OCEAN CITY – A new Winter Wellness promotion is encouraging locals and visitors alike to rest, relax and rejuvenate by the sea.
Throughout the months of January and February, local hotels, fitness studios and organizations will offer packages and activities as part of a resort-wide Winter Wellness promotion.
Ocean City Hotel-Motel-Restaurant Association (OCHMRA) Executive Director Susan Jones said the goal of the Winter Wellness promotion is to encourage locals and visitors to visit the beach and support the hospitality industry.
“If someone needs to change their view and get out of their house, there are plenty of places in our own backyard to see and experience …,” she said. “It also gives an opportunity to hotels that are really struggling.”
In July, the OCHMRA, the Greater Ocean City Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Association of Ocean City, the Ocean City Development Corporation, the Art League of Ocean City, Worcester County Tourism and Economic Development and Ocean City Tourism joined together for what would become regular meetings to discuss ways to bolster the local economy, Jones said.
“The directors of all the organizations kept meeting throughout the past six months and have continually discussed what we could do to make our businesses survive,” she said. “We knew that it was going to be an awful, cold winter.”
Borne out of those joint meetings, Jones noted, was the Winter Wellness promotion – an affordable way to rest and relax by the sea after a challenging year. Throughout the winter months, 12 hotels, four fitness studios, the Art League and the Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum will offer deals and activities centered around wellness and rejuvenation.
“We know that people’s mental state is really fragile right now,” she said. “We thought, ‘What can we do to change their view?’”
Accommodation packages include discount room and golf rates, complimentary welcome gifts and access to spa and fitness amenities, to name a few.
Locals and visitors can also take advantage of online and in-person classes offered through the Art League, as well as deals on yoga, Pilates and other wellness classes at any of the participating fitness studios.
“Some of them have gotten creative with the theme of rest and relaxation …,” Jones said. “There are a variety of things that they are doing.”
In addition, the Life-Saving Station Museum is working on a journaling project as part of a new series, “Save Our Stories.” Locals and visitors are encouraged to submit written or recorded accounts as to how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted their lives.
For more information on the Winter Wellness initiative, visit www.oceancityhotelweek.com.
“This is a way to get us all through the winter blues,” Jones said.
