Wrightsville Beach businesses enjoyed another strong summer, including a successful Labor Day weekend despite a slow start due to tropical storm weather, proprietors and tourism officials said during the Sept. 13 meeting of the town’s marketing committee.
Wrightsville Beach was part of New Hanover County’s record-breaking year for collection of room occupancy tax, said Shawn Braden, Wilmington and Beaches Convention and Visitors Bureau executive vice president of marketing. Collection of the “heads in beds” tax is a key measurement of tourism activity.
While records showed a 3 percent rise in Wrightsville Beach tax collections for the 2015-16 fiscal year that ended in June, Braden said the county continued its tourism grown in July, as Wrightsville Beach posted an 11.17 percent rise in tax collections over July 2015. Overall, Wrightsville Beach businesses collected almost $1.2 million in room occupancy taxes for the year.
The county also posted strong numbers, Braden said, including a 6.87 percent jump for all of New Hanover County room occupancy tax collections for the 2015-16 fiscal year and a 15.11 percent jump in July tax collections, totaling $1.1 million. Braden said it was the fifth consecutive year the county has seen growth in the room occupancy tax collections.
“All four destinations showed strong growth,” Braden said, referring also to Carolina and Kure beaches. She also said August will likely show strong results, as the school calendar gave hoteliers and retailers an extra week of family summer vacations.
Meanwhile, members of the committee recounted how a slow start to the Labor Day weekend gave way to big crowds throughout the rest of the weekend. The holiday weekend started with nearly seven inches of rain Friday generated by Tropical Storm Hermine. However, by Sunday, big crowds had returned.
“Sunday was a banner day,” said John Andrews, owner of the South Beach Grill at 100 S. Lumina Ave. “We had a lot of visitors and locals. We also saw a lot of boat traffic.”
In other news, the marketing committee re-elected Pres Davenport to the position of chairman and voted to appoint Jeff DeGroote, owner of the South End Surf Shop, as the committee’s vice chairman.
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