayaks, a business she runs out of the hotel, said March and April of last year were "beyond stressful."

She was only able to get by financially thanks to a third job: She works as a teacher's assistant at a nearby school.

"I relied on that job for income," she said. "But in terms of keeping staff on, it wasn't enough. I had to lay off four hotel workers, three cleaners and one handyman. They had to go on unemployment."

But in July and in August, "something started to happen," she said.

"People started coming from the city to get away [from the virus], searching for a nice place where they could social distance ... these were people who had never even heard of us or knew we existed before the pandemic but because of what was going on, they discovered us."

The inn's layout works well for social distancing, she said. Room doors face the outside and guests rarely have to cross each other's paths.

The rooms are equipped with kitchens and can accommodate visitors interested in extended stays. And people were staying longer, Halladay said.

"Some were 'working from home,' but with an ocean view," she said. "Others had their children with them and were remote learning."

Those stays helped turn things around, Halladay said. She's since called the four hotel employees back to work and said she's anticipating "an insane summer, with no gaps between reservations."

Most weekends in July and August are already booked, with some of the bookings coming from repeat pandemic customers, she said — "people who stayed here last year and liked our off-the-beaten-path vibe or our paddleboard yoga lessons or just being out here on the water or relaxing."

"Everyone wants to be in the East End in the summer ... but that, that part of it is the most normal part of it all. That we're ready for."

Bonkers for bikes

Khanh Ngo, owner of two East Hampton shops, Khanh Sports, a bicycle rental and sporting goods store, and sunglasses shop EH Eyewear, said the pandemic tested him "as a business owner and as a person" in ways he could've never imagined.

"It definitely forced me to push myself to the limit," he said, "in almost every way."

It forced his eyewear shop to shut down for several months and Ngo had to lay off a handful of employees.

But it also led to a wild explosion of business at his bike rental shop, as cabin fever, gym closures and fears of contracting the virus on public transportation made people well ... bonkers for bikes.

Wasn't that good news for Ngo? "Yes and no," he said, explaining that the demand was so high, the supply chain became strained.

Between April and July — the peak of stay-at-home measures in the U.S. — bicycle sales were 81% higher than in the same period in 2019, according to the NPD group, a Port Washington-based market research firm.

"All of a sudden, it was bikes, bikes, bikes and at that point you couldn't even order from a manufacturer. Some factories closed. There was little to no availability for parts, there were three-month backlogs for some items, delays in shipping," Ngo said.

"I have friends who went out of business because they couldn't get inventory. It was crazy. I had never seen anything like that happen in my 24 years in business."

For Ngo, the bicycle bonanza resulted in a 40% boost in sales at Khanh's Sports. The money made at that store, he said, helped offset losses at the other. Money matters aside, Ngo said the most lasting impact of the pandemic has been on his mental health.

"I'm still coping with it, it really took a toll on me," he said. "It was non-stop, around-the-clock work. I kept thinking 'I can't stop. I have to keep going. What's going to happen if I stop?"

The hectic pace of business at Ngo's shop has since slowed — it's still busy but not how it was, he said. "And that's okay. That's what I'm looking forward to this summer, less crazy, more normal."

Time to thrive

Elaine Fredriksson, who along with her mother Minnie Costas owns Drossos Motel — an "iconic and vintage" 14-room inn her grandparents, John and Alexandra Drossos, opened in Greenport in 1963 — said when she thinks of how the business fared during the pandemic, she counts herself fortunate.

"A lot of people were in town from the city, from Brooklyn or from Manhattan, trying to get away [from COVID], wanting to be outdoors. Some visitors were staying in [Greenport] much longer than they would've otherwise," she said.

"It certainly wasn't a bust for us. It's strange to say, but we thrived."

Drossos, which includes an 18-hole miniature golf course and snack bar, also enjoyed business from guests renting nearby homes or staying in their summer homes for extended periods and looking to have fun while socially distancing, Fredriksson said.

The motel closes in the winter and is usually open again by April.

Last year, they didn't open until June. But "our season, which normally ends Labor Day ... did not end there because there were still so many people here, which for us, was great ... kind of felt like, 'we're the new Hamptons'," she said.

As this year's tourism season gets under way, Fredriksson said her guess is "it's going to be nuts."

Drossos, she said, has seen a recent influx in bookings, including several from couples who earlier in the pandemic had postponed their weddings and are now rescheduling the events and looking to secure rooms for guests.

The reopening of nearby attractions like the Greenport Carousel and the return of the Dances in the Park concert series, both in Mitchell Park, are "positives" she believes will draw even more visitors.

"It hasn't even started yet and I'm already thinking 'where are all these people coming from?' " she said. "It should be a good season ... a return to normal, that's what we all want, that's what we're all waiting for."