Maryland Beach Economy Resilient, Tax Revenues Show

OCEAN CITY, Md. (WUSA) -- Early in 2009, business and government leaders in Ocean City were braced for a miserable economic performance in the summer to come. But, as the Labor Day weekend draws the summer to a close, they are breathing a sigh of relief with the release of new tax figures from mid-summer.

"Room tax is a solid indicator of occupancy in Ocean City," says Mayor Rick Meehan. "And we're just about dead even with the month of July from last year."

"There's a lot of destinations that wish they were even with 2008," Meehan added.

Ocean City poured $3 million into an aggressive advertising campaign for the 2009 season according to Meehan, who said the figure is about double what the city spent three years before. He believes the investment paid off by drawing visitors from more distant markets such as Ohio, Northern New Jersey and New York.

The humorous TV ads proved to be eye catching.

Meanwhile on the boardwalk, many merchants report respectable performance for the year, despite the troubled economy.

"I was surprised by how many people did show up," said Brian Klingensmith. "It was a decent year but more of a hard-pressed year. You had to really bend over backwards to get what you got."

"People need to get away," said boardwalk visitor Isaac Ayers who marveled at the heavy foot traffic. "They need to take their minds of the things that trouble them."