OCEAN CITY – The Dew Tour set record breaking attendance numbers this week, but before dismantling was complete this week some town officials openly pondered whether the event provided a true economic benefit to Ocean City.
According to Demoflush, there was an estimated 321,323 people in Ocean City last weekend, representing a 7-percent increase from last year. Demoflush is an estimate only, based on the wastewater flow from Ocean City, but it’s widely acknowledged as a valuable tool for historical comparison’s sake.
“We are thrilled with the outcome of this event,” Communications Manager Donna Abbott said. “It was exciting from start to finish, and the nationally televised broadcast cast a positive light on Ocean City. This was a win-win for the Dew Tour and the town.”
According to Dew Tour officials, there were approximately 73,000 fans that experienced the Dew Tour Pantech Open, July 21-24, which was the highest attendance in the event’s seven-year history. Prior to coming to Ocean City, the Dew tour was held in Baltimore for two years and the largest crowd that gathered there was around 55,000.
"The Dew Tour would like to thank the Town of Ocean City and all the fans that enjoyed the event this weekend,” said Dew Tour General Manager Chris Prybylo. “The event was a huge success, and we greatly appreciate the support we received from Ocean City officials, business owners, local media, our fans and the greater Ocean City community."
Despite the record, City Council members expressed diverse opinions on Tuesday afternoon on how the event affected Ocean City economically.
Councilmen Joe Hall and Brent Ashley felt as though the Dew Tour made little impact on local businesses and that there was no difference between last weekend and any other late July weekend in previous years.
“The Dew Tour is wonderful and it highlighted Ocean City tremendously … but it did not move the dial on the economic engine of this community this weekend,” Joe Hall said.
President Jim Hall said the Dew Tour was fantastic.
“If you ask the people on the Boardwalk, if you ask the people on the beach, even if you ask most of the people at the banks, I would say that they were very happy with the Dew Tour,” he said.
Councilwoman Mary Knight referred to Ocean City’s website traffic for accountability.
“Preliminary numbers show that it was absolutely incredible this weekend,” she said. “I think that will add more credibility that the Dew Tour didn’t just get people into the pizza parlors on the Boardwalk during the rain, but there’s a lot of residual value that we are going to get there from people spending four minutes and 20 seconds on our page versus a number before that.”
John Brooks, owner of Crabcake Factory USA on 120th Street, said that the late July weekend is generally good for the restaurant anyway, but he does believe the Dew Tour helped in boosting sales.
“I believe a lot of people that would have gone downtown to the Boardwalk stayed uptown a little bit more,” he said.
Brooks said the hype made over the big event is justified especially since it created national televised coverage of Ocean City.
“I think it is one of the better ideas that I’ve seen the Town of Ocean City come up with over the years, and I think we should utilize that beach with concerts and activities more often,” he said.
Brooks added that it may be more beneficial for the Dew Tour to return earlier or later in the summer season since the end of July is generally a busy time in town anyhow.
Harrison Group Director of Sales and Ocean City Chamber of Commerce President Ruth Waters said the Dew Tour benefited Ocean City’s economy and affirmed the crowds in town were definitely larger than normal this past weekend.
“I personally attended the event and I thought it was a great demographic,” she said. “I found that the Boardwalk stores were jamming, and everybody on the Boardwalk was just thrilled to death and that isn’t always the case when an event comes to town.”
The Harrison Group owns hotels and restaurants throughout Ocean City, and Waters said the hotels would have been booked anyway but filled a lot sooner than usual, and had lengthier stays from visitors.
Carousel Hotel Managing Partner Michael James said that the hotel typically sells out this time in the summer as well.
“I think most hotels fill this time of year anyways,” he said. “We were pleased because we saw some demand a few days before it [Dew Tour] but we are so far north … I don’t know if that was just from the hotels downtown filling up or the fact that it was hot.”
James, chair of the Ocean City Economic Development Committee, also felt that the Dew Tour benefited local businesses even though sales figures at the Carousal were normal for last weekend.
“I’m happy they did it and I hope they do it again,” he said. “We were full and we were full last year on those dates. When you fill, you can’t do any better than that.”
On the Boardwalk, Park Place Jewelers owner Todd Ferrante expressed enthusiasm about the Dew Tour, saying the event created a tremendous amount of positive energy last weekend, despite the severely hot weather that kept some people inside.
“At our Boardwalk store, the heat hurt us a little bit. It was just so, so hot that a lot of our customers said they just stayed inside last weekend. That’s what they were telling us this week,” Ferrante, president of the Ocean City Development Corporation, said. “However, the Dew Tour means a tremendous amount for Ocean City in my opinion.”
Addressing concerns expressed at this week’s council meeting, Ferrante said the long-term benefit from the Dew Tour and the exposure it brought the town will be immeasurable.
“Anytime you get NBC to talk about your town for two hours and get that kind of exposure for your town and to be showcased on national television, to me that’s worth a lot of money. What kind of residual effect will it have after the fact? Hard to say, but it will expose us to people who may not have normally been hearing about us and hopefully some people will say that looks like a great place to vacation. It’s premature to say we haven’t got good, quality exposure from it,” he said.
At this week’s meeting, Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan toasted the Dew Tour’s success.
“It was great to see all the families turn out to see these amazing athletes compete,” said Meehan. “We were pleased and proud to host the first stop of the 2011 Dew Tour. Ocean City’s beach and Boardwalk provided the perfect backdrop for this thrilling competition.”
Ocean City Chief of Police Bernadette DiPino said the event worked smoothly and the tour’s security complimented the police department and town very well.
“I hope they are coming back again next year,” she said. “That is what I’m hearing, that they are heading back.”