What the COVID shutdown order means for Tahoe and holiday travel plans
It’s shaping up as a gloomy holiday season in Northern California’s biggest winter playland: Lake Tahoe is facing the same COVID-19 shutdown restrictions as much of the rest of the state.
The basin’s California counties fell into the most severe shutdown territory Wednesday, when intensive-care unit capacity in greater Sacramento fell below the state-imposed 15% threshold.
The rules were set to take effect just before midnight Thursday night and were expected to last at least through Dec. 31.
For people thinking of visiting Tahoe for the holidays, that means one nuisance after another. Although ski resorts are open, they’re operating at reduced capacity to allow for social distancing. Restaurants on the California side of the lake are available for takeout and delivery only, while hotels and motels are closed to non-essential travelers.
“It’s not ideal, going into the season,” said Tamara Wallace, the mayor of South Lake Tahoe. “It will be very difficult. Christmas and New Year’s are one of our biggest times.”
Big holiday events at the lake are fizzling out. The south shore’s three-day SnowGlobe music festival has been canceled, for instance.
“It fills our community,” Wallace said. “There’s usually 20,000 attendees every night.”
Yet it’s not as if Tahoe will be a ghost town. Although the state’s official travel guidelines say Californians “are encouraged to stay home or in their region,” people who own vacation homes are allowed to visit them. Gov. Gavin Newsom and other top state officials have encouraged Californians to get outside and exercise.
Tahoe tourism officials say they expect day-trippers from Sacramento and other close-by locations will come up to ski, hike and particpate in other outdoor activities.
During earlier versions of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s coronavirus stay-at-home orders, “we saw people here, wanting to access the outdoors for their mental health,” said spokeswoman Liz Bowling of the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association. She said 70% of the north shore’s housing stock is owned by part-time residents.
Bowling said she believes visitors will make the trek up the hill this winter, but the volume remains to be seen.
“We’re going to see that day-tripper come up. It’s hard to say how busy it’s going to be,” she said.
The ski slopes will definitely be less crowded. Most resorts are requiring advance reservations.
“You can rest assured knowing you will have the space you need,” the Northstar resort in Truckee says on its website.
Boreal, in Soda Springs, offers similar directives to guests: “We have reduced the daily capacity to allow for social distancing and have designed a new phased arrival ticket model, Got Time Tickets, that allows for a percentage of daily guests to arrive at the resort each hour.”
The resort industry knows it’s in for a soft winter. “Like most industries, our resorts have been affected by the pandemic and the related restrictions, but we support and respect the decisions made to keep our communities safe,” said Mike Reitzell, president of Ski California, the industry’s association. “Resorts are likely to see a significant decrease in typical holiday business as it’s normally one of the busiest times of the year.”
The winter restrictions follow a difficult summer season. Hotel occupancy fell to 1% in South Lake Tahoe in April. July 4 fireworks shows were canceled, along with the annual Shakespeare Festival on the north shore.
Local government officials plan to go easy on enforcing the rules. South Lake Tahoe issued a smattering of $1,000 fines earlier this year, including one to a bar that hosted a crowded party, Wallace said. The City Council voted in August to fine businesses and individuals for failing to wear masks, but no fines have actually been issued yet, Wallace said.
“The businesses didn’t want to get fined so they’re all requiring masks,” the mayor said. “We do a lot of education; that seems to have worked really well.”
El Dorado County officials appealed for cooperation as they acknowledged the difficulties the shutdown presents.
“At a time of year whose hallmark is traveling and gathering with family and friends, we understand the frustration this regional stay-at-home order presents, particularly in light of the Lake Tahoe region being part of our county and a globally sought-after destination,” said Carla Hass, the county’s spokeswoman, in an emailed statement. “Further complicating things for those who want to follow the order is the different set of rules just across the border in Nevada.”
Indeed, Northern Californians willing to drive a little further can find a place with a lot fewer rules. Nevada casinos and restaurants are open, albeit with some guardrails. State officials reduced casino capacity from 50% to 25% last month. Surprisingly, gambling revenue has held up fairly well, at least so far: South shore Tahoe revenue dropped only 7% from July to October, compared to a year earlier, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
One reason for the relatively strong casino revenue: There’s less competition from other forms of entertainment, like movies, said Reno casino consultant Ken Adams. Another reason is that the serious gamblers have resumed gambling after months of shutdown.
“The biggest players ... they missed it,” Adams said. “And they’re making up for lost time.”
All of which adds to the frustration of tourism executives on the California side of the lake.
Colleen Dalton, chief executive of Visit Truckee-Tahoe, said hotels and motels in Truckee are calling guests to cancel their reservations through the end of the year — a big setback in a community where tourism is a $149 million-a-year industry.
“For the hotels and the property managers, it’s devastating,” said Dalton, adding that many Californians are booking rooms in northern Nevada as an alternative. “We’ve just got to get through these three weeks.”
This story was originally published December 10, 2020 at 12:49 PM.