Parking meter revenue, hotel bookings show beach economy maintaining post-pandemic highs
Some of this summer's first available data shows tourism remained high at the Delaware beaches in 2023.
Parking meter revenue and hotel bookings indicated a slight decrease from 2022, a record year in many cases, but nearly all numbers were higher than in 2019 and 2020.
“Looks like the secret is out and, with the pandemic behind us, the last two summers have brought more visitors to the Delaware coast, and Rehoboth Beach in particular,” said Rehoboth Beach spokesperson Lynne Coan.
Rehoboth Beach – Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce President Carol Everhart noted a 10,000-room decrease in hotel bookings.
“Visitation was strong. Overnight stays were lighter,” Everhart said. “It wasn’t drastic but definitely a dip.”
Other resort areas are seeing the same thing, according to Everhart.
“That leads me to believe it’s not the destination,” she said. “The economy is part of it. The other part is that people can now travel out of the U.S. after they couldn’t for a long time.”
There’s something else to consider. According to "The State of the American Traveler” 2023 report from Destination Analysts, more Americans are planning trips to cities and metropolitan areas as opposed to beaches.
“In a turn-around from the pandemic era, cities top the list in the reported number of leisure trips Americans plan to take to them this year,” the report says.
Weather may have played a role, as well. Coan pointed out that storms both started and ended the season this year, and several others mentioned the heat, the effect of which varied by business.
However, Drew DiFonzo, Vice President of Operations for TKO Hospitality, said 2023 was very similar to 2022 for his company. TKO’s portfolio includes Hyatt Place in Dewey Beach, Hyatt House in Lewes and the new Coast hotel in Rehoboth Beach, among numerous others.
“For our hotels overall, occupancy was up, year over year,” DiFonzo said. “We performed basically on par with 2022, which was a banner year.”
Steve Fallon owns two small businesses in downtown Rehoboth Beach: Gidget’s Gadgets, a novelty shop, and Extended Play, a record store. He said his sales were up 25% this year.
“There are a lot of similar stores competing with each other here,” Fallon said. “We kind have a bit of a niche.”
He also credited “the Biden factor.” President Joe Biden has a house just north of Rehoboth Beach in North Shores, which he visited often this summer.
“Whenever he was in town we seemed to have a healthy weekend of sales,” Fallon said.
Shannon Marvel McNaught reports on Sussex County and beyond. Reach her at smcnaught@gannett.com or on Twitter @MarvelMcNaught.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: What stats tell us about tourism at the Delaware beaches this summer
