08/01/2007

How Do Gas Prices Touch OC Tourism?
By Don Klein

Any way you look at it, the high price of fuel is not having a serious impact on business in the Ocean City area. Bus traffic seems to be holding its own, parking statistics in lots and on the streets are up one week and down the next, and higher fuel costs have not stifled fishing enthusiasts.

These conclusions are the result of an informal survey by The Courier. George Thornes, superintendent of transportation for Ocean City, reported that bus ridership was down about 20,000 passengers in May, but up more than 30,000 in June.  
"It doesn't indicate a trend," he concluded.

Boardwalk tram usage is on the down side so far but Mr. Thornes was sure "we will pass last year's numbers when the season is done." The boardwalk business depends greatly on good weather more than anything else.

Inlet parking is down one week and up the next, reported Bruce Gibbs, a spokesman for the maintenance department which runs the parking system at the resort. Street parking meter figures are up this year.

"We are not up, we are not down," Mr. Gibbs said in reviewing the statistics, "I don't know if gas prices are a reason or if it is the weather or some other reason for the fluctuations."
Nothing seems to be stopping the usual healthy state of business at the marinas. "Fishing so far is pretty good," Rolfe Gudelsky, a spokesman for the Ocean City Fishing Center, said. "Fishing is just fine" and not particularly affected by fuel prices.

"We had a great Tuna Tournament," he was referring to the July 11 to July 13 event. "We had more boats than ever," he added. There were 139 vessels competing for the $688,890 purse compared with last year's 119 boats and a purse of $559,000.

"We are seeing a different customer this year," Mr. Gudelsky said. "They are more knowledgeable than ever. They are more selective. They search the Internet for information before coming here," he explained. There are less walk-ins unsure of what they want.
At Bahia Marina, 21st Street and the bay, there are no complaints from Denise Luckenbaugh, the manager. "Our business is very good. We have rentals going out twice a day." The marina operates 16 wooden skiffs, skimmers and pontoons boats and is the base for 17 charter boats and two head boats.

Admitting that business last year was a little bit stronger, Ms. Luckenbaugh had no complaints. "Business is extremely good for us this year. Weather hurt us. April was not a very good month." However, she said the difference in the two years is "relatively insignificant."

Ocean City bus ridership for the first six months of this year was 1,291,106 passengers compared to last year's record of 1,300,836. But the monthly figures increased as the warm weather arrived. Ocean City operates a total of 64 buses, including six articulated or "double" buses borrowed from the state's Mass Transit Administration. At peak, 40 buses are in service at one time. 

Ridership on the popular boardwalk trams is another story. During the six months ending June 30 there were 93,260 passengers compared with 100,081 during the same period last year. Mr. Thornes indicated boardwalk patronage has not yet reached the peak for the season yet.

The level of automobile traffic can be measured to a great extent by the number of cars parked in town. During the week of July 9 through July 15, for example, there were 33,147 parked vehicles at street meters and 29,288 at municipal parking lots. Comparable figures for 2006 were 31,964 and 31,973 respectfully. The difference is a mere 1,502 from one year to the other.

A similar slight difference existed at the inlet parking area during the July 9-15 week. This year there were 114,691 autos parked there compared to last year's figure of 117,188, a decrease of 2.13 percent. The figures for the week of July 2-July 8 this year was 141,178 compared to last year's 141,090, a minuscule increase of .06 percent.

Parking meter revenues went from the 2006 level of $108,517 to this year's $110,567 (up 1.9 percent) and inlet income went from $322,130 to this year's $348,948 (up 8.3 percent).