Small businesses along popular vacation destinations like boardwalks and piers in the US say the number of tourists flocking to the waterfront is back to normal, meaning pre-2020 levels. But while the affluent are spending freely, lower-income vacationers are sticking to carefully planned-out budgets.
Sean Bailey, marketing manager of the SkyWheel observation wheel by the Myrtle Beach, SC, Boardwalk and Promenade, says ticket sales for the 13-year-old attraction have exceeded 2019 levels since 2021, and so far, this year are tracking slightly above 2023 levels.
Bailey has noticed that tourists buying the cheaper tickets – which increased from US$18 to $21 this year – are planning ahead and buying online instead of walking up to the 61-metre attraction. A regular ride, or “flight,” on the SkyWheel, which has glass enclosed gondolas that seat up to six, takes 10 to 15 minutes.
On the other end of the spectrum, the costlier tickets have become more popular. There are $35 sunrise tickets and $109 VIP tickets which include up to four people and get the buyer a flight that lasts 30 minutes. SkyWheel also offers a $250 gender reveal package which includes a light show and a ride for up to six.
“People are looking for more enhanced experiences beyond just the regular flight,” Bailey said.
According to the US Travel Association’s forecast, 2024 tourism volume is expected to top 2019’s numbers for the first time since the pandemic began, with 2.45 billion trips taken, up from 2.38 billion in 2023 and 2.40 billion in 2019.
Owners of small businesses say they see a divide in spending between affluent visitors, who have maintained their spending levels, and those in lower income brackets who are being more careful.
At Navy Pier, which juts out into Lake Michigan in Chicago, Robert Gomez owns Beat Kitchen Cantina, a Mexican concession stand, and Bar Sol, a full restaurant with a patio. He says sales at the concession stand are up 30% compared with last year, with customers content to spend $8 on a taco, up $1 from last year. And tourists on the Pier seem more than happy to pay $40 for an entrée at Bar Sol.
“Tourists come in (to Bar Sol), expecting to spend too big, whereas a local patron is looking for better deals,” he says.
At Laura’s Fudge in Wildwood, N.J., which has been around since the 1920s, owner Dave Roach said sales of fudge, saltwater taffy and chocolate-covered turtles have risen each year since 2020. He said many customers, often families that have been going to the boardwalk for generations, save up all year to have money to spend at Wildwood.
“They know what it’s going to cost them, and they don’t mind spending the money,” he says.
Michelle Rutkowski, who owns Boardwalk Best and Five Mile Marketplace on the Wildwood, N.J., boardwalk, says she feels positive about sales momentum this year, with shoppers spending on souvenirs like keychains and magnets and T-shirts with the unofficial Wildwood, N.J., mascot, a seagull with a French fry in its mouth.
“People have allotted a reasonable budget for vacation, and they’re spending it,” she said. “Maybe this won’t be the year for back to 100% of that where it was, but definitely we are on that trajectory.”