VERO BEACH — Up north, robins might be a sign of spring, but in Vero Beach the auto transport trucks on A1A are a sure sign of the seasonal changes. The snowbirds are heading home.
Northerners used to arrive in time for Election Day and they typically left right after Easter, or, at the latest, by May 1.
Summer on the beach was quiet and a tad lonely. The trend in recent years, however, is that the season begins earlier and lasts longer.
“Fifteen or 20 years ago you could roll a bowling ball down Ocean Drive without hitting anyone,” said Mark Leigh, owner of Leigh Jewelers on Ocean Drive. “Summer is still a viable time for shopping. Our only real quiet time is from Labor Day until about the third week of October. This is when we make repairs to the store and take a rest ourselves. I used to fret about it, but as sure as the sun comes up, it’s like a light switch goes on and people we haven’t seen for six months start showing up again.”
Tourists came back in force this year.
“We have had a fantastic year this year,” said Allison McNeal, director of tourism for Indian River County. “We saw a significant increase in tourism, beginning around the middle of October, based on the Indian River County Bed Tax report, which increased by 16.7 percent from last October. Summer is when we see Floridians from other parts of the state coming to enjoy our beaches.”
Traffic has lightened up considerably since Easter came early this year.
“As far as the concerts and the farmers’ markets, people are still coming out. We’ve been trying to work with the hotels to make the concerts work around their occupancy,” said Georgia Irish, the Oceanside Business Association president.
For Lisa Davidson, owner of Shells & Things on Ocean Drive, this time of year is bittersweet.
“It’s slowing down now and we’re saying goodbye to our snowbird friends. It’s kind of sad, but sweet.”
Davidson and her employees get a little break before the next wave of customers arrives.
“We usually stay busy until Mother’s Day, and then there’s a lull until kids get out of school around the country, and then we get busy again,” said Davidson. “Last summer, the hotels were packed, and we had a great summer.”
Stay-cations are more and more popular, with many summer visitors coming from all over Florida.
Costa d’Este, owned by Gloria and Emilio Estefan, attracts a large crowd from south Florida.// “We’ve just been crazy, weekend after weekend.” said Denielle Godwin, director of sales and catering. “June and July are as busy as the rest of the year. We’ve just enjoyed the highest occupancy month in March and we’re expecting to continue. Families are spending time with us, wanting to experience something unique without having to drive too far.”
Godwin noted that the hotel’s wedding business also has increased and this summer there will be brides and grooms from all over the country coming to take their vows with the ocean a romantic backdrop.
“We’ve had a great year and we definitely stay busy through the summer,” said David Friday, manager of Cobalt, the restaurant located in the Vero Beach Hotel & Spa. “We do a lot of destination weddings, as well as entertaining visitors from all over, especially Floridians. It helps that we’re part of a great hotel. We are definitely looking forward to summer.”
“This has been one of the better years for business all the way the around,” said Irish. “Things slow down a little during the summer, but the season was really good to everyone, so we’re hoping locals can come out and enjoy the beach.”
