THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 14, 1996 TAG: 9610120179
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 15 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY WENDY GROSSMAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 118 lines
Soaking wet from her swim in 62-degree water, Joan Cornell, 61, of Meadville, Pa., wanders the beach picking up rocks. Cornell and her friend Jane Jacobs come to the ocean every fall.
For them, October is the perfect month to come to the beach. No kids. No crowds. No high prices. Just peace and quiet.
Cornell's one of the thousands of ``mature travelers,'' - retired couples, empty nesters and double income families with no kids - the Virginia Beach Bureau of Conventions and Tourism is targeting with its ``Second Season'' campaign.
The bureau has poured nearly $310,000 into promoting tourism between September and November. They're advertising ``long walks on the beach in the wintertime when the days are getting short and the shadows are getting long,'' says Ron Kuhlman, director of marketing and sales for the city's Department of Convention and Visitor Development.
The campaign is working. The city experienced an increase of 4,064 more rooms occupied last October than the year before, bringing in a $475,000 increase in revenue. November jumped 10,629 rooms, Kuhlman says, increasing hotel revenue by $839,000.
The number of conventions stayed the same, so the increase is all tourists, he says.
It's not just gray-haired retirees booking rooms this fall. Tiffany Torres, 29, and her sister booked a week's vacation after seeing hundreds of magazine ads in Toronto. Shawn Allen, 31, just can't leave his business in Mastic, N.Y., during the summer rush, so he came here with his wife last week to relax and eat oysters.
``The people we're targeting are not looking for the beach,'' Kuhlman says. ``They're looking for the beach experience without having to go swimming or stand out in the sun.''
Helene Mertineau, 57, has a swimming pool in her backyard in Montreal, so she travels in the fall. Vicky Stine from Mechanicsburg, Pa., just bought a bubblegum colored sweatshirt on Atlantic Avenue. She likes the beach but not the crowds.
Welcome to the ``Second Season,'' Vicky.
At the Holiday Inn Oceanside on Atlantic Avenue, no one's sitting on the couches beneath the potted palms. The pool's empty. And so is the restaurant, except for a bored cashier.
The McDonald's on 28th Street is closed for the season. Summer's Breeze and the other shops scattered along the strip selling beach paraphernalia and knick-knacks will be only open another couple of weeks. On the pier, Ocean Eddie's will close Halloween night.
Despite the increase in fall tourism, John Perros, owner of Giovanni's and Le Buffet restaurants on Atlantic Avenue, hasn't noticed much change. He's doing 30 to 35 percent of his normal business, just like always, he says.
Chris and Sue Bacho of Oleana, N.Y., postponed their 5th wedding anniversary getaway a month to wait for the off-season. They kind of wish they hadn't.
Their hotel room at the Breakers was flooded during the stormy weather, they say. But even if their money got a bit mildewed, they saved a bundle, Chris says. It's hard to beat fall prices.
The Holiday Inn Oceanfront's rate for a single or double room during Fourth of July weekend is $159. Nov. 3 to March 14, it's $59.
Dina Lewis, from Alexandria, rented a four-bedroom house with her mother and brother from Pennsylvania for less than she paid for one hotel room this summer.
But some folks not pinching pennies, like Ray Brant of Lebanon, Ore., travel in the fall because they hate the summertime crowds of teen-agers.
``We're from a rural community so we're not used to crowds - we look to get around them,'' Brant says, pushing his honey-haired, year-old grandson, Colton, in a purple stroller along the boardwalk. ``We went to Busch Gardens yesterday and we didn't wait in line for one ride, one concession stand - nothing. There was absolutely no one there.''
Dennis and Judy Neal vacation in the fall because they like to watch the colors change on the trees as they drive down every year from Muncie, Ind.
``Plus, it's just too hot in the summer, and I've got too much to do around the house,'' Judy Neal says. She has to water and prune her geraniums, daisies and cone flowers. The couple mowed their lawn in the dark the night before and then drove 16 hours to the ocean.
Sandra Howard, 34, lies on the beach stretched out in an American flag bikini. She and her husband Dan, the police chief of Savanna, Ill., couldn't get off work this summer, so they pulled their three kids out of school for the week, packing up their bathing suits, sunscreen and homework.
Sixteen-year-old Joe Howard wishes they hadn't come during football season. The coach is mad that he's missing two games.
Just about every kid in the 5th grade is jealous of his little sister Nicole. But huddled under a towel covered in goose bumps as she buries her toes in the sand, she wishes it was summertime.
But 50 yards down the beach, Christiane Gauthier is plenty warm. It was 40 degrees when the magazine editor left Montreal.
``It extends our summer,'' says Linda Bleier of Rochester, N.Y., wiping sand from her 2-year-old granddaughter Marissa's mouth. Back home they were wearing flannel shirts, sweat pants and ski jackets. Today they're making a sandcastle barefoot.
A few weeks ago, the beach was covered with blankets edge to edge. Kids toddled along in bathing suits, sailor hats and sunglasses. Now the vacationers have elbow room plus a lot more. ILLUSTRATION: [Cover, Color photo]
D. KEVIN ELLIOTT / The Virginian-Pilot
[Color Photos]
D. KEVIN ELLIOTT photos/ The Virginian-Pilot
BOARDWALK
Michael Rickabaugh, his wife, Jill, and son, Eric, have to bundle
up, but they can enjoy the beach. "It's so peaceful and energizing
when you come here and there's not so many people," Jill Rickabaugh
said. "I find it rejuvenating."
BARGAINS
Prices fall in fall. Hotel rates go down by as much a $100 a night
by winter. So do the prices of items such as bathing suits, of less
use during colder months.
BOREDOM
Lauren Raines, 22, fills her time while working the register at an
empty Dollar King souvenir store on Atlantic Avenue.
KEYWORDS: TOURISM by CNB