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Holiday Weekend to Draw More than 600K Visitors

Published Wednesday Aug 29, 2018

Robert Frost Homestead

Robert Frost Farm Historic Site in Derry. Courtesy NH Travel and Tourism.


Labor Day weekend is almost here and the state highways and byways are sure to jammed with tourists from near and far. NH Dept. of Transportation spokesman Bill Boynton says August is always the busiest month, with the highest traffic volume of the year. And, Labor Day is one of the ‘big four’ holiday weekends for traffic, along with Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Columbus Day weekend, he says.

NH tourism officials are projecting an increase in visitation and spending this Labor Day Weekend. The NH Division of Travel and Tourism Development is anticipating approximately 660,000 visitors will spend an estimated $95 million over the three-day weekend, representing a 3.5 percent increase in visitors and a five percent increase in spending compared with last Labor Day Weekend. The Labor Day Weekend is typically the state’s second busiest travel weekend.

“New Hampshire has experienced a positive summer travel period and that momentum will carry through the long holiday weekend,” says Victoria Cimino, director, NH Division of Travel and Tourism Development. “Strong consumer confidence, reasonable gas prices, and a sunny weather forecast, are significant factors in this year’s Labor Day Weekend forecast.”

A sampling of activities and events visitors can experience during Labor Day weekend:

Why do we celebrate Labor Day? From a post on the NH Dept. of Employment Security website..and according to the US Department of Labor, the holiday is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers.

Two men are generally credited for the holiday. Matthew Maguire, a machinist from Paterson, N.J., and Peter J. McGuire, a New York City carpenter who helped found the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, are said to have suggested a holiday to honor working people in the United States. In 1887, Oregon became the first state to make Labor Day a legal holiday, and in 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed a bill making the first Monday in September, Labor Day, a national holiday. The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union.

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