Ruidoso tourism hit hard by virus pandemic as shops, restaurants stay empty

RUIDOSO, New Mexico -- Closed for business. Those are the words that Ruidoso residents currently see written across the doors of many businesses in their hard working community.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, rental businesses are unable to operate at full or often even half capacity.

"You can do 25%, which means I can rent 3 cabins, but nobody is traveling," said Cheryl Richardson, general manager of Casey's Cabins. "For now, I am just cleaning and painting and doing repairs until business comes back. It is scary.

As it has with countless other industries, the ongoing pandemic has slowed Ruidoso's once bustling tourism scene to a crawl.

"El Paso is our number one market," said Mayor Lynn Crawford. "That is where we get a lot of our spring and summer dollars from. Many of our people are unemployed now. "

So far, only a single person in Ruidoso has been infected with coronavirus and there are currently no cases in nearby hospitals.

The village is physically healthy but countless shop owners are sick with worry about what the future might holds.

"We are working with the governor as well as other mayors around the state, putting a plan together so we can work towards getting some things back open."

Among the current business closures that are costing the community millions are golf courses and RV parks. Those will all remain empty until social distancing measures have been relaxed.