Ocean City prepares for the busiest time of year
OCEAN CITY, Md – Coming out of the pandemic, Ocean City had some of the busiest years its ever seen. In many ways it’s still business as usual this summer, though some things have changed.
Local businesses are gearing up for the busiest time of the year, and Bull on the Beach restaurant owner Phil Houck has high expectations: “I mean all the way around we got 15-20 million people within a 4-5 hour drive? I think we’re very fortunate in Ocean City. I think we’re looking at a good year.”
Houck said that they have noticed the increased cost of food due to inflation, but they still haven’t raised the price of a single item on the menu. That might not be the case for every business though, as Susan Jones, Executive Director of the Ocean City Hotel Motel Restaurant Association said, “So all of those costs are going to lead someone looking at the bottom line and saying ‘Well we’ve got to be at this profitability level, so we may have to raise the cost of the menu item, or the cost of the hotel room per night.'”
But more than increased supply or labor costs, Jones said that insurances rates is what they’ve seen spike more than anything, with some businesses getting dropped by their insurer out of the blue: “We actually have seen some of the insurance companies who insured some of our hotels for years coming back and saying ‘Sorry we’re no longer gonna insure you, you’re in a flood zone. You’re in a zone we no longer cover.” Jones says that this often leaves business owners scrambling for coverage.
As with any summer destination, the local economy can rise and fall with the weather. According to Jones, the accessibility of online booking platforms has caused recent travel trends to become very unpredictable. “Early season bookings are not happening like they used to. So people are just waiting till the very last minute to say ‘Okay, Weather Man says sunshine so let’s just take a chance and do it.'”
Because so many people are making their plans last minute, Ocean City has had to take a slightly different approach when it comes to attracting crowds. With the last-minute and fair-weather nature of recent summers, the town has put an increased focus on hosting events that bring people to town regardless of the weather. “Over the last few years, we’ve taken a harder look at what events can we drive to town…You have to give people a reason to come down here. No longer are people just laying on the beach for days at a time. They need a reason to travel, an event,” Jones said.
This summer, Ocean City will play host to everything from live music, to Professional Bull Riding and high-speed boat races. The season kicks off with Springfest from May 2nd to May 5th.
