By Michael Burke
Journal Times | Posted: Saturday, September 6, 2008 12:00 am
RACINE COUNTY - A potent cocktail whose ingredients included high fuel prices, clean water and spectator events helped produce one of the best summer tourism seasons here that many people can recall.
Not even June's deluges dampened the assessment of North Beach Oasis co-owner Paul Curtin, who has one of the best views of the tourist trade here.
"It was a great year," he said, even though the rains of June and early July cut his revenues somewhat.
"But for tourists, it was incredible," Curtin added, "from the Kenosha and Chicago areas - especially Chicago."
"It was a great year for tourism," said Downtown Racine Corp. Executive Director Devin Sutherland. Looking at the DRC's visitor log just since Aug. 22, he found names of people from Boston; Michigan; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Denmark; Belgium; Omaha, Neb.; Tulsa, Okla.; Germany and more.
Those are just people who came into the DRC office and decided to sign the log; many do not, Sutherland noted.
Available data suggest that the summer 2008 season at least equaled a very strong 2007, and might well have beaten it. Room tax revenues have been tallied only for June and part of July, said Racine County Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Dave Blank. But from what's available, he said, "I think overall it was a solid summer season for Racine. In the end I think we'll be even with last year's numbers. … This was still one of the best summers we've had."
Blank said the larger events - including EVP pro beach volleyball, the Spirit of Racine Triathlon and Harley-Davidson's anniversary celebration - draw visitors and fill motel rooms and restaurants.
As another example, he said the growing Great Lakes Brew Fest, coming this Saturday at Racine Festival Hall, has sold more than 3,100 tickets. "Hotels are filling up."
Another indication of interest in Racine County is the bureau's Web site, http://www.racine.org. Through July, Blank said, visits to the site were up by 49 percent over 2007. And average time spent on the Web site had more than doubled, from about 3 minutes to 6½.
Although not tangible proof of actual tourism, Blank said, "It's always good to know that a lot of people are asking about us."
The fuel factor
Evidence suggests that high gasoline and boat fuel prices helped this area's tourism far more than they hurt it. Mike Pretasky Sr., chief executive officer at Skipper Buds, said boat fuel sales, in dollars, were flat. In volume, that means they dropped about 20 percent, he estimated.
"But the actual live-aboard, day cruise activity was at, or exceeded, other years," Pretasky said. "I think people took fewer vacations; they stayed closer to home and used the boat more."
"Transient" boater business, or those who come via boat for short visits, "was dead on other years," he said.
"We don't know where they came from," Pretasky said. "We could have had a lot of Milwaukee boaters that only went as far as Racine and stayed
overnight."
He said dock rentals, the season-long contracts, were also about the same as last year.
Curtin said he noticed a different pattern of boat usage this season which meshes with Pretasky's observations. "I would venture to guess that more people were coming down to the beach … rather than driving all over the lake."
Last Sunday, the day before Labor Day, Curtin said, "There had to be 100 boats docked up along the lakefront."
Many of those people came ashore, he said. "Ten or 12 actually beached their boats; they were partying all along our lakefront. There were a lot of people on our (Oasis) deck from boats from out of town and from Reef Point (Marina)."
Amenity envy
Brian Grabher, manager of the Chancery Pub and Restaurant at the lakefront, also said he noticed boaters staying closer to port this summer. For the Chancery, 207 Gaslight Circle, it was a "phenomenal" summer, he said. That's partly because it was the second year of the Chancery's outdoor Friki Tiki Bar, he said, but the restaurant itself also had a great season.
"And," Grabher said, "there's more and more stuff happening in Downtown."
People from Kenosha, Curtin said, have perceived a dramatic disparity in activity levels between their lakefront and Racine's. This summer, he said, "A number of (Kenosha) aldermen came and checked out our area."
He said North Beach Oasis, for example, benefits from the nearby Kids Cove Playground and the paved bike trail that runs right past the Oasis.
Another important factor, Curtin believes, is the lake's clarity and cleanliness. This summer North Beach had no closings and just one swimming advisory which occurred June 9, after record-smashing rainfalls.
Curtin added, "I had a lot of comments about the water; it was crystal, crystal clear."
He said Chicago people often tell him they find the area a fantastic playground.
However, "A lot of them, they don't tell a lot of people. They don't want it to turn into a Chicago beach where they can't find a spot to sit down. It's like they want it to be their secret."
Adding it all up, it's no wonder that Racine area tourism is thriving. "Each year," Curtin said, "it just gets better and better."