Gate City Hotels Already Feeling Impact of Eclipse Attendance

Although the most action will have people flocking north of Pocatello to catch a glimpse of the once-in-a-lifetime total solar eclipse, the Gate City is already feeling the impacts of the thousands of people expected to flock into the region.

With the Fairfield Inn and Suites having been open for only less than two weeks, it’s already booked, solid for the eclipse.

Fairfield director of sales Megan Moore said they have already been preparing for this before they even officially opened their doors to the public.

“It’s ‘all hands on deck’ where everyone will be here all weekend long to prepare and make sure we have all of our resources readily available,” Moore said.

She also said they will be watching websites and social media outlets to make sure they can keep the guests informed on traffic issues in real-time.

On Tuesday morning Pocatello Fire Chief David Gates brought community leaders and hotel managers together to discuss what everyone could expect to see during the days surrounding the eclipse. He stressed the important role hotels have when it comes to making sure the guests stay safe.

“We were thinking maybe hotels could give guests a sheet with information on it such as where they could find ITD information and how to access it in real-time,” Gates said.

Right now EMS and police are coming up with a plan just in case there is an overload on the system with so many people using the Internet or cell service at the same time.

“This is really two-fold,” Gates explained. “There’s a wide spectrum of potential positive impacts it could have on the community, but with that, there is also the potential for overloading police and emergency units.”

Gates said he was told to expect anywhere between 50,000 and three million people to pack into eastern Idaho during that time period.

“I can tell you there is no way I could conceivably plan for three million people. If we were to get three million into this region, that would be sheer system overload,” Gates said.

Realistically, he said that number might look closer to about 300,000 people instead.

However, he still informed the street systems are designed for roughly 60,000 people, so they will be using as many resources as possible to keep everyone safe.

“I view this as a community event in which we all need to work together to make sure we are all prepared, to do the best we can, and to show good hospitality to our visitors.”

Moore agreed, saying this is a collaborative effort between all of the hotels and various other local agencies.

“Police, the fire department, the city, gas stations, grocery stores – it’s a community effort where one could not do it without the other so we’re really just coming together to make Pocatello shine so we have repeat travelers who fall in love with this town as much as we love it,” Moore said.

Gates added, the most important note for people to remember is that patience will be key.

“Put on your great, Pocatello smile and make people feel welcome. There will be a lot of people who will be tired, irritable, hungry, thirsty, and we just need to have a big dose of patience during this period of time.”