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BEAR LAKE — Typically when water levels are high and beaches are smaller at Bear Lake, the number of visitors takes a little bit of a dip. But that's not the case this year, as you may notice if you visit Bear Lake this Labor Day weekend.
They say that competition is good for business, but it can also be good for helping manage the crowds.
Thad Willis, owner of the Summit Pizza in Garden City said the lines can get long, especially during the weekends.
"We could for sure use some more food and retail businesses to keep up with the demand," Willis said. "Our sales are continually going up."
Willis, along with several other business owners said the numbers continue to increase — a trend that started during the pandemic — and show no sign of stopping.
Rich Shaw is the co-owner of Shawka's Shakes & Sodas.
"It's great mingling with the people," he said.
Shaw said it's hard to complain about the growth.
"It's been a great summer. We've been very, very busy. (The) whole town has been super busy. It's just every year, it exponentially gets busier and busier," Shaw said.
But the continued growth is something the Bear Lake Valley Chamber of Commerce is looking at closely.
"Our restaurants are — they're as busy as ever," Mark Smoot, executive director at the Chamber, said.
At the same time, Smoot said occupancy levels are down as new rental properties continue to come into the market and more visitors are seemingly coming in for day trips.
"The construction permits continue to come in strong for builders to build new homes up here. We have over a hundred new doors of vacation rentals," Smoot said.
And if you're going to visit this weekend, you may need to be patient. Not only is good help hard to find, but many of the local workers are now back in school.
"We have such a limited supply of labor," Willis said.
This weekend, the Bear Lake Valley Chamber of Commerce will have a street festival set up to let people know about the many activities at Bear Lake year-round. It's part of the effort to expand the tourism season.
