August 26, 2011 (NEW HAVEN, CT) Days before its projected landfall in New England, Hurricane Irene was already delivering a blow to the region's tourism industry.
Brides rescheduled weddings, hotels struggled with cancellations and major tourist attractions like Connecticut's Mystic Seaport closed as the powerful storm churned north on a path projected to hit the Connecticut shoreline Sunday. The timing of the storm - on one of the last weekends of summer - could hardly have been worse for an industry already coping with high gas prices and a weak economy.
Even before the storm, AAA was predicting a drop in travel over the Labor Day weekend compared to last year. One expert said Irenewould have a major impact on tourism.
Some hotels were gaining business, however, from utility crews preparing for outages.
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