[upthesaukee]

People drive to NH and buy gasoline for their car (gas tax), and the company that sells the gas pays a business income tax. They go out to eat, and pay a meals tax, and that restaurant pays a business income tax. Restaurants that are slow and don't need a full staff on board send the staff home. The retailers and food stores do the same thing.

I played golf this afternoon, and when we left Lochmere around 8 PM, we were able to just pull out on Rte 3 and head for home. Very unusual for a holiday weekend. Had light traffic all the way home. Very unusual.

If tourism is down, businesses don't see the business they normally would. It is not just the obvious (restaurants, groceries, gas stations, department stores), but all the little shops. They look forward to the "unofficial" start of summer, and if anything happens to slow down that start, it is not good for NH economy. (My wife's shop saw less business today than Sat of Memorial day weekend last year --- not a good thing).