Eclipse brings economic benefits to Butler County
The solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, may have been short-lived, but its economic benefits to Butler County might be felt for a long time — particularly for the tourism industry.
Hotels in Butler County were packed or nearly packed, as tourists poured into Western Pennsylvania to witness the last total solar eclipse over the United States until 2044.
Jack Cohen, president of the Butler County Tourism & Convention Bureau, estimates “eclipse fever” could bring tens of thousands of dollars into the county’s economy, even though Butler County wasn’t quite in the path of totality.
“Local hotels had a higher-than-usual occupancy rate,” said Jordan Grady, executive director of the Butler County Chamber of Commerce. “I think it's a net positive in terms of consumer spending.”
The southwest part of Butler County was particularly hard-hit by the tourist boom, as evidenced by heavy traffic on Interstate 79, State Route 19 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
“The traffic on I-79 was crazy. Insanely crazy,” Cohen said.
“If you were driving on the roads yesterday at any time, even late at night, you could tell there was an increase in traffic flow,” Grady said.
Cohen believes some of the tourists who came to Butler County were staying there temporarily, on their way to Erie — the largest area of Pennsylvania located within the path of totality.
“A lot of people stayed over in the morning and drove up to Erie,” Cohen said. “Because the traffic going home was so bad, I would bet some of them stopped over the night.”
This was the case for Audrianna Bly, who manages the SpringHill Suites on Jefferson Street in Butler. The hotel was sold out on the Sunday before the eclipse, she said.
“A lot of people were heading to Erie or Buffalo on Monday,” Bly said. “They wanted to stay in Butler because it was far enough away from the complete craziness of Erie, with the traffic and everything, but they were heading that way for the totality.”
The SpringHill took full advantage of the unique occasion on the night before the eclipse.
“We had some different drinks and snacks for people at check-in that were solar eclipse-themed, like Moon Pies,” Bly said. “Everybody was in a lighthearted mood and happy for being able to leisure travel.”
Another potential beneficiary was Moraine State Park, located in the northwest portion of the county. All 11 of Moraine’s cabins were booked for the day of the eclipse.
“There were a lot of people that went to Marine State Park because it’s much darker there than it is in the city,” Cohen said.
“If there is going to be some long-term effect, I think it would be folks who traveled here and had a good experience while they were here,” Grady said. “They would be more likely to return.”
