Here in San Diego's Mission Bay -- a nearly 7-square-mile playground of amusement parks, beaches, marinas, restaurants, hotels and souvenir shops -- the words on the lips of merchants and hotel owners are "Fourth of July weekend."
And it's not the annual fireworks displays they are talking about. It's the tourists -- or lack of them so far this summer. All fingers are crossed that the upcoming holiday weekend will kick-start the summer tourism season.
Like most tourist meccas stung by the worldwide recession, San Diego has endured plummeting tourist numbers and meager spending over the last year. But in the heart of San Diego's tourism industry -- Mission Bay -- merchants are betting that good weather, a slew of discounted hotel deals and the nation's 233rd birthday celebration will do the trick.
"July is looking really strong," said Namara Mercer, executive director of the Mission Bay Lessees, a group that represents hotels, marinas, SeaWorld and other leaseholders along the bay. She cited an uptick in hotel bookings for the Independence Day weekend.
Indeed, much is riding on the holiday weekend. Tourism is one of San Diego County's top job creators, employing 110,800 workers and generating $8 billion in revenue each year.
Last year, July was the strongest month for the county, with 4.16 million visitors spending nearly $900 million at such attractions as SeaWorld, the San Diego Zoo, the San Diego Wild Animal Park and Legoland. Mission Bay alone draws about 100,000 visitors each summer weekend.
To spread the news about San Diego's beaches, sun and fun, the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau in March launched what it described as its most aggressive marketing campaign, an $8-million promotion with the tag line "Happy Happens." A recent Auto Club of Southern California survey rated San Diego as the top destination for Fourth of July vacationers.
But if San Diego's tourism industry is going to bounce back this summer, the leisure playground of Mission Bay -- home to SeaWorld, the Belmont Park amusement park and the Mission Bay Aquatic Center -- will have to draw big numbers.
Hotel owners and merchants in Mission Bay estimate that revenue has dropped by more than 20% in the first quarter of 2009. They blame part of that decline on the slumping economy, anxiety over job losses and on an alcohol ban on the beach that took effect Jan. 1, 2008. In addition, drug violence and the swine flu outbreak in neighboring Mexico have cut down tourism between Baja California and San Diego.
