Ocean City hopes for average numbers in tough economic season for tourism

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Fifty dollars in gas for a trip to the beach? It’s a trade-off Garry Miller and many other Ocean City beach-goers are willing to make.

Miller, of Littlestown, Pa., said the six-hour round-trip drive would cost him about that much in gas but was worth it.

“It’s close, so even though gas is $4 a gallon, you can still come down on a tank of gas,” Miller said as he packed his car with water outside an Ocean City grocery store for a trip to the nearby beach.

Ocean City officials are counting on a summer full of travelers like Miller willing to cope with $4 gas prices, rising food costs and tight economic times to bring the resort the annual dollars it thrives on. 

The first weeks of the season seem promising, according to data gathered by the town. Ocean City uses a “demo-flush” system that tracks waste-water use and equates that data to an estimated number of visitors.

While the Memorial Day weekend crowd was down from an unusual high last year, weekend estimates since have been slightly higher than last year, said the town’s public relations director, Donna Abbott.

“People may cut back in a lot of areas to combat a challenging economic time,” Abbott said. “But they don’t necessarily cut back on a vacation. That’s seen as a family tradition, they don’t want to deny their kids a trip to the beach. If they can afford it all, they’ll do it.”

Virtually all of Ocean City’s visitors drive in, and while that’s not getting any cheaper, it still beats flying. The town may end up benefiting from soaring airfares just as it did after the Sept. 11 attacks turned off many travelers to flying, said economist Anirban Basu of the Sage Policy Group.

“There are some people who would have gone to Ocean City this year but will not,” Basu said. “But there’s a group of people who would have gone to Las Vegas or Charleston but will not because of the price of airfare. It may be the case as it was after Sept. 11 that Ocean City will be a net beneficiary of the shift from fly-to to drive-to destinations.”

Business has been a little slow for some longtime employers, said state Del. Jim Mathias, who served as Ocean City mayor from 1996 to 2006. Some are paring down costs and stocking less inventory because of the economy. Those moves and the city’s new media campaign indicate a proactive approach by the resort to ride out the current tough times, he said.

“This rude economy is a reality now, and anybody who thinks it’s just going to turn around, that’s not the right management strategy,” Mathias said.

With the economy deteriorating, Basu said a “decent” year for O.C. might turn out to be a big win.

“Most restaurateurs and hoteliers would be more than happy to have an average year,” he said. “So far, it’s shaping up to be an average year. We’ll see.”

Staff Writer Mike Silvestri contributed to this story.

acahall@baltimoreexaminer.com

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