OCEAN CITY — Although there were concerns with the weekend, the thousands of car enthusiasts who took over the resort area packed a heavy economic punch.
The H2Oi event’s impact on the businesses still open in early fall was significant for most, particularly those in the lodging industry and even more so for hotels that have bars and restaurants on site to serve guests. With ideal weather, Ocean City by and large was at capacity beginning Thursday of late week and running through Sunday.
According to the town’s demoflush crowd estimates, the fourth week of September (Sept. 22-28) saw a 12.4-percent increase in crowds, but the 180,064 projection was below the monthly average of 189,810, due partly to the Labor Day holiday weekend.
Adam Showell, owner of Castle in the Sand and Barefoot Mailman hotels, reported the event and its associated attendees resulted in a sold out weekend.
“My staff says we could have sold out twice. It was that busy. I give it real high marks this year, but I am only seeing it from what I see along the highway and what I see at the Castle and Barefoot Mailman and Coconuts. It was great to have them here. They brought us a lot of business and had a lot of fun,” he said.
Showell acknowledged issues in the past from event attendees, but he reported no similar concerns this year from his guests.
“From our experience, this year was very positive as far as the way people behaved here at the Castle,” said Showell. “I can see how some people might not enjoy certain aspects of it, but as a business person it was very good for us. The clientele here were well behaved and fairly respectful. We have had issues in the past where people were not respectful with this group so we were concerned, but this year we didn’t have any problems. They are younger, they are single and they are high energy, but if we didn’t have the event we would be looking at half or less the business for that weekend. The summer is short and if we can stretch it a few weekends it makes a huge difference as far as economic impact.”
Reflecting more on the town-wide impact later in the week, Showell acknowledged being disturbed by a video posted online of the crowds at a private parking lot and several altercations that took place. Showell said a middle ground needs to be achieved in order to keep the police and citizens safe.
“I still believe that we should not group all motor-type events together. The people are totally different. It’s a total different level of respect. After seeing that video, I do believe something needs to be done here with the H2O event,” Showell said. “That video is a scary situation and I don’t envy the police having to handle that mob of people. While we benefit from the event, we want to be part of the solution. Something has to be done, and I’m going to try and work with the Ocean City Hotel-Motel-Restaurant Association (OCHMRA), Mayor and City Council and police department to make sure this event is mindful of the citizens, visitors, businesses and residents.”
OCHMRA Executive Susan Jones expressed similar concerns while balancing them with the favorable business reports from most restaurants and hotels.
“Like with any event, there are a certain percentage of bad apples who ruin it for the rest. That being said, the mass increase over the years in the sheer number of import enthusiasts is eye-opening. There needs to be a delicate balance between the economic drive and public safety of our officers and residents,” Jones said. “Additionally, cause for concern is mixing of business segments, i.e., Winefest attendees and H2O attendees are a completely different demographic. Perhaps H2O would consider a weekend where there are no other scheduled events such as after St. Patricks Day or later in the fall.”
The actual event, which has been held for 17 years at various locations, has been headquartered at Fort Whaley Campground in Whaleyville for the last three years. Although attendees were in town for much of last week, the actual organized event activities were held on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 27-28, and featured a barbeque, live music and a judged participant show with awards.
From the official event perspective only, Fort Whaley Campground owner Mitch Parker reported all went smooth at the host venue. He said there were no reports of anything negative at the campground, such as the property destruction, littering or fighting reported in Ocean City over the weekend.
“It went well. We didn’t have anything out there negative. I think there were significantly more people this year and it went smoothly on our side. The traffic control measures have improved significantly over the last three years,” said Parker. “It’s a big deal for us. It helps us on what is usually a very slow weekend, the weekend after Sunfest. Without something here, it would be quiet here and this is that ‘something’ right now. It’s an event that has a longer impact than it used to be as well from my perspective. I was still seeing lots of vehicles on Sunday night and started seeing the vehicles on Monday the week prior.”
Candy Kitchen owner Bruce Leiner also noticed the longer stays and reported the weekend’s sales at his 11 Ocean City stores spiked about 10 percent over the same weekend last year. He said the event makes it a “decent weekend for the town” from a business perspective.
“I think it’s a good thing when people want to come on an off-season weekend by the thousands and thousands. While they are not the strongest spenders and certainly not going to fine dining restaurants, they do rent rooms and condos, and they are at the burger joints, pizza places and they are drinking. My view has always been that trickles down to everyone, including us,” Leiner said. “We need to remember most of these groups are young, but they are our future. They will take their families in the future where they had a good time and have good memories years from now. It’s a good thing that they go home and say what a good time they had in Ocean City, Md. When people want to come to your town and they come and have a good time, it’s hard to look at that as a bad thing. You can get to the point where they did in Fort Lauderdale where the spring break kids were more trouble than they were worth, but I don’t think we are anywhere near that point with these guys or the cruisers or any of them.”
One of the most obvious observations from the weekend was the litter left behind by the vehicle owners at staging areas as well as along Coastal Highway by observers. That was a similar complaint heard after the spring Cruisin’ event that has sparked a new public relations campaign aimed at reminding visitors to clean up after themselves, drive with care, limit drinking to establishments and using manners.
“My only criticism of the [H2Oi] group, and I don’t understand it, is they leave trash behind. There’s no doubt about it,” said Showell. “Property owners have to be vigilant about it. I will grant [the critics] that. They don’t pick up after themselves and I will never understand that because the trash cans are 50 feet away. I don’t know how to change that.”
While largely positive about the group and its impact on the area, Leiner said there is room for general improvement in how the city handles the hordes associated with the event.
“I know we can do better in managing it and there are some issues, but I’m not in favor of throwing out the baby with the bathwater. It’s a resort town and we don’t always get to choose who comes here. It’s a fine line for all of us, but I do know there would be substantially less business for the town without this event,” said Leiner. “We don’t want to push people away from Ocean City, but I am bothered by the trash factor, the noise and the typical kid attitude. I think we try and address those problems from a less adversarial standpoint. I agree we need to be vigilant on crime, but I think there is a middle ground. These are tough decisions for the officers and the city as a whole.”