Leaders from Ocean City’s different business segments offered updates Tuesday at the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Business Summit and confirmed what many had already reported: the summer of 2014 was a pretty good one.
The event took place at the renovated Adelene restaurant overlooking the beach and boardwalk on the first floor of the Port-O-Call Hotel.
Some of the reports included:
Tourism Commission: Chamber Executive Director Michele Gillian said advertising investments in the outer markets paid off big with double-digit gains in visitors from most East Coast states outside Pennsylvania (which also was up 4.46 percent). She said the marketing theme — “It’s not just a vacation … It’s a tradition” — proved effective.
City of Ocean City: Jim Mallon, assistant to Mayor Jay Gillian, said beach tag and parking fee revenues were both up by 4 percent. Airport fees were up 10 percent and boat ramp fees up 9 percent. He said six of seven concerts in the Monday night rock series on the Music Pier were sold out.
Board of Realtors: Board President Ken Sedberry called it an “exceptional” season for vacation rentals, and he said visitors already are booking for the summer 2015 season. He said 638 homes have sold year-to-date, while just 576 sold in the same period last year. Sedberry also reported that a board golf outing raised $25,000 for the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Ocean City.
Downtown: Downtown Merchants Association Co-Chairman Skip Tolomeo reported a “reasonably good summer” with days that should have been busy turning out slow and vice versa. He said Tuesday and Thursday downtown promotions were successful. Tables at this Saturday’s Fall Block Party are sold out. And the downtown has a busy schedule of fall promotions that continue with trick-or-treating, the Halloween Parade, the Earlier Than the Bird shopping weekend and a full schedule of holiday events.
Hotels and Motels: Jennifer Torres of the Ocean City Hospitality Association said the city saw a “light” July and a “solid” August. Gillian said hotel accommodations were sold out for 10 weekends this summer with Tuesdays and Wednesdays the only weak spots.
Boardwalk: Boardwalk Merchants Association President Wes Kazmarck said “perfect weather” helped keep just about every boardwalk owner happy. “We could use a lot of summers like the one we just had,” he said.
