Summer Highs and Winter Lows

According to local business owner Carol Lynn Lapotka, you know it’s busy in Polson when you can’t make a left turn. For years, Polson has been a central location for summer tourism in Montana. Whether people are here for the lake, the local Cherry Festival, or the mountains, it is undeniable that Polson gets crowded when June comes around.

However, while the influx of people stimulates the economy tremendously for those few months, when fall comes around and people head south, to escape the cold weather or head back home from vacation, it often leads to a stagnant economy.

 Lapotka, who owns HandMade Montana and is a member of the Polson Chamber of Commerce, says that during the summer, businesses rely on tourists to spend their vacation dollars for gifts, lodging, and food. She emphasizes that the Polson community is small and not sustainable on its own without those additional dollars being driven into our local economy. 

Polson is busier in the summer than it is in the winter. For businesses who operate all year round, Lapotka said, “I wouldn’t say it’s a problem, but it’s a strain on a lot of local businesses that aren’t able to adapt and have a second income source or flow for their business.” One thing they are trying to do in the Chamber of Commerce is come up with off-season events to help with these issues. They recently had a tourism summit where they presented information to local businesses about how to capture the tourists and those dollars being spent. It focused on social media and how to market your events, with Glacier Country Tourism giving a presentation about who is spending their dollars in Polson. One of these off-season events was The Ladies’ Night Out event, which took place on a Friday evening in May. The participating businesses downtown had their doors open so that women could come and shop to support their local business. They gave out free tote bags and coupon cards that were good for $5 off of all participating stores. 

Big events in the summer like the Cherry Festival are heavily supported by tourists, but without tourists, would Polson be able to host an event like this? Lapotka thinks the local community would definitely support it. “The tourist aspect of it helps raise it to the level it is, as far as attendance and the amount that is spent at the events.” Flathead cherries have a reputation as being one of the best cherries in the world, which is why people plan their vacations around the cherries, according to Rod McCrae, a commercial cherry orchard owner based out of Polson and a member of the Flathead Lake Cherry Growers Association. While he doesn’t have to sell to tourists to turn a profit, for smaller orchards, local sales are a big deal. “A lot of them make their summer wages selling locally at the farmers market and cherry festival,” McCrae said. Growing cherries can be a long and strenuous process, one that essentially takes all year. Last year, many orchards didn’t have a crop because temperatures dropped below freezing abruptly in February. Luckily most orchards have insurance for events like these, and cherry blossoms surround Flathead Lake this spring. Overall, McCrae thinks that tourism is a great opportunity for cherry growers. 

Although summer tourism does generally benefit Polson, there are still some challenges. For businesses, it’s making sure they’re well staffed and well stocked. Lapotka said that while most people are very polite and considerate, some people that are visiting don’t respect that Polson is a small town. “One thing with the Chamber we’re doing is informing businesses that it is very important to have a certain level of professionalism, and to have a Google business page or a Yelp page.” This is because people from out of town and bigger cities use those resources to find their information. Lapotka thinks focusing on off-season tourism would be beneficial and the Chamber hopes to do an event in the fall where they can position Polson as a small town with easy access to local skiing options in the winter. And while there are recreational opportunities in Polson during the winter, it's a bit more difficult to recreate locally because one would need a tribal permit. Lapotka said, sometimes that can be a little confusing for tourists and some education needs to happen there. “I think everyone is really appreciative of it [summer tourism]. We’re hoping this year that people will choose to spend their dollars locally.”