THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 17, 1996 TAG: 9608170232
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 68 lines
Hurricane Bertha and an unusually rainy month drove many tourists, and their wallets, out of town in July.
Resort hoteliers report business was down 5 percent to 20 percent in a month that traditionally posts one of the highest occupancy rates of the year.
Citywide, 83 percent of hotel rooms were filled in July compared with last year's 88 percent. So far this year, citywide occupancy is down 1 percent from last year.
``July and August are our peak times,'' said James H. Capps, owner of the Breakers, which was down 7 percent from last July. ``If something happens during those times, it really does affect our bottom line.''
Robert H. Vakos, owner of the Colonial Inn, said his occupancy plummeted from nearly 100 percent down to 50 or 60 percent during Bertha, costing him $20,000 in four days.
``When we lose business in the middle of summer like that, it's hard to make it up,'' said James B. Ricketts, director of the Virginia Beach Department of Convention and Visitor Development. ``Hopefully, we'll have a real strong August.''
Even if August ends up extremely busy, resort businesses are nervous about September as 12,000 Shriners will not be returning to Virginia Beach this year.
Mid-Atlantic Shrine Association Convention, which has convened in Virginia Beach for the past six years, will be meeting in Wildwood, N.J.. They will be returning, however, in 1997 and 1998.
So far, 1996 has been a roller coaster ride for the local tourist industry. There was an icy winter, then a wet spring, then a hurricane in the middle of summer.
``It's been one weather crisis after another,'' said Wayne Smith, president of the Virginia Beach Hospitality and Travel Association. This summer has been among the dampest and coolest on record. July's rainfall was measured at 7.37 inches, 2.31 inches above normal for July.
Despite Bertha, hoteliers hope the summer ends on par with last summer, considering Hurricane Felix chased business away in August last year.
``Hopefully, these two months will flip-flop each other, that is if we get through August storm free,'' said Richard P. Anoia, chairman of the Resort Leadership Council and operator of the Windjammer Motel. The Windjammer's occupancy was down 18 percent last month.
But business is rebounding. Hotel operators report that August occupancy is on pace with other Augusts.
``We sold our last room the other day at 3:30 p.m.,'' Anoia said. ``You have to go back a number of years to see that kind of business trend.''
September is still a worry, though.
The Shriners moved their annual meeting to New Jersey ``because we think it's healthy to change once in a while rather than stay in one location every time,'' said James H. Epperson, past president and secretary of the Mid-Atlantic Shrine Association.
To compensate, the city has booked some smaller groups during that second week of September and has undertaken an aggressive marketing campaign for the off-season months.
``We're going to have to wait and see what happens,'' said Henry Richardson, president of the Virginia Beach Hotel and Motel Association. ``Without the Shriners here, it will give our regular customers an opportunity to visit. We have to displace a lot of guests because of the Shriners.''
But Anoia said that visitors have become so accustomed to being turned away that second week, that they don't try anymore.
``We're going to have a little bit of work ahead of us,'' he said.
KEYWORDS: TOURISM VIRGINIA BEACH by CNB