Storm predictions scare away potential big weekend crowd
The offshore meanderings of Tropical Storm Hermine and the dire weather forecasts attached to it didn’t quite ruin the Labor Day weekend for Ocean City businesses, but they certainly dampened the tourist turnout.
“It was definitely a mixed bag,” Susan Jones, executive director for the Ocean City Hotel-Motel-Restaurant Association, said. “We were not sold out and there were plenty of cancellations.”
Some members of the lodging industry gave customers rain checks to return in the future and others refused to give a refund since Ocean City was not being evacuated. Jones said a number of people cancelled their stays well before there were penalties.
“Restaurants saw a decline in business especially outdoor eateries,” Jones said. “Generally speaking, most restaurants did not have the amount of business they are used to having thanks to the storm.”
Greg Shockley, owner of Shenanigans Pub and Shoreham Hotel on the Boardwalk, had a decent weekend despite the storm.
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5 comments:
The media and weather men are the CHICKEN LITTLE of our time period.....CHICKEN LITTLE ALWAYS HOLLERED " the sky is falling, the sky is falling"....
Some didn't give refunds or rainchecks because there was no evacuation. A hurricane warning apparently wasn't enough.
We have become a nation of wussies and fraidy cats. Slight chance of snow = blizzard warnings. Rain and wind = Hurricane. Everyone better listen to the government - they know best. Before all this "technology", you got what you got. A few days warning of bad weather. Deal with it. Now we have fancy computer models that give cones of uncertainty.
Better fiscal management/responsibility should be priority one within City Hall so when "acts of nature" transpire, the industry isn't devastated.
Also, its offseason time - lets dust off the strategic plan and if required, make necessary updates. Don't wait until it expires to look into it again (that was the failure of previous regimes). You want OC to be a year round environment, manage it like a year round environment.
11:45 AM and even with technology, some of the weather "experts" locally still get it wrong because it's always too hard to call!
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