Stowe Area Association moves into crisis mode

We are writing to you to provide an update on how COVID-19 has impacted our work, what the Stowe Area Association has done in response and how we are moving forward.  

Impact and response

Around March 9, the first reservation cancellations due to COVID-19 started to come into our central reservations.

• SAA has handled hundreds of cancellations for both the gostowe.com channel and stowe.com in partnership with member lodges. 

• SAA fielded many calls at the visitors center regarding cancellation policies, and other general visitor information as more and more businesses have closed. 

• SAA has served as a central point of communication between members, businesses at large, local/regional legislators, the Vermont Chamber of Commerce and town officials. 

• SAA has coordinated and distributed information every couple of days to members through our member e-newsletter about business resources, including pending legislation, unemployment insurance issues, SBA disaster loans, etc. 

• SAA has set up information landing pages for both members and visitors on its website. 

• The SAA executive committee, made up of five members of the board of trustees, has held phone calls every 2-3 days to evaluate ongoing circumstances and adjust our response.

• SAA’s role of membership support and information sharing (in cooperation with many other organizations and business owners) has been key to assisting with statewide efforts to work through unemployment insurance challenges and tax relief efforts. Its information-sharing efforts have provided fast resources for members to be able to make decisions about their businesses. 

Every organization and business in the country has been facing decisions that just two weeks ago seemed unfathomable. We understand firsthand from our members how painful and difficult these decisions have been at the local level and that there are still more of these decisions to be made. We will do our best to continue to support our membership but also the community at large during these very uncertain days, weeks and months. 

At the same time as we are playing this role, the board of trustees members are dealing with the same challenges in their own businesses as well as the Stowe Area Association administration itself. The silver lining perhaps in all of this, is that because we are all facing the same issues and because we have built these relationships, we are able to help each other get through it. 

Action steps

As we navigate the hourly and daily changing circumstances, the following are action steps moving forward that SAA is taking to further alleviate membership pressures and to ensure the long-term sustainability of SAA. 

• Pausing all digital marketing campaigns and tracking developments in travel and tourism marketing.

• Closure of the visitors center.

• Reduction or elimination of nonessential expenses.

• 90 percent reduction of staff.

At this time, the most important function of the executive director, Carrie Simmons, is to continue to provide member support. Second, it will be her responsibility with the support of the board of trustees and the executive committee to adjust our (low or no cost) marketing messages and to plan for the eventual ramping up of the travel and tourism sector.  

The executive director and the board of trustees will continue to monitor circumstances around COVID-19 and our hospitality and tourism industries and to adjust our strategy as necessary. 

It is critical to remember that the core mission of the Stowe Area Association as a destination marketing organization will be more important than ever as the travel industry begins to recover so that we put Stowe back on the map. We know that our efforts will need to adapt and be smarter, better coordinated and more efficient than ever before. 

We want to thank our Stowe Area Association staff for their continued commitment and hard work during this time. We are deeply saddened to be separated from them through all of this. In the end, we know these are the responsible decisions to make for both the health and safety of our staff as well as our economic sustainability. 

We also want to thank our membership and the Stowe community at large for their support over many years. It is this collaboration, community and camaraderie that provides the most value among all the things we do.

Standing together (albeit 6 feet apart!) is our best chance of getting through these difficult times.

Carrie Simmons is executive director of the Stowe Area Association and Rachel Vandenberg is board president.