OCEAN CITY – The Town of Ocean City has yet to receive tourism statistics from the State of Maryland, but officials have provided a dashboard of local data that reflects a robust July with numbers dwindling in August.
July By The Numbers
According to weather information received from the National Weather Service, the average high temperature in July was 84 degrees and average low was 70 degrees, with a precipitation measurement of 6.14 inches. Compared to 2012, the high was 87 degrees and the average low was 71 degrees, with a precipitation measurement of 6.3 inches.
The amount of room tax collected was reported to be $3,710,800 compared to 2012 when $3,530,300 was collected, which is an increase of 5 percent. This year in July $286,000 was collected in food tax compared to $262,000 in 2012, which is a 9-percent increase.
As of early week, neither July or August’s admission and amusement and sales tax had been released from the State of Maryland’s Comptroller’s Office.
Lodging data collected from Smith Travel Research reflected July’s occupancy was 78 percent compared to 75 percent last year. The Average Daily Rate (ADR), which is a measure of the average rate paid for rooms sold, calculated by dividing room revenue by rooms sold, was $223 this year compared to $221 last year, which is a 1-percent increase. Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR), which is the total guest room revenue divided by the total number of available rooms, was $173 this year compared to $166 last year, which is a 4-percent increase from the past year.
Web Marketing Results showed a 12-percent decrease in unique visitors to the town’s website, OCocean.com, but a 44-percent increase in users of Ocean City’s mobile app and a 24-percent increase in web advertising clicks.
Approximately 72,000 prospective visitors received Ocean City’s Department of Tourism e-newsletters in July. The number of subscribers grew 4 percent compared to July of last year.
Transportation reported bus ridership in July at about 665,000 compared to last year with about 699,000 which is almost a 5-percent decrease. However, there was close to $638,000 collected in bus revenue compared to about $602,000 last year, which is almost a 6-percent increase, and a result of a fee increase.
The Inlet Parking Lot collected over $750,000 this year compared to over $680,000 last year, which is an increase of about 10-percent and also due to a fee increase.
Public Works reported in July about 6,000 tons of solid waste was collected, which is 2-percent increase from last year. However, there were 293,580,000 in water pumpage compared to 330,020,000 last year, which is about an 11-percent decrease.
Another category used is Demoflush, which had been Ocean City’s way to measure tourism for years. Demoflush figures are estimations on the population in Ocean City based on wastewater flow from Ocean City provided by the Ocean City Wastewater Division and calculated by the OC Tourism Department.
In July of 2013, the weekend average was 305,100 compared to last year when it was about 303,500. The weekday average this July was about 277,000 compared to last year when it was over 287,400, which is a decrease of almost 4 percent. This year the daily average was over 284,000 compared to last year 293,070, which is a 3-percent decrease.
The final category, calls for service, reflected 15,128 police calls for service in July compared to 15,620 last year, which is a 3-percent decrease. There were also 880 fire calls for service compared to 1,049 last year, which is a 16-percent decrease.
August By The Numbers
The average high in August was 80 degrees and the average low was 64 degrees with precipitation of 3.84 inches. It was warmer in 2012 when the average high was 81 degrees and average low of 68 degrees, but much wetter as rainfall totaled 5.39 inches.
The amount of room tax collected was about $3,051,000 compared to 2012 when about $2,952,000 was collected, which is an increase of 3 percent. This year almost $243,000 was collected in food tax compared to about $265,000 in 2012, which is an almost 9-percent decrease.
Lodging data collected from Smith Travel Research reflected August’s occupancy was 80 percent compared to 79 percent last year, which is a 2-percent increase. The ADR was $217 this year compared to $212 last year, which is a 3-percent increase, and RevPAR was $174 this year compared to $168 last year, which is almost a 4-percent increase from the past year.
Web Marketing Results showed a 14-percent decrease in unique visitors to the town’s website, OCocean.com, but over a 33-percent increase in users of Ocean City’s mobile app, and 23-percent increase in web advertising clicks. The top markets visiting the town’s website were from the Baltimore, Salisbury, Washington D.C., Philadelphia and New York areas.
Transportation reported bus ridership in August at about 588,500 compared to last year with about 633,500 which is a 7-percent decrease and expected due to the fee increase. However, there was almost $571,000 collected in bus revenue compared to over $540,500 last year, which is almost a 6-percent increase. The Inlet Parking Lot collected about $628,700 this year compared to about $617,400 last year, which is an increase of about 2-percent linked to the fee increase, and there were about 131,000 tram riders compared to about 133,000 last year, which is a decrease of 1.5-percent.
Public Works reported a decrease in solid waste collection in August with over 5,500 tons of solid waste collected compared to about 5,800 last year as well as a decrease in water usage with 274.4 million compared to 303.4 million last year.
In August, the Demoflush weekend average was essentially unchanged. The weekday average was also comparable this year at 262,093 compared to last year when it was 262,905, which is a decrease of almost .3-percent. This year the daily average was 269,642 compared to last year 268,779, which is also a .3-percent decrease.
Calls for service reflected 12,983 police calls for service compared to 12,757 last year, which is a 1.8-percent increase. There were also 854 fire calls for service compared to 874 last year, which is a 2.3-percent decrease.