What pandemic? Alabama’s booming beaches set new tourism records this summer

Alabama State Route 59

Congestion builds on southbound Alabama State Route 59 from the W.C. Holmes Bridge in Gulf Shores, Ala., in this July 2021 photo. (John Sharp/jsharp@al.com).

Crowds flocked to Big Beach Brewing’s taproom this past summer to sample the IPAs, Stouts and Belgian style beers. Customers have been steadily arriving each summer since coastal Alabama’s first craft brewery opened its doors five years ago.

But this year has been different. The crowds have showed up in record numbers each and every month of 2021, even as the coronavirus pandemic has persisted. Much like the condos and rental houses within the coastal region, the sales keep churning to astonishing new levels.

This summer was especially sweet: In June, sales leaped 26% above 2020. July saw a 36% bump.

“The summers almost always prove to be busy for us on the weekends, but what was most striking about this summer’s numbers was that we were seeing increased revenues across the weekdays as well,” said Millie Shamburger, spokeswoman with Big Beach Brewing.

Business activity in Alabama’s beach cities continued a trend of annual record-setters by surpassing 2019, considered the high-water mark for tourism in coastal Alabama since the BP oil spill disaster in 2010.

This year’s activity also eclipses last year’s strong post-pandemic leaps following the shutdown of the beaches that lasted from mid-March until May 1, 2020.

The delta variant’s tragic spread through the Gulf Coast in late July and August had little effect on the boom. Though rental agencies report receiving some calls from concerned guests, few backed out from their beach bound romps.

Occupancy figures for the region over Labor Day weekend was an astonishing 95%, which meant almost every available condo and rental room in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach was occupied. Some of the holiday bump was related to a surge of visitors from Louisiana escaping the state after Hurricane Ida made landfall in southwestern Louisiana on August 29.

“Since March, we have seen ‘best ever’ occupancies,” said Randy Hall, president/owner of Liquid Life Rentals. “The records include more occupancy, and more income.”

He added, “We have seen no direct impact on the demand for people wanting to have a vacation at the beach from the delta variant.”

‘Record summer’

Palm Beach Resort

The Gulf of Mexico and the sugar-white sands of Orange Beach, Ala. (John Sharp/jsharp@al.com).

Statistics from Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism show the eye-opening results of the tourism boom:

*For this year, the region hovered 90% average occupancy for its rental units (condos and rental houses) for most of the summer, specifically in June and July. The region hit 80% around May 15 and has remained above that level until the first week after the Labor Day holiday, when a natural drop occurs following the summer season.

*Last year, the region peaked at 85% occupancy rates in mid-June and mid-July but fluctuated between 70% and 85% for most of the summer.

*For 2019, the region peaked at 85% occupancy in mid-June and mid-July but fluctuated at 70% to 85% for most of the summer.

*This summer, the region saw normal occupancy starting at the very beginning of May, with the first Saturday of the month reporting an occupancy rate close to 70%. The first Saturday of May 2020 was in the low 40%, and the first Saturday in May 2019 was close to 50%.

“While we certainly weren’t sure what to expect this year, Alabama’s beaches saw a record summer season,” said Herb Malone, president & CEO with Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism. “It will be several months before we know if it will be a record year.”

Malone said several factors could be at play behind the beach boom, with the biggest being its location in airy, outdoor setting of the beach where social distancing is not an issue.

“The Alabama Gulf Coast checked several boxes that industry experts said would drive tourism’s recovery – being able to get there by car and locations where people can be outside,” he said. “Gulf Shores and Orange Beach are a day or two drive from at least a third of the United States and our beaches and outdoor offerings – like water activities and Gulf State Park – fit people’s desire to get outside, and our large number of vacation rental properties allow families to stay indoors together if they prefer.”

Malone also said that the cruise industry not operating this summer might have also led to a boost of business, saying that “people who normally take cruises in the summer were making alternative plans.” Carnival has yet to operate any cruises out of the Alabama Cruise Terminal in Mobile since mid-March 2020.

Florida Panhandle

Alabama’s beaches are not alone in breaking records. The Florida Gulf Coast was a hot spot of activity this summer.

Business owners in Pensacola Beach said their summer season surpassed pre-pandemic sales, and rental agencies in Destin and Fort Walton Beach also reported summer occupancy rates above 90%.

Visit Panama City Beach said their tourist-heavy market also set summer records, according to media reports.

Said Malone, “The increase in visitors is not just unique to our destination; across the Southeast, many beach destinations and placed with state or national parks have seen busy summers.”

Lee Sentell, the director of the Alabama Tourism Department, said the strength of beach traffic and campgrounds during the first full year of the pandemic helped Alabama recover from a collapse in tourism during the onset of the pandemic. He noted that Alabama was down 20% in tourism activity during the first full year of the pandemic – from March 2020 to March 2021 – while nationwide activity dropped 45%.

“Alabama has the natural attractions of beaches, state parks, the Robert Trent Golf Trail, caves and campgrounds that people drive long distances to enjoy,” said Sentell.

Citing informal surveys, Sentell said the average family drove 450 miles to reach their Alabama destinations this past summer, an increase of about 70 miles.

“This is not going to change when the pandemic is under control,” Sentell said. “This is a lifestyle and cultural shift that will last for years.”

‘Worth the wait’

Worth the Wait

Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism launched the "Worth the Wait" initiative on May 17, 2021, as a local effort to provide businesses with a unified message to guests prior to and during their vacation in coastal Alabama. With staffing shortages happening nationwide, especially in the tourism industry, the coastal region wants to help guests understand what to expect or anticipate during their visit. (image supplied by Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism).

The biggest challenge for the region, particularly in the summer, was the tight labor market across the nation. That spurred Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism to unveil a marketing theme for 2021 called “Worth the Wait.”

Restaurants and entertainment venues offered bonuses or pay raises to attract employees to a hospitality industry market that continues to recover from last year’s shutdowns. Flora-Bama offered $500 sign-on bonuses for line cooks, dishwashers, kitchen managers and oyster shuckers. The Gateway Initiative – a collaboration of the South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce based in Foley and the Coastal Alabama Chamber of Commerce in Gulf Shores – promoted an apprenticeship grant program aimed at boosting the number of workers along the coast. And the group is also examining housing needs for the area.

Rouses Market, which operates grocery stores in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, offered increased pay for summer workers and gave out bonuses for employees who worked between Memorial Day to Labor Day weekends.

“A lot of great people came from all over the country to the beach,” said Kenneth Jones, the Alabama district manager for Rouses. He, too, reported record-setting sales this summer.

Matt Pugh, director of operations of an Orange Beach-based restaurant group, said they offered hourly pay bumps for non-tipped employees. He said the increases were supposed to be seasonal, but that the restaurant group has decided to continue with them for the time being.

The restaurant group includes Cosmo’s Restaurant & Bar, Cobalt the Restaurant, Luna’s Eat and Drink, GT’s on the Bay, BuzzCatz Coffee and Sweets, and Alabama Coastal Catering.

Pugh said his restaurants had a record-breaking year in sales, and that “I think we would have done a lot better had we been staffed properly.”

He said visitors began adjusting their dining behaviors to accommodate the crowds at restaurants, which include long wait times during evening dinner hours.

“I think certain restaurants like Cobalt, we cannot get much busier at night,” said Pugh. “I think a lot of our guests have learned that if you want to get out and eat and not wait hours (to dine) then (they) should come out during lunch periods. That’s where we made our biggest stride companywide … we maximized more during our lunch business.”

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic also played a role in operations, but it did not diminish the summer tourism.

The delta variant’s spread was harsh throughout the Gulf Coast, with Baldwin and Mobile counties as the top two in Alabama for infections and hospitalizations during early August. The situation got so bad that, in mid-August, the federal government intervened and sent a team of doctors and nurses to assist South Baldwin Regional Medical Center in Foley – the closest hospital to Alabama’s beaches – with the surging infections and rising number of patients. A portable morgue trailer was also set up outside the hospital serving as an ominous reminder of the raging case count through the county.

“We took it quite seriously,” said Pugh. Employees, he said were required to wear masks. The spread of the delta variant also created scheduling problems, as 30-plus employees were out sick with the virus. The restaurant group has around 500 employees.

“It honestly took a toll on us,” said Pugh, noting that some of restaurants –like BuzzCatz – had their hours of operations adjusted.

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