Memorial Day weekend: Good or bad?

Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial kickoff of summer, brought mixed reviews from our readers about how busy the holiday weekend really was in Branson. We asked readers—in particular business owners and managers—if their organization was busier than usual, about the same as previous years, or slow, and what they felt contributed to the extra traffic, or lack thereof.

Jacqueline simply answered, "SLOW."

Robert noted, "Slow for businesses downtown."

Said Dana, "I haven't gotten the calls I usually get, so slower than normal I would say."

One reader noted that it was slow for condo reservations, a fact that he attributed to the higher gas prices.

Chase agreed that business was slower, but thought the rainy weather was the cause.

Readers Chris and Keshia both stated that their respective businesses were slow.  

Stephanie reported, "Not your typical Memorial Day weekend. Slow and quiet."

Said Chandee, "We were slower than normal. Still had appointments booked, but less than previous years. Our spring break was considerably slower than usual as well. We may just be in the loop where spring and summer travelers are going elsewhere. Hopefully it swaps out this fall and winter."

Chris noted, "I talked to a major OTA (Online Travel Agent) market manager who told me all of Branson was 'soft' or slow."

Tanya shared her input, stating, "Branson is dying."

On the other hand, several area businesses saw an increase in traffic over the weekend.

Karen said, "My flea market booths did amazing. Nothing stopped people from buying a big variety."

Laura noted, "All our properties were completely booked out."

One area business, Tannehill Mechanical, reported, "Very busy due to honest, high quality service work on HVAC and refrigeration equipment."

Jane said, "Our rentals were fully booked," and Lisa agreed, "We were completely booked."

A local business shared, "Busy, busy, busy. But we run by appointment, so the variable like you've mentioned don't usually come into play for our holiday weekends. However, weather can definitely make an impact."

Dianne stated, "We had a good weekend. Busy."

Shellie added, "We were booked up in our rentals."

Carli said, "We were busy and our numbers were up from last year."

Said Ronny, "King Condos are Rockin'! Thank you, Elvis fans!"

Rebecca said, "Busy, busy. Up over previous years."

Kandice added, "I work on the Landing. Memorial Day we did like three times more than 2025."

For some businesses, this year was about the same as previous Memorial Day weekends.

One reader shared, "I am not an owner but as a server in a restaurant on the Landing, I can say that we hit last year's numbers. Slightly better, especially Saturday and Sunday."

Said Nathan, "I was down on Friday and Saturday, so I cut staff down on Sunday. Sunday destroyed us. We ended up being $3,000 up from last year and super understaffed. Probably could have done another grand if I was staffed properly."

Rae noted, "Steady. Same as always this time of year."

One reader explained, "I work for a large nightly rental company. I wouldn't say it was slower than last year, but the weekend itself wasn't too busy for us. We had a lot of arrivals on Friday, which is not uncommon. We were about 80% capacity. I do believe current gas prices are causing people not to travel."

Robert disagrees, saying, "I don't think gas prices slowed anyone down.  It has been this high before, and I think gas is still the cheapest amenity for vacations.  Try taking an Uber on vacation."