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Saturday, September 09, 2017

Labor Day: big boost delivered

A questionable weather forecast and a rainy Saturday may have scared a few visitors away this past weekend, but most Ocean City businesses saw an increase in numbers as compared to last year and they attribute the uptick to most Maryland public schools beginning classes after Labor Day.

“I do think that the extra week made a difference,” said Jessica Waters, Town of Ocean City communications manager. “Unfortunately, the weather may have impacted that a little this year, but we heard from several families who were coming to Ocean City to celebrate their extra week of summer.”

Susan Jones, executive director for the Ocean City Hotel-Motel-Restaurant Association, said most hotels did not sell out and there were a few cancellations because of rain.

“Businesses did better than last year with Sunday and Monday saving the weekend weather-wise,” Jones said. “I think schools starting after Labor Day and the Maryland Week promotion helped us by putting Ocean City on the minds of Marylanders. It reminded people summer is not over. Restaurants and hotels are open and there is still time to get a great deal.”

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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

C'mon, how could those extra days and a holiday weekend not have a positive economic impact? It was a no-brainer.

Anonymous said...

I don't think it was anything like they hoped. The place was more like a regular Sept. weekend. Not a holiday when I went don Sunday.

Anonymous said...

1247 - Exactly. Traffic was fine, nighttime was cool and not crazy....its OVER and the town still needs to figure out how to get folks into town mid week. Vacancies galore again this summer, which means lost revenue everywhere!!!

Anonymous said...

4:58
I think their prices on hotels are to high. For what it costs for a week in a hotel or condo you can fly to a resort somewhere that you don't have to deal with loads of people. OC is still a nice weekend trip for most. If people want to spend a week at the beach they are going to the beaches in NC and SC.