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HOLIDAY INN

Through most of ancient Rome’s history it maintained a work schedule that would be the envy of any state considered socialistic in this day and age. The Romans didn’t recognize weekends as being days off from work. Instead, they had 177 days a year as work holidays. That’s almost a full half year off from what we might consider to be work. Today’s world of western culture is a bit different. Yes, there are about 104 weekend days, and then another ten holidays, depending on definitions and who’s measuring. But, in reality, with the advent, and now rush, of electronic communications coming home with us, and making us accessible twenty-four hours a day, very few people have full weekends off. Most of us are called, texted, or expected to work on computers for work while at home, and supposedly enjoying recreational time. This article isn’t about whether that increasing work practice is good or bad. This article is about holidays, and how they impact the business community in and around Geneva Lake. And that impact is simply huge.   From Octoberfest to Winterfest, Fat Tire, the Alzheimer’s Walk, Venetian Days, Christmas Holidays, the Pulled Pork event in Town of Linn, the Steak and lobster boil in Fontana, and more, these holidays mean everything to the small business communities surrounding the lake, because that is when people come out to buy their products. The new “Visit Lake Geneva” director, a hard working, brilliant and nice guy named Ed Svitak, is fully on-board with this fact.

How can the Geneva Lake communities increase their holiday allure to visitors? Community Christmas decorations need to be increased, with the towns being lit up in gala attire throughout. Some towns across the country have made themselves into Christmas-all-year sites, offering the best shopping season all year. The movie “Holiday Inn” spawned the most successful hotel chain ever, and it’s still thriving. The movie the motel chain based itself on was called Holiday Inn. Of course, no lake or geographic area is going to open a night club and only be open on holidays, as was depicted in the movie. But having a deep understanding of today’s need for the public to have anything to celebrate, taking into account how negative much of the media and political reporting has become, it is wise for Ed to go to work considering how to maximize how all the holidays (as well as special celebratory days already in action), may be drawn upon to increase excitement, interest, and just plain fun.

The Christmas decorations running up and down the road into The Grand Geneva Resort, off of Highway 50 just east of Lake Geneva, serve as an excellent example of just how much a little effort and expense can yield fantastic benefits to the community. Those decorations, although scaled back from what they used to be, are still one of the signature decorations for the local area, Christmas notwithstanding. Who is Geneva Lake attempting to attract in the way of visitors, and what kind of conduct can be expected from who shows up, and when they show up? Those considerations may be tougher to analyze than first appearances might indicate, but the fact that some parts of Geneva Lake are coming together to figure out how to make the lake area a celebration of life, and an extremely positive place to visit, is not only mentally healthy, but good for business.