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| October 14, 2008 August’s boom in tourism wasn’t spread evenly along the Outer Banks
By SANDY SEAMANS  The Outer Banks Visitors Bureau announced last week that Dare County saw a 13.74 percent increase in occupancy in August - the largest increase shown since the agency began tracking such figures. That claim has left some local businesspeople wondering why their businesses didn't reflect that economic boost. According to the Dare County Tax Office, the $95,817,450 in occupancy revenues collected for August included approximately $2 million carried over from July receipts. And because the month of August ended on a weekend, some revenues from the last weekend of the month may be carried over into September receipts. The collection reporting is based on the month and not the week, so there is no way to factor out the added Labor Day-related revenues. In 2008, August had five check-in weekends, which included the week of Labor Day. The month of August 2007 included only four check-in weekends and did not include the traditional heavy holiday business. While month-to-month totals show an increase over 2007, the average weekly occupancy revenues of the two years shows a decrease in revenues. After deducting the $2 million carry-over from July, the average week in August 2008 was $18,763,490; the weekly average in August 2007 was $21,057,098 thus translating into an almost 11 percent decrease in 2008 even with the Labor Day totals included this year. Overall, year-to-date, Dare County occupancy is showing a 3.97 percent increase, but the business has not been evenly felt across the county. While the northern beaches from Nags Head north have seen a slight across the board increase in house rentals, Hatteras and Roanoke islands have struggled throughout the summer. Roanoke Island has felt the pain from a 9.81 percent decrease, and Hatteras Island, as a whole, has experienced only a .43 percent increase for the year. Waves, Buxton and Frisco are all showing losses compared to last year. Buxton occupancies are down 12.56 percent, Waves 1.79 percent and Frisco is at minus 4.6 percent. The downturn on Hatteras Island appears to be related to the closure of several favorite fishing spots due to a court order restricting Off Road Vehicle use during piping plover and turtle nesting seasons. According to records from the Division of Marine Fisheries, the sale of Coastal Recreational Fishing Licenses dropped by 20 percent statewide. Dare County sales of the sports license decreased 27 percent overall, but Buxton and Hatteras reported declines of 36.4 and 35.9 percent, respectively. Manns Harbor and Wanchese showed larger declines, but the number of businesses selling the licenses also declined in those areas. According to information from the Visitors Bureau, Dare County occupancy revenues are up 3.97 percent for year-to-date, but hotels and motels haven't benefited from that increase. Five of the first eight months of the year brought revenues that were lower than in 2007. Although the August revenues, which included the weekend before Labor Day, were up, April, May, June and July were down compared to 2007. Year-to-date, hotels and motels are down approximately 5 percent. Restaurants on Hatteras Island also have felt the pinch of the tough economic times. Sales of prepared meals on Hatteras Island is down year-to-date by 3.46 percent. Roanoke Island is down 5.19 percent, and Nags Head north is reporting a gain of just 1.91 percent. In July, the Visitors Bureau reported that June occupancy revenues were up about 7 percent. However, there was $2.7 million in carryover revenues from previous months. The actual June collections showed a modest 2.85 percent increase. And further clouding the revenue picture is the fact that in January, the North Carolina Department of Revenue stepped up its pressure for lodging businesses to also charge occupancy tax on items that until last year were exempt from the tax. Now additional services such as linens must also be taxed. The Sentinel could not find any estimates of how much additional revenue that is adding to the occupancy tax collections. At the end of the day, the best barometer for businesses may be their own cash registers and whether they are hearing a cheerful "Cha-ching." For more detailed information on gross occupancy taxes by district, click here: (Sandy Seamans is the editor of The Outer Banks Sentinel. More local news articles are available on the Web site http://www.womacknewspapers.com/obsentinel/) 
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