Where did all the tourists go? Over the holiday weekend, they were back in the Keys
Business leaders in the Florida Keys report Labor Day weekend gave a much-needed boost in tourist dollars to the island chain suffering from its busy winter season being cut short because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unlike many tourist hot spots whose make-it-or-break-it time is summer, hotels, restaurants, charter fishing captains and dive shop operators in the Keys rely on winter visitors to get them through the rest of the year.
But the pandemic dealt a blow to the island chain’s economy that will likely be felt for years.
Hotels were ordered shut in mid March. And by the end of the month, Monroe County erected checkpoints at the Keys two entry points — the 18 Mile Stretch of U.S. 1 and on County Road 905 — to keep tourists away in an effort to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus through the archipelago.
The checkpoints came down on June 1, but businesses from Key Largo to Key West haven’t come close to recovering from the shutdown.
Over the three-day weekend though, cars flowed into Monroe County, creating some headaches on the roadway, but many carrying visitors eager to spend their money on food, drink and lodging.
“Hotels and vacation rentals were booked solid,” said Daniel Samess, chief executive officer of the Greater Marathon Chamber of Commerce. “It was a great and busy weekend, one that the local business and those in the service industry surely needed.”
While indoor dining establishments in the Keys are limited to seating at 50 percent capacity, Monroe County has never restricted hotel occupancy since the Keys reopened, said county spokeswoman Kristen Livengood.
In Key West, business was very good in the time of COVID-19, said Kevin Theriault, executive director of the Key West Business Guild.
“Everybody was happy,” Theriault said. “It was a very busy island. Hotels were happy, restaurants were happy.”
Even at the Guild’s center, 808 Duval St., traffic was heavier that usual.
“Not quite back to normal but quite busy compared to the last few weeks,” Theriault said.
Scott Atwell, CEO and the executive vice president of the Key West Chamber of Commerce, saw lines of cars leaving the Keys on U.S. 1 on Monday.
“It was a welcome sight,” Atwell said. “Heading north, it was backed up from north of Marathon to Homestead pretty much.”
Adam Linhardt, spokesman for the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, said traffic looked like it did during a typical three-day weekend in the Keys, a necessary burden on a community whose economy relies on out-of-towners.
“We saw a lot of inbound traffic and a lot of traffic outbound on Sunday and Monday,” Linhardt said. “Thankfully, we didn’t have any major crashes.”
Atwell compared the traffic to another sight people in the Keys are accustomed to: “It looked like a hurricane evacuation,” he said.
It wasn’t just big cities like Marathon in the Middle Keys and Key West that benefited from the weekend traffic. Businesses in Islamorada and Key Largo also reported sold-out hotels and busy restaurants. Stand-alone bars and nightclubs still cannot sell alcohol in Florida.
“I believe we were at 100 percent capacity for lodging, and our businesses are all reporting that it was a great weekend,” said Judy Hull, director of the Islamorada Chamber of Commerce.
Elizabeth Moscynski, president of the Key Largo Chamber of Commerce, said Wednesday that many businesses stayed busy as the week progressed.
“We were still getting calls yesterday to book snorkeling trips for today,” she said.
This Labor Day weekend was not also a break from the economic bleakness wrought by the pandemic, it was also a change from last year’s holiday, when all tourists were ordered to evacuate as Hurricane Dorian approached Florida.
The storm never affected the Keys, but the evacuation alone caused enough damage.
“If you recall, we had a hurricane out there, and tourists were told to leave, and the next day, everyone received the all-clear,” Moscynski said. “Key West dropped its pricing drastically, followed by the rest of the islands. However, it was too late to get people back to the Keys.”
While this Labor Day weekend’s bump in business was a needed stimulus to the local economy — both financially and psychologically — the pandemic is far from over. It’s way too soon to predict what will happen by the time the critical winter season arrives — when most of the visitors are not only from out of the county, but out-of-state and international.
Anticipating the virus will still be a major health and safety concern, major events like October’s Fantasy Fest and the Florida Keys Seafood Festival, both in Key West, have already been canceled.
But the bump in business over the weekend have local business leaders and officials cautiously optimistic the worst is behind them.
“I hope this is a sign of better things to come,” Moscynski said.
