Jordan Beck | Daily Press Jarred Drown, owner of Terrace Bay Hotel, inspects a vacant room at the hotel for cleanliness recently.

ESCANABA — The U.P. State Fair was scheduled to be held in Escanaba last week — that is, before the event was postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Representatives of local businesses spoke about the financial impact that this situation has had.

At Terrace Bay Hotel, owner Jarred Drown said summer is the busiest time of the year. The week of the U.P. State Fair is one of the busiest parts of the season there.

“The two best weeks of the year are Fourth of July week and fair week,” he said, noting hotels can fill up at premium rates during these weeks.

Though the hotel was not charging premium rates last week, Drown said occupancy was been strong there. He expected the same to be true of other hotels in the area.

“Everybody’s still going to have a decent week,” he said.

He went on to say an important factor continuing to drive people to the region has been the outdoor recreation opportunities it provides.

“The Upper Peninsula has an outdoor product that still allows people to get outside and do something,” Drown said.

The U.P. State Fair is also an important event for the Magnuson Grand Pioneer Inn and Suites.

“It fills the property at top rates, and that’s money we put away to get through the winter season,” Manager Jim Stankowicz said.

He noted occupancy rates were down “considerably” compared to this point in 2019.

Stankowicz said the hotel is already seeing the impact of another postponed event that was set to be held at the U.P. State Fairgrounds — the Great Lakes Logging & Heavy Equipment Expo.

“(That’s) a huge money-maker for us, too,” he said.

Pure Michigan’s promotion of tourist attractions in the Upper Peninsula has helped business to some extent, however.

“We get some of that overflow, and weekends are good for us from that,” Stankowicz said.

Local restaurants see a boost from the U.P. State Fair, as well. At Dobber’s Pasties, business typically increases the week before the fair, during the week of the fair and several days after the fair ends.

Because of this, a decline in revenue at Dobber’s compared to revenue during the 2019 U.P. State Fair had already been apparent before the 2020 fair was originally scheduled to start.

“We were down about 20 percent on the weekend,” owner Brad Mantela said.

He anticipated a similar drop in revenue throughout the week.

Still, Mantela was optimistic about the remainder of the area’s 2020 tourism season.

“We hope people … enjoy the U.P. for the rest of the summer and really into the fall,” he said.

At Rosy’s Diner, owner Rosy Cox had been feeling the effects of both the fair’s postponement and a general decline in tourism this summer.

“I just think it’s a little slower … because nobody’s coming to town. This is normally a packed week,” she said.

She also said fewer local residents had been eating at the diner since the pandemic started.

“It’s down because of the COVID thing, period,” Cox said of business at her restaurant.

Local gas stations have also been impacted by the fair’s postponement. In the past, the week of the U.P. State Fair has been one of the busiest weeks of the year at ECO Fuels — and, while business has been healthy there recently, it is not at the level it could have been had the fair not been postponed.

“There’s lots of traffic, but not as much as we’d expect to see,” Manager Paul Carne said.

Despite this, Carne noted it is hard to tell exactly how much of an impact the loss of the fair has had on ECO Fuels. The business recently remodeled its former garage space, which is now home to a convenience store.

“We’ve changed everything this year,” he said.

As the pandemic continues, Carne encouraged people in the area to continue keeping safety precautions in mind.

“We hope everyone stays safe and sound in this unusual year,” he said.