By MADDY VITALE
Exceptional weather, loosening of COVID-19 restrictions with more people becoming vaccinated, fantastic beach days and warm nights complete with entertainment from the Boardwalk to the downtown made for a banner summer season in Ocean City, one of the best in years.
“I can tell you from conversations this was one of our best summers. I would personally say it seemed to exceed pre-COVID summers, as far as the volume of people in town,” Burt Wilkins, chairman of the city’s Tourism Commission, said in an interview after a commission meeting Thursday.
“I think in general, we had an exceptional summer season and look forward to a strong fall,” Wilkins added.
Families strolled along the Boardwalk. Some visitors played miniature golf, others went to the arcades and amusement parks, did some shopping and grabbed a bite to eat.
To watch the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce video click here:
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The restaurants bustled. The streets were busy. Parking lots were full. Bicyclists zipped along.
After more than a year of the fears, concerns and worries about the pandemic, vacationers and Ocean City locals decided the summer of 2021 would belong to them, and they would take in all that the resort had to offer.
“There is no doubt that 2020 was a tough year for the Ocean City tourism industry with COVID restrictions,” Michele Gillian, executive director of the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce, said in an interview Thursday. “It was especially a heavy lift for the Boardwalk, arcades, amusement parks and water park.”
But fast forward from 2020 to this year, and business boomed.
“The economic activity for the 2021 season was remarkable with rentals, accommodations, beach tags, shopping, dining, retail, and attractions,” Gillian emphasized.
Like Wilkins, Gillian pointed out the strength of the season, especially compared to other years.
“Some businesses are reporting a stronger pre-COVID season than 2019,” she added. “The crowds this year were record numbers, especially in July.”
While it was even busier than other record-breaking years, Gillian said guests had a host of amenities and activities to enjoy, all the reasons why vacationers come back to the Ocean City year after year.
“Our guests really enjoyed all the amenities Ocean City has to offer, but there was a new emphasis on outdoor activities that included back bay activities, biking, walking, running, birding, nature walks as well as the traditional beach and Boardwalk activities,” she said.
Families spread out comfortably on the wide beaches, enjoyed dips in the water. And surfers got a bit of enjoyment from waves churned up from coastal storms at the end of the month.
Wilkins said that commission members spoke about what a fantastic summer it was in Ocean City for the business community.
Wes Kazmarck, a commission member and president of the Boardwalk Merchants Association, told the commission that it was a great summer for Boardwalk merchants.
Fellow commission member Bill McGinnity, president of the Ocean City Restaurant Association, said that it was an “unbelievable summer” in the food industry, Wilkins explained.
And Wilkins and City Councilman and commission member Pete Madden, both broker/owners of Goldcoast Sotheby’s real estate office at 34th Street, said that both sales and rentals were phenomenal this summer season.
“It was just an awesome summer,” Wilkins emphasized.
