So far so good. That’s the response from operators of beaches, restaurants, museums, wineries and other Long Island attractions when asked about the financial performance of this summer’s tourism season at midpoint compared with the same time last year. "I’m hearing very positive remarks," said Kristen Reynolds, CEO and president of Discover Long Island, the region’s largest tourism promotion agency.
"Last year was what a lot of people considered a soft summer, especially on the East End." The weeks between Memorial Day and Labor Day are crucial to the Island’s tourism industry, which accounted for $6.6 billion in visitor spending and 100,000 jobs in 2022, based on the most recent report from the research firm Tourism Economics in Wayne, Pennsylvania.
"Summer is critical because it’s what Long Island represents to tourists: our beaches, our parks and our outdoor theaters and events," Reynolds said, adding more than 50% of the industry’s revenue is produced in the late-May-to-early-September period. "Summer’s also critical because that’s when the rates are the highest for our hotels due to high demand. Overnight visitors, particularly international visitors, are the most valuable to us.
For every $100 they spend on a hotel room, they spend approximately $221 at restaurants, stores and attractions in the local community," she said. Hotel rooms across Long Island were about as full this year during the week that included July Fourth as they were last year. The .