Tourism experts share ideas on moving industry ahead

According to the most recent statistics available, Delaware’s tourism industry had a record-breaking year in 2021, drawing 28.3 million visitors and contributing $4 billion to the state’s gross domestic product.

Statistics for the past two summers aren’t available yet, but tourism professionals are determined to keep the industry thriving, which is why they attended the inaugural TourismConnect – PR, Marketing & Collaboration Summit for the region's travel, tourism, culinary and hospitality industries. The summit, which included representatives from Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey, took place Oct. 23 at the Atlantic Sands Hotel in Rehoboth Beach.

The event featured panel discussions on what local CEOs are seeing, what local restaurant owners are experiencing and what local transportation experts are doing to improve the movement of millions of visitors.

Panelist after panelist said it’s important for a business to have a good story to tell, and not be afraid to tell it.

Dan Flannery, CEO of New Jersey-based Cape Resorts, said the same goes for when towns and communities are trying to attract more visitors. The businesses have to come together to give people a reason to visit, especially in the off-season, he said.

Drew DiFonzo, TKo Hospitality operations vice president, agreed. Sea Witch, the single busiest weekend of the year around here, is a successful example, he said.

Labor shortages continue to be a problem for the industry, which is why several people talked about the importance of getting the message out that the industry isn’t mostly dead-end jobs.

Mariah Calagione, Dogfish Head cofounder and social impact leader, said she can’t think of another industry that offers as many career development opportunities. Especially, she said, around people who want to work non-traditional work schedules.

If a worker wants to move, there’s opportunity, said Calagione.

Josh Grapski, La Vida Hospitality managing partner, said he bristles every time he hears someone say the industry is full of nothing but dead-end jobs. It’s one of the few industries where a person can start out washing dishes and then have opportunities to be the sweat-equity owner of a restaurant later, he said.

Tourism only works if people can get to their destination.

Thomas Cook, Delaware River & Bay Authority executive director, said that’s getting easier in Delaware with the addition of Avelo Airlines in Wilmington earlier this year. With more than 25,000 passengers each month, it’s better than could have been expected, said Cook.

Most of Delaware’s tourist destinations still require traveling by road, which is why Charles “C.R.” McLeod, Delaware Department of Transportation director of community relations, said there’s $4.5 billion invested over the next six years in projects statewide. For a state the size of Delaware, that’s a very healthy program, he said.

Using the new bridge that will be built on New Road over Canary Creek as an example, McLeod said the state has identified about $1 billion worth of infrastructure, mostly in Sussex County, that’s considered vulnerable to climate change. That’s why there’s an effort underway to climate-proof as much of it as possible, he said.

Travel in the Cape Region also includes the use of ferries. Heath Gehrke, Cape May-Lewes Ferry director of ferry operations, said a 2019 study showed for every $1 spent using the ferry, there’s a $20 return to the local government. Not only does the service move people from one destination to another, it also provides people with a fairly inexpensive way to experience being out on the water, he said.

At the state level, Delaware Tourism Director Jessica Welch said her office continues to try and break the stigma that there’s nothing to do in Delaware. That work includes targeting marketing to business, leisure and especially sports tourism, because that’s a growing section needing to be tapped, she said.

Welch said the tourism-related numbers for 2022 won’t be available until December, but she’s expecting to see a bit of a drop from the record-breaking numbers in 2021. However, she continued, it will still be above 2019 numbers, which was the previous high year.

“It will still be a really good summer,” said Welch.

Looking to 2024, Welch said, people in the industry are predicting that travelers are going to start limiting their spending. As a drive-to state, it’s important to keep promoting how affordable Delaware is and everything it has to offer as people are making those decisions on future travel, she said.