Gasoline prices approaching $4 per gallon probably won’t be enough to keep crowds away from the beaches this holiday weekend — at least, that’s what tourism bureaus are hoping.

Ocean City, Md., has been employing the slogan “We’re just a half tank away” to persuade travelers to come to the shore, about three hours from the Washington area. Mayor Rick Meehan said 250,000 to 300,000 visitors will come this weekend.

“We’re actually expecting a bigger crowd,” Meehan said. “It’s probably worked to our advantage when people stay a little closer to home.”

Neighboring Rehoboth Beach, Del., expects 30,000 to 40,000 tourists for Memorial Day. The resort town usually brings in its best numbers for the Fourth of July weekend, not Memorial Day, City Manager Greg Ferrese said.

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“I don’t expect a decrease in tourism because we’re in such a wonderful location,” Ferrese said. The beach is situated close to Baltimore, Washington and New York.

The Maryland Transit Administration is projecting 355,000 vehicles will cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, which leads to the Delaware and Maryland beaches, this year, a 3 percent increase from last year.

Mark Soifer, public relations director for Ocean City, N.J., said tourism tends to be more dependent on weather than gas prices. Soifer said many Washington travelers already opt for Ocean City, Md., instead of New Jersey because of proximity.

“There’s going to be an impact,” said Carolyn McCormick, director of the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau in North Carolina, which draws tourists from the Washington area, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania. “When I take a look at last year compared to this year, gas is a dollar more. Your middle-income travelers and even your upper-middle-income travelers are going to be cautious.”

But McCormick said she expected attendance this weekend to be about average, with more people carpooling to the beach and electing to stay for an entire weekend rather than just for a day or two. The area is projecting 175,000 visitors; the Outer Banks get about 300,000 tourists during peak times in the summer.

melissa.frederick@dcexaminer.com