ORANGE BEACH, Alabama (WKRG) — Beaches aren’t as crowded and traffic isn’t as heavy. The summer of 2022 is coming to an end. For Orange Beach, the summer season brought revenue as tourists flocked to the beaches.
Despite economic challenges, Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon said it’s been a good summer and sales tax receipts reflect that.
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“I think we’ve created a niche that will always protect us to some degree from some of the economy’s worst-case scenarios,” Kennon said.
Tourists may have cut back on some of the vacation extras. “They might not have done one or two things out of 10, but they didn’t do the other eight,” Kennon said.
For those on the front lines of the tourist season, this is good news. Live Bait Assistant Manager Ashley Johnson sees her fair share of clients.
“There were a lot of people that summer,” Johnson said. “Even this week, when school starts again, there are still a lot of people.”
The tourism boom in Orange Beach isn’t just helping the locals. Orange Beach and Gulf Shores beaches help generate revenue for the state. This year, Alabama is expected to bring in more than $21 billion from tourism.
In 2021, Alabama’s beaches saw a record number of tourists after the COVID-19 pandemic halted operations. Hopefully this upward trend for Orange Beach tourism will continue in summer 2023.
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