Southampton Inn Hosts Discover Long Island Event to Re-Brand Tumbleweed Tuesday, and 'Turn On the Offseason'

“Tumbleweed Tuesday” is a turn of phrase familiar to anyone who has spent significant time on the East End, either as a visitor, full-time or part-time resident. The alliterative moniker for the day after Labor Day signals the start of the off-season, typically associated with a mass exodus of tourists and part-timers back to New York City — when, figuratively, tumbleweeds can be seen blowing down the cleared streets. It’s a welcome day for many locals and workers exhausted from the grind of the busy summer months. But for local business owners, it has represented the start of a time when sales fall off, and belt tightening typically begins.

In an effort to support those local businesses and ensure they can thrive on a year-round basis, the tourism marketing agency Discover Long Island teamed up with several local business and restaurant owners, as well as leaders in local government, to re-brand the day after Labor Day.

They gathered at the Southampton Inn on Tuesday morning in Southampton Village to announce a new name for the significant day — Tourism Tuesday — and that it was time to “turn on the off-season,” a clever phrase coined by Southampton Inn owner Dede Gotthelf. To illustrate the point, Discover Long Island CEO Kristen Reynolds, Gotthelf, restaurant owner Tora Matsuoka, Southampton Village Mayor Bill Manger, Greenport Village Mayor Kevin Stuessi, and other representatives from communities across the East End gathered for a photo against a dark green backdrop with a neon sign stating “Tourism Tuesday” that was turned on with a remote control by Reynolds to ceremoniously mark the start of the off-season.

Before that moment, Reynolds spoke about how, in many ways, the idea that the area experiences a steep drop-off in tourism after Labor Day, and that there is only one season of tourism for the area is an outdated idea. The renaming initiative reflects the tourism success that has expanded in recent years beyond the peak season.

Reynolds pointed to new data revealing record-shattering tourism and visitor spending on Long Island as a whole last year, and on the East End as well, including a 12.7 percent increase in visitor spending, for a total of $7.5 billion in visitor spending on Long Island last year. She shared that Long Island as a whole has not only rebounded from the pandemic, with the tourism industry returning to pre-pandemic levels, but it has exceeded those pre-pandemic markers of success.

She also shared that tourism-related employment in the region reached 76,227 jobs, representing 5.9 percent of all regional jobs, with 4.3 percent in tourism roles. Suffolk County represented $4.3 billion in direct spending.

Reynolds also pointed out that tourism generated $900 million in state and local taxes in 2023, with $506 million coming from sales, property, and hotel bed taxes.

Tuesday’s event was sparked in part by a conversation between Gotthelf and Reynolds, Reynolds shared during her time at the lectern. She said Gotthelf had approached her and asked what Discover Long Island was doing to help local businesses like her own thrive during the off-season, and had first presented the catchphrase of “turning on the off-season.” From there, they coordinated Tuesday’s invite.

Manger and Stuessi spoke briefly about all that their villages have to offer in the off-season.

Manger spoke about attractive events on the schedule for the final four months of the year in the village, such as Southamptonfest, the village’s fall festival, and its popular Christmas tree lighting and parade of lights on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving—set for November 30 this year--which draws thousands of visitors every year and has a Hallmark-movie kind of feel.

Reynolds spoke about the way all the East End towns can offer that kind of vibe, particularly during the off-season, which is appealing to many visitors and gives them a chance to experience the charms the local towns and villages have to offer that differs from what they are accustomed to experiencing in the busy summer months.

“There’s really been an evolution in how visitors engage with Long Island,” she said.