By Parag Vaish, VP of Consumer Marketing
For months, economists have been keeping an eye on rising fuel costs and wondering: How will this affect the busiest travel weekend of the year? The answer? American families refused to be kept down on the 4th – but they did alter their plans. This article from the Boston Globe explains how this year’s Independence Day festivities differed from those of previous years’ – when people were less than hesitant to fill up their Hummers and F350’s. Cape Cod saw a boom of tourism from locals – meaning that while New Englanders were unwilling to let gas prices keep them home on the 4th, they were also unwilling to stray very far.
The tourism industry pulled out all the stops to maintain adequate levels of tourism despite the changing economy. Some tourism offices – including the one for Cape Cod – put extra emphasis on marketing in places like England (where people are thought to have more money to spend) this year. Many lodging companies offered attractive, competitive packages to lure more visitors through their doors, and some even partnered with restaurants to provide more comprehensive discounts for travelers. The Beechwood Inn in Barnstable is giving weekday visitors a $20 discount it calls the "Tanks a Lot Special." It's area drivers, said owner Ken Traugot, who keep business humming.
All told, it seems to have worked. Few rooms in Cape Cod remained vacant over the long weekend, even despite the relatively dismal weather. Native New England tourists succeeded in saving money by ditching their cars and shaving miles off their trips this year; and tourists from afar spent a lot.
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