As two children recover in the hospital after suffering severe injuries, images of boat and helicopter patrols scouring the waters near Oak Island proliferated on social media. On beaches miles from where the attacks occurred, some visitors were staying a little closer to the shore or sticking to the pool.
Officials say it’s too soon to tell if the shark attacks will scare summer vacationers away from the region. But as rental property and hotel managers field inquiries from concerned visitors, questions about how the incidents could impact the region’s vital tourism industry have arisen.
Since Sunday Oak Island Accommodations has had a handful of customers change their vacation rental plans, switching to properties further down the beach from the site of the attacks. One person canceled his reservation.
But vice president of marketing Melaney Robbins said bookings have continued steadily since the incidents.
“There’s many people asking about a home with a private pool,” she said, noting that the company is giving customers information about community pools and other activities in Oak Island. “When we talked to them about that, that seemed to ease their mind. … They still want to come, they just want to go to different areas of the beach.”
The family of Hunter Treschl, the 16-year-old from Colorado Springs, Colo., who lost his left arm in one of the shark attacks, was staying at an Oak Island Accommodations property at the time of the incident.
“Our hearts and prayers go out to these families,” she said. “It’s so sad to see this happen. We’ve been in business for 24 years and never seen anything like this before.”
Shawn Braden is executive vice president of marketing for the Wilmington and Beaches Convention Visitors Bureau. She said that as of Tuesday her office had received one call and one email from tourists worried about the shark incidents in Brunswick County.
“From our perspective we hope to poll our lodging partners and find out if they’ve experienced cancellations,” she said. “It’s just too soon to tell and we’ve had only two inquiries to date.”
Braden said she had seen national news stories that identified the location of the shark attacks as “Oak Island, south of Wilmington.” But she said many visitors, especially from out of state, may not associate the communities with one another.
“They look at this as Wilmington,” she said. “So a lot of times when you talk to them or they’re in focus groups and you get information from them, they’re commenting, ‘Oh we’re going to Wilmington.'”
Brunswick County Tourism Development Authority director Mitzy York said since the attacks officials have been distributing safety information to visitors.
“I have had some conversations with folks over at Oak Island and everyone I spoke to is pretty positive and not really expecting a significant impact,” she said. “I talked to some property managers and I think one said they had less than a handful of cancellations, and others said they had no cancellations.”
She said the TDA doesn’t have plans for any special marketing efforts in response to the attacks.
“The reason that there has been so much coverage is the fact that it is such an extraordinary incident,” York said.
John Hamilton, general manager of Oak Island’s Better Beach Rentals, said his company has not had any rental cancellations related to the incidents.
“We have had some inquiries. Obviously there would be some concern with the amount of news coverage,” he said. “We’ve had some people ask if the beaches were open and closed, if what they hear on the news is accurate or not. … I think the town’s doing a really good job of making people aware, and the shark incidents that have gone on recently have been a rare occurrence.”
Ea Ruth, co-owner of Palm Air Realty in Kure Beach, said she had only had a couple of conversations with customers about the shark attacks. But she worried news of the incidents could have an impact this summer.
“I think if we start splashing it on the front pages more frequently, I think that will bring more negative attention to it,” Ruth said. “I think sensationalism does that.”
‘Education is the key’
After coastal areas of North Carolina were devastated by Hurricane Floyd in 1999 and 2003’s Hurricane Isabel, state and local officials worked to stem damage done to the tourist economy. Ruth said she’d like to see similar efforts in response to the attacks, focused on educating visitors about sharks and coastal environments.
“I think any time we have any kind of a national incident we should definitely put a plug in for the positive aspects of our beaches,” she said. “I just think that education is the key; to have awareness of the environment down here and not to be scared of it.”
Jean Gooden, general manager of Coastal Sands Motel in Carolina Beach, said she was surprised to hear her staff hadn’t received questions about the attacks from customers. She said visitors this summer would likely be cautious near the water, but doubted they would avoid the area altogether.
“I have a feeling a little more’s not going to go as far and a little more’s going to use the pool instead of the oceans, but I think they’re still going to come to the beach,” she said.
In Wrightsville Beach Tuesday, vacationer Nancy Moxley CQ of Raleigh said the attacks wouldn’t keep her family from returning to the area.
“I don’t think it’s going to affect the city and the beach,” she said. “Where can you go in the ocean where you’re not going to see (sharks) in the summertime?”
Contact Cammie Bellamy at 910-343-2339 or Cammie.Bellamy@StarNewsOnline.com
Leave a Reply