Good sales for beach businesses
A summer of dry conditions and tolerable temperatures helped many of the business owners in downtown Rehoboth Beach meet their sales targets this season.
Some weeks were better than others, but many businesses are reporting sales were as good as or better than last year's, even though Del. 1 construction just outside of town frustrated tourists.
Traffic counts -- and cash register receipts -- proved that the number of visitors this summer equaled or even slightly exceeded the annual average of about 2.1 million visitors to downtown Rehoboth from Memorial Day through Labor Day, officials said.
Even with all that good news, this summer has followed a recent trend of more tourists staying in condominiums and townhouses outside of town.
"When they do that, they will come to the beach during the day, but they may or may not come back into town for dinner or to walk along the boardwalk," said Carol Everhart, president of the Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce. "It's all connected. The way they stay impacts how they play."
Other resort towns have fought against this trend by offering incentives like lowered parking fees during normally slow times or offering packages and discounts to lure more business to the beach.
At the 178-room Atlantic Sands Hotel & Conference Center on the boardwalk, sales were down in July. However, June and August were excellent, making for a better summer than last year, Rick Perez, general manager, said.
He said condo rentals have forced the hotel to work harder and be more aggressive in bringing in customers.
Over the past 10 years, Perez estimates, the hotel's marketing budget has increased 100 percent.
"The condos have affected the whole town, including us," he said. "It's definitely a lot more competitive. I don't know how some of these hotels are able to do it."
