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Photo Vincent Guadazno
Labor Day crowds enjoy the shops and sights of Commercial Street. |
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Better than expected
Despite sour economy, summer season holds steady
PROVINCETOWN – Local business owners were breathing a sigh of relief this week at the unofficial end of the summer season.
A scan of the town's business district came up with largely positive results for the 2008 summer season. Many were expecting a difficult season and the fact that numbers were steady, if not above last year, was a cause for celebration.
"Flat is the new up," said Tourism Director Lisa Boden.
"We're very fortunate. We had numbers here," said Chamber of Commerce executive director Candy Collins-Boden, referring to the number of people visiting Provincetown. "There are a lot of other tourist destinations that did not."
However, results reported from assorted local transportation companies showed mixed results. Ridership at one of the two ferry companies serving Provincetown was up but down at the other. And revenues from the town's two parking lots were down, as well.
Still, many other businesses appeared to have a solid summer season, helped by an influx of international visitors lured here by the weak dollar, and by an apparent increase in regional visitors who decided to vacation closer to home to avoid high gas prices.
"There was an increase in 'staycations,'" said Alison Nolan, general manager for Boston Harbor Cruises, one of the ferry companies offering service from Boston to Provincetown. "We have a feeling that part of the increase might be daytrips or people taking short, local vacations. They wanted to get out of their cars. Year to date we were 16 percent ahead of 2007."
The other ferry company, Bay State Cruises, reported an approximate five-percent decrease in its ridership to Provincetown. Owner Mike Glasfeld attributed the decline to the relatively inclement weather in August but said his season was better than expected based on the economic recession that has affected the country.
Parking revenues in Provincetown from the two town-owned lots were down 2.5 percent from the same period last year, according to parking lot manager Dominick Rosati. However, the municipal parking lot next to MacMillan Pier received a boost this spring from the larger-than-usual whale migration, which brought hundreds of pre-season visitors to town to watch the whales.
While soaring gas prices may have increased the number of regional visitors, they had a negative impact on the demand for boat moorings, which were down 40 percent at Flyer's Boat Rental and Boat Shop, according to vice president Noah Santos. During the July 4th holiday weekend, there was only one powerboat moored in Flyer's mooring field, he said.
"We only filled up twice this season," Santos said. "The sailing crowd was definitely present. But we didn't see the powerboats that usually come down for a day trip."
Still, people apparently came in numbers this summer that were unexpected. How much money they spent is difficult to quantify. However, an owner of several ATM machines in town reported his busiest year to date. And a survey of members of the Provincetown Business Guild during key weekends showed that approximately 70-percent of the responding businesses reported they did the same or better business over the Memorial Day weekend, the month of June, and July 4th weekend, according to Don Knuuttila, PBG executive director.
"It seems very positive to me," he said. "Going into the summer there were a lot of unknowns. We're in a recession, whether you want to call it one or not. Gas prices were against us. Airlines fares are going up. We have fared well."
"My sense is it was a decent summer for most people, probably above last year," said Rob Tosner, chair of the visitor services board and a guest house owner. "We had a ton of foreign visitors. We expected that and it happened in big numbers."
Overall, guest house owners appeared satisfied with their bookings, while results from the retail sector were mixed. However, art galleries generally were flat or down, Collins-Boden said.
"Galleries had a tougher time this year. But weÕre not into their season. September and October are the months galleries seem to do better. So it's not over yet," she said.
The chamber hired a person to count the number of people who visited its offices this summer. Over the course of five days spread over the summer, over 1,000 people a day went to the chamber for visitor information, Collins-Boden said.
"It's incredible how many people came through our doors here," she said, estimating that 40 percent were from other countries.
psowers@provincetownbanner.com
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Sep 4th, 2008