Memorial Day weekend kicks off the 90 day summer tourist season. Local area businesses say we could be in for a record summer.
That all started with a safe and successful Memorial Day weekend.
"The weekend went pretty smooth, a lot of people in town, lots of families. They were enjoying it. Everybody stayed safe. We had just over 1000 calls of service for the whole weekend. Nothing major," said PCBPD Chief, Drew Whitman.
That just how Chief Whitman likes it. He says he's hoping the weekend was a litmus test for good things to come.
"I'm hoping it was a good indicator. I'd like to see every weekend like this. Have families and friends come out enjoying our beach. We have the world's most beautiful beaches," said Whitman.
Of course, Whitman says the traditional snags in traffic slowed things down, but using roads other than Front Beach can save you some headaches this summer.
"If you know your routes where you're going, use Middle Beach and Back Beach. It'll get you there quick. Then you can use the exits that we have set up so you can get to your motel, the place you want to eat dinner or Pier Park," said Estler.
Speaking of Pier Park, holiday business was booming at the outdoor mall. It's something Marketing Director, Felicia Cook, hopes continues through Labor Day and beyond.
"Gas prices were down. I expect them to stay down for the summer. People were out. They were enjoying themselves, their family members, their friends and just really having a good time outside," said Cook.
A recent TDC poll of area businesses shows they are generally happy with the way summer is shaping up, but VP of Marketing, Susan Estler, says they are requesting more advertising
"It looked as though their summer was going to be a good summer, but certainly boosting our primary season with some additional dollars would definitely not hurt us," said Estler
How many additional dollars?
"300 thousand dollars of the remaining BP funds are being put toward our summer marketing program," said Estler
Estler says additional advertising dollars from the St. Louis Southwest Airline partnership will be used as well to expand their reach across the country.
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