This weekend I attended the 37th annual Neptune Festival that was held in Virginia Beach. While enjoying the activities I decided to conduct my own field study. Having been born and raised in Virginia Beach, I have attended every single Neptune Festival since its inseption in 1973. I have seen this small local event turn into one of the largest activities of its kind.
The beginning of this study started with surveying twelve different hotels/ motels along Atlantic Avenue. All of the facilities were sold out for the weekend. Three of the facilities claimed that they were booked full all the way into November. One hotel, the Hilton, said they were booked full all the way into December. This is good news for Virginia Beach. Many people believe that the ocenfront is basically closed from October to March. That might have been true ten years ago; but, in 2010 Virginia Beach is just as vibrant as any other comparable city along the East Coast. The new oceanfront convention center is prooving to be a resounding success. More and more groups are naming Virginia Beach as their annual convention destination. Rates at motels and hotels are at rock-bottom during the winter months. This is attracting many visitors to come to our city during this down period.
The second part of my study involved observation and conversations with some of our out-of-town visitors. While driving around the oceanfront and looking for a parking spot I noticed that there were a large amount of license plates registered to states other than our own. Cars from New York, Pennsylvania, Florida and South Carolina were represented. I even saw one car from Ontario and two from Quebec. While walking through parking lots I noticed the same trend. It seemed that one out of three license plates were from out-of-state. This is remarkable when you consider that tourist season is over. I talked with a few visitors and they all said that they came to Virginia Beach because of the short travel distance and the low motel rates at this time of year. They also said that marketing in their area was very strong for Virginia Beach and that they felt that this area was family friendly with a low crime rate. None of the people I talked to were related to the military. As a matter of fact, I noticed that there were not that many military personel present in the crowd.
In 2009 Virginia Beach had over 2.5 million visitors that spent 890 million dollars. In return, this created more than 15,000 jobs. In addition to the tourist industry, Virginia Beach has a strong agricultural heritage that contributes to the economic vitality of this region. Manufacturing in the area is also continuing to thrive. There are many companies such as, Stihl, that have made Virginia Beach their home. This kind of business is not related to the military and is an indication of our areas economic vitality.
How could Virginia Beach survive without Oceana Naval Air Station? This question has been asked by many. My answer is yes, our areas strong economic base outside the military is very strong and continuing to grow. If the massive acreage of land that Oceana occupies were to become available to our tax assesors. The winfall would be tremendous. There are many other uses for that land that I feel will better utilize the available resources in our area. Examples that can be used are turning the airfield into a Fedex/ DHL terminal, or building an industrial park or amusment park. The real estate tax that the city would gain would be astonomical. Currently, the city does not receive this benefit from the current residents. In addition, one has to look at the residents from the base. They typically receive benefits that none military personel do not receive. For example, tax free shopping and free medical benefits are typical for many military families. This economic activity does not benefit the city and in actuallity causes harm to the native residents of our area. I will admit that housing will suffer as a result of the loss of Oceana. But, when you look at the big picture, housing is intruding on green areas that can be used for agriculture. There is an influx of un-needed housing in Virginia Beach. I feel that existing housing has met our needs and construction of new housing should be limited.
In conclusion, I feel that the future shines bright for Virginia Beach. Tourism is on the rise, manufacturing has shown a strong increase and agriculture is and always will be a force of strong economic input/ output. Yes, I believe that Virginia Beach can survive without Oceana and would continue to thrive without the presence of Oceana Naval Air Station.
No comments:
Post a Comment