Ocean City Sees Boost In Tourism With Post-Labor Day School Start
BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- With school now beginning after the holiday, thousands will spend Labor Day weekend in Ocean City.
The extended Maryland Week allows families to enjoy a longer summer with extra deals and incentives for visitors.
"Great way to wrap up the summer and relax and one last hooray before you get back into school," Ocean City visitor Melissa Seavy.
"Cherishing the last few days of summer like not rushing back to school is nice, go back to school shopping and spend time with family," said Ocean visitor Melyn Rhoades.
For the first time, many Marylanders are not cutting their vacations short and Ocean City is cashing in on the longer summer.
"Maryland Week is a special campaign this year offering for all the families that do not have to go back until after Labor Day," said Ocean City director of tourism Donna Abbott.
The historic beach town is seeing a huge bump in guests compared to previous summers, when crowds started to thin out around this time of year.
"Last weekend was much busier than normal because of the extended time, we're seeing more people here during the week," said Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan.
Local vendors welcoming the boost in business.
"Normally we have two or three people here so as you can see we are quite busy, it's wonderful, wonderful," said Rebecca Andrew, who works at the Inlet Sea Doos.
"Tourism is our industry and it really benefits all of Maryland with the revenue that comes in we help all the jurisdictions in the state," Abbott said.
Ocean City typically sees about a quarter-million visitors every summer, but with the extra week, they're already seeing that number go up.
Ocean City is celebrating Labor Day weekend with free events including a fireworks show.
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