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Cape Cod Tourism Cooling Off?
Cape Cod tourism trends, Chamber of Commerce reports and season wrap-ups for 2006, 2007 and 2008.
2006
The Summer of 2006 was a mediocre season for much of Cape Cod’s tourism industry, with blame being placed on everything from rain to high gas prices and a slew of Portuguese man-of-war sightings. Was it the weather, gas prices and jellyfish? or was it lack of interest?
Measurable precipitation was recorded on 32 days from June through August in Hyannis, compared with 16 during the same three months last year. June was the rainiest, with 14 days of measurable rain.
Traffic across the Bourne and Sagamore bridges leading to Cape Cod was down 4 percent in June and 3 percent in July compared with the same months last year, according to the state Executive Office of Transportation.
Travel to the islands on Steamship Authority ferries was also down. As of Aug. 14, there were 353 fewer passengers aboard boats to Martha’s Vineyard compared with last year, and 2,505 fewer passengers to Nantucket.
High gas prices also may have left some reluctant to drive to the Cape.
Wendy Northcross, chief executive of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, said higher energy prices are weighing heavily on consumers’ minds and curbing tourism.
One bright spot was Cape Cod National Seashore, where visits rose about 18 percent to more than 2.3 million for the year, through the end of July. From the Seashore stats, one might say that “Free admission” was popular.
2007
Tourism industry representatives report that business was healthy on Cape Cod for the summer of 2007.
The first season for the Sagamore flyover started with a memorable 17-mile traffic jam that caused headaches for departing visitors but was hailed as a sign of a busy weekend by area businesses.
After its headline-grabbing beginning, the summer of 2007 turned in a solid performance for the Cape’s tourism industry, said Kristen Mitchell, vice president of tourism marketing at the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce.—Cape Cod Times
2008
The summer of 2008 brought the Cape fewer visitors with more money, according to Wendy Northcross, executive director of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce.
A number of statistics tracked by the chamber to determine the volume of visitors fell this summer compared to the summer of 2007.
But Northcross said preliminary indications from the state are that rooms tax revenue is up for the Cape. The official numbers, however, typically lag and aren’t available for months after the period in question.
“The body counts are down but the dollars are up,” she said.
In general, Northcross said, people were willing to spend money on lodging and restaurant meals, but were more conservative about spending money in retail stores.—Cape Cod Today
According to Google, the Cape may be losing some of it’s draw. The following chart shows a decline in search volume for the top Cape Cod related searches done on google.com from 2004 to now.
cape cod rentals - cape cod hotels - cape cod real estate
The “big 3” Cape Cod searches (hotels, rentals, real estate) all show lower search volume with “cape cod real estate” noticeably flat lining.
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Categories: News
Keywords: Cape Cod tourism, 2006, 2007, 2008, season, reports, hotels, rentals, real estate
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