With no sales tax, NH hotels target holiday shoppers
Associated Press
CONCORD, N.H.
Hotels and inns in sales-tax-free New Hampshire are trying to lure Black Friday shoppers with stay-and-shop packages that come with tempting free gifts or services:
A free purse stuffed with energy bars and coupons to outlet stores. Gift wrapping accompanied by hors d’oeuvres. Shuttle service to the mall.
There have been few takers so far. But that’s not so unusual.
“The same thing happened last year; it was last-minute, it was all the day before,” said Donnie Sullivan, manager of the Country Inn & Suites in Bedford. The hotel is offering a two-night stay starting at $145 for two, with a $50 gift card to a local restaurant and a shuttle service to the Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester. Last year, “we had to find a bigger shuttle,” he said.
Hotel and inn managers say such last-minute bookings in New Hampshire, one of five states without a sales tax, have become common as travelers remain cautious about their budgets and watch for good weather.
New Hampshire does require hotels to collect a 9 percent lodging tax.
Delaware, Oregon, Montana and Alaska also don’t charge shoppers a sales tax, but hotels there don’t appear to be pushing Black Friday stays as much as those in New Hampshire.
In Delaware, some hotels offer year-round shopping packages. And in Portland, Ore., some hotels are offering guests $50 cash for a two-night booking through the holiday season.
New Hampshire aggressively markets itself as a shopping destination, especially targeting neighboring states and Canada. In Vermont, a new study by business groups concludes the state’s 6 percent sales tax continues to stunt commercial growth along its eastern border because shoppers flock to New Hampshire to avoid paying it. Massachusetts has a 6.25 percent sales tax. Maine’s is 5 percent.
In New Hampshire, the Highlander Inn, near the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, is offering its second Black Friday “shopping frenzy” package for Friday night for $109.99 for two. Guests receive a coupon booklet for the mall with shuttle service that leaves as early as 4 a.m. No one booked the package last year, but that hasn’t deterred hotel management, which is considering other shopping-lodging packages for the future.
Marilyn Gordon, owner of the Candlelite Inn in Bradford, usually offers a holiday-shoppers’ weekend package. This year is the first time she’s doing it for Black Friday, in conjunction with the Tanger Outlet- Tilton’s fourth annual Magic of Midnight Sale Thanksgiving evening. Rates start at $181, including the lodging tax.
Guests will get a voucher for a free outlet-coupon book with more than $350 in savings. The outlet mall is about 40 minutes from the inn; Gordon encourages travelers to take scenic drives along back roads to get there and gives them directions. When they return, she’ll have wrapping paper, bows and boxes ready, plus cookies, hot chocolate, hors d’oeuvres and a light supper for them.