An increase in reservations on upcoming holiday weekends — including Thanksgiving — has some Tombstone merchants expecting to compensate for the past slow days.

“We got some big parties and big reservations. We are excited for that. It should end up going really well for us,” said Colin Regan, manager of the Crystal Palace Saloon and Restaurant at 420 E. Allen St.

Thanksgiving weekend brings lots of holiday parties, Regan said, adding that his restaurant has a wedding reservation on that Saturday.

“About 70 people will come in for the wedding,” Regan said. “They paid for each person for a buffet type, anywhere between $20 to $25 per person. That should be a big ticket right there. We can make up for some of the slow weekends.”

The city generally sees businesses pick up during events and holidays, and locals seem optimistic that the events will increase tourism, said Robert Carreira, director of the Center for Economic Research in Sierra Vista.

Chad Sharkey, assistant manager of the Holiday Inn Express Hotel and Suites at 580 W. Randolph Way, said most of the rooms at his hotel are currently reserved over Thanksgiving weekend and all 60 rooms were full over the weekend of Nov. 14 and 15 because of an old west comedy performance.

“For the holiday season, I expect sales to be at or slightly above last year’s levels due to higher levels of consumer confidence and much pent-up demand as consumers have tightened their belt drastically over the past two years,” Carreira said. “In talking to folk in town, I get the sense that there is optimism that this year will be a better year for tourism than last year, and there is a sense that, so far, things are looking better.”

Regan said it seems that his customers are also not too afraid to spend extra dollars at the restaurants.

October is typically the busiest month for Tombstone tourism, Regan said. He said he even had a weekend in which he worked about 42 hours as a bartender; normally his average shift is about six hours per day.

“I was more than happy to make the money,” he said.

Sales this month for hotels including the Best Western Lookout Lodge have decreased in contrast to the same months in the previous year. They are attempting to keep up with last year’s revenue with a special discount for this month and hoping for the increase in visitors as Thanksgiving draws near. Even though the Best Western Lookout Lodge only has a quarter of its rooms booked.

“October was decent for us, but compared to the last year we were down about 25 percent because of the recession,” said Inder Sandhu, owner of the Best Western at 781 N. Highway 80 in town.

“Overall, for the rooms, we are 32 percent down in revenues and 42 percent in restaurants. We used to have dinner last year. (Now) we serve only breakfast.”

Sandhu said his hotel is expecting more visitors to come in the last minute because he said he assumed people might have trips planned but won’t be able to afford it.

“On holidays, we do fine because Tombstone is the destination. A lot of people are doing road trips and stuff,” he said. “A husband, wife and children may say on Friday, ‘Let’s go to Tombstone’.”

“These are the same people who plan a month in advance and make a reservation. The reason that they don’t do it is because maybe a wife or husband is unemployed and then they decide at least they want to have a vacation,” Sandhu said. “People are having a difficult time but still visiting Tombstone.”

The Best Western is offering a $20 discount to attract more people this month, he said.

Thomas Rollins, manager of the Best Western, said visitors receive 20 percent off from a regular price of $101.99 only during November.

“On major holidays and events, yes, we are okay,” Sandhu said.