HELLO BURLINGTON RESTAURANTS & LOCAL BUSINESSES: ARE YOU READY FOR THE SOLAR ECLIPSE?
We're just under three months away from the total solar eclipse that will cover our region on April 8th, 2024. We have events large and small popping up throughout the area and expect to see more develop as we get closer to the eclipse date. Hotels across the region are seeing much higher occupancy rates than normal and most expect to be completely sold out by the end of the month. Short term rentals are also experiencing very high booking volume. Many lodging properties are requiring multi-night stays so eclipse traffic will be here 2-3 days prior to the celestial event.
In an effort to take advantage of this opportunity in what is often a slow time of year, as well as to avoid unexpected issues, restaurants AND local businesses should consider the following:
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Being open on Sunday and Monday - if you are not normally. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
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Possibly offering a limited ‘eclipse menu’ or an 'eclipse feature' to simplify operations and increase capacity.
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If you typically have food deliveries on Mondays, consider changing this delivery pattern as we are anticipating heavier than normal traffic that day, especially after the eclipse ends at 4:30pm.
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Staff who would be working on Sunday and especially Monday, should be notified of this event as their travel times in/out might be longer.
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Across the region, if you want to promote any eclipse-related offerings, submit your events to Hello Burlington as well as the VT Department of Tourism & Marketing. If you’re in Burlington, you can also submit your events for promotion on Love Burlington.
To make it easy for visitors and residents to make dining plans, please take 3 minutes to complete the survey to help us correctly list your hours of operation throughout the weekend as well any events or promotions you plan to have.
