Boosting the shoulder season economy was one topic for discussion at the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development hearing Tuesday. The hearing was part of a statewide listening tour.
It’s difficult to imagine today, but there was a time before resorthood on Martha’s Vineyard — a time before summer houses, before restaurants and shops and sportfishing and sailing.
Five years after the recession hit the national economy, anecdotal reports from Island businesses say the local economy is slowly creeping back to normal. Businesses are reporting slightly improved summer seasons, with higher traffic to the Island, especially in August.
Edgartown is slated to become a bustling cruise ship port this summer, with cruise ships scheduled to dock in town 22 times between May and September.
On Monday the selectmen distributed the American Cruise Lines’ Vineyard schedule, which shows that the company’s three vessels — Independence, American Star and American Glory — will be docking in Edgartown
Blame it on terrorism, the stock market tumble or the fine weather that kept tourists on their beach blankets and away from downtown shops. Whatever the reason, it's been a lackluster summer at the cash register for most, but not all, Island businesses.
Seasonal workers for Island hotel and restaurant businesses could be arriving by ferry from New Bedford through an organized program within the next few weeks.
And a second proposed program, which would tap federal grant money, could be flying workers from New Bedford to the Island next summer, said Nancy Gardella, executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce.
Up in West Tisbury, past the airport but before the Mill Pond, is a small building. A part of both Island and national history, it serves as a social and cultural melting pot and a way to track economic trends. It is the Lillian Manter Memorial Hostel and, on a recent Tuesday morning shortly after 10 a.m., every bed was booked, but not a guest was around. The hot July sun was out and the groups of bikers and summer campers, the travellers from Canada and Germany and the friends shacked up in the one private room were all off exploring the Island.
If the summer rental market is any indication of the Island economy, Vineyarders can expect a turn for the better this season.
The early summer rental market is already up significantly over last year, with real estate agencies reporting increases between 17 and 30 per cent.
“We’re very excited about the season to come and found we have good, strong rebooking coming off of last season, and a lot of early bookings coming into the summer,” Anne Mayhew at Sandpiper Rentals in Edgartown said earlier this week.
