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North Carolina's beaches and mountain towns bid a bittersweet goodbye this weekend to the summer tourism season as vacationers sought one last warm-weather getaway before fall.
But despite the weekend's gloomy conditions on the coast and on the bankrolls, most destinations expect declines from this summer to be less drastic than in 2008 due to aggressive marketing campaigns aimed at frugal travelers.
In Asheville, the local visitors bureau has adjusted its advertising strategy this year and introduced a new slogan: “Decompress for Less.” Like many area visitors centers, promotions on the Explore Asheville Web site have been offering deeply discounted hotel rooms and packages, helping some hotels, such as the Grove Park Inn, achieve a sellout holiday weekend.
“What we're seeing right now is that the declines in our tourism numbers over the previous year are decreasing,” says Marla Tambellini, spokesperson for the Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau. “There are signs that the economy is rebounding and people are more likely to travel.”
That's good news for Asheville as the mountain town prepares for the fall foliage season. In Beech Mountain, tourists were already enjoying the fall-like conditions Sunday at the Mile High Kite Festival, where the first 200 children through the gates got a free kite. One visitor estimates those 200 kites were gone within an hour.
Things were a little gloomier on the coast as rain showers dampened the beach plans of many travelers. Businesses had been optimistic after a AAA Carolinas report Friday predicted a 12.5 percent increase over 2008 in the number of N.C. residents traveling this holiday weekend, but noticed a drop in business Monday.
“We'll probably make about $5,000 or $6,000 less than on Labor Day weekend last year,” said Brian Rhue, manager at The Oceanic, a waterfront restaurant on Wilmington's Wrightsville Beach. “We haven't been able to use our pier as much as we'd like. We've got 28 tables out there so it's a pretty good revenue center for us (when it's open).”
Farther up the coast, the Outer Banks has actually seen a boost in its hotel occupancy rates at places like campgrounds, bed and breakfasts, and hotels and motels. Meanwhile, the bulk of its accommodations industry – cottage rentals make up 80 percent of lodging in Dare County – is down 9.8 percent over summer 2008.
“People are staying a shorter amount of time – two or three nights – which would lend to the growth we're seeing in the bed and breakfast segment, camping and hotels” rather than the weeklong stays typically required for beach house rentals, says Aaron Tuell, spokesman for the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau.
And in Myrtle Beach, average occupancy rates for June through August were about even with those in 2008, the Myrtle Beach Sun News reported Sunday, attributing those numbers to increased advertising and heavy discounting. But that discounting – while beneficial to consumers – comes at a price for hotel managers. The average daily rate for lodging was down about 9.5 percent, leaving hotels, motels and the like with less revenue, a tourism official told the Sun News.
Wit Tuttell, spokesman for the N.C. Division of Tourism, says those discounts are what it takes to attract today's tourist vacationing in the recession.
“These are still tough times and it's still hard for people,” he says. “People are trying to save money. They're taking shorter trips and staying closer to home.”
