By Maren Ingram, Opinions Editor 

It’s no secret that the majority of the economy on the Outer Banks is fueled by tourism. We see it every day, whether it’s lines of cars waiting to get into Corolla or visitors packed on the beach. But this 2020 tourism season was like no other; along with the lines of cars down the bridge came a new visitor- COVID-19. 

Throughout the summer, we saw new COVID-19 cases pop up daily, from both visitors and locals alike. Although COVID-19 was an unwanted visitor, it may have brought more good than bad to the Outer Banks tourism industry this season. 

The number of visitors despite the circumstances surprised many, including Lee Nettles, the Executive Director of the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau. He explained that as a whole, COVID-19 didn’t affect this season as much as expected. 

“Initially we were down 17% on occupancy collections and 33% on prepared meals (restaurant) collections from January through June,” Nettles explained. “However, for the month of June alone, occupancy actually posted a gain year-over-year of 1.4%, which was a record for June.” 

Numbers aside, it’s clear that there was no shortage of visitors this summer, even in the midst of a pandemic. 

“Anecdotally, just based on all the cars and what folks are saying around the community, it sounds like we had a summer at least on par with previous ones and maybe better,” Nettles said. 

Regardless of the amount of visitors, there were still plenty of challenges for every Outer Banks industry. It’s possible that restaurants were some of the hardest hit businesses on the beach- as they had to deal with changing regulations daily. 

“The in-restaurant capacity caps have forced businesses to completely rethink their operation… how to manage and maximize take-out orders, while still trying to make a go of in-restaurant and keep everyone as safe as possible,” Nettles said. “And the changes keep coming.” 

Kevin Cherry, one of the owners of Mama Kwans in Kill Devil Hills, is no stranger to these changing restaurant regulations. 

“I am not sure we were busier than last year, but it sure felt like we were due to the increased effort we implemented to keep our customers safe,” Cherry explained. “The regulations were a challenge, but my staff were exemplary on the way they dealt with the ‘new normal’.” 

Along with following state and county regulations, Mama Kwans created some of their own regulations and twists to ensure the safety of both customers and staff. 

“We have implemented sanitation stations where all menus go after a customer is done with it,” Cherry said. “We have also put in a hostess station outside to greet guests before they enter the building, lets them know our safety policies, and explains how and where we will seat them.” 

Despite difficult times for the restaurant industry, Cherry explains how everyone came together to support one another. 

“The Dare County Restaurant Association held Zoom Meetings for us to talk and express our fears and concerns during this crisis,” Cherry said. “We have a restaurant community who lean on each other when times get tough.” 

For many, including rental house owners and property management workers, this busy season came as a huge surprise. Maggie Sexton, the Vice President of Rentals at Village Realty, explained the crazy turn of events. 

“We started seeing bookings decline in late February, that decline continued as we moved into March, and when the Outer Banks shut down visitors on March 17, our bookings came to a screeching halt,” Sexton explained. “But in the end, we have had 100% occupancy, something we haven’t seen in probably 20 years.” 

This record high number also came with a lot of precautions, including new ways to sanitize every rental house between renters. 

“We have treated almost every home with PreventX, which is a virus fighting product that can last up to 90 days with one application when applied using an electrostatic sprayer,” Sexton explained. “We have also changed our processes of meeting people in-person and even sending techs out to the houses to fix things.” 

Despite the rough start to the season, Sexton and her team at Village Realty were able to turn it around and make the best out of the situation. 

“When the announcement came through that the Outer Banks was opening back up in May, the phones were non-stop and people were booking online at a rate I’ve honestly never seen before,” Sexton said. “We prepared for the worst, but ended up having a season off the record books!” 

The busy season came as a shock to some First Flight students who work in the community as well. 

Junior Porter Braddy, who is working at Mulligan’s Grille this year for the second year in a row, explains that this summer has been like no other. 

“I am surprised with how busy we’ve been even with COVID-19,” Braddy said. “We still had some pretty slow nights, and it was always off and on; some nights we were slammed and some nights we were dead.” 

Like Braddy, senior Nevaeh Tucker, who’s been working at Booty Treats Ice Cream & Shave Ice in Nags Head for the past three years, was surprised by the amount of people visiting, despite the virus. 

“It feels like we’ve been as busy as we usually are,” Tucker said. “But we’ve had to change our whole setup and customers aren’t allowed inside, so that sometimes makes it feel like we’re not as busy.” 

And the Outer Banks could possibly be expecting a busier fall season than normal, with people working remotely and students doing school virtually. 

“I think we’ll keep going steady with business in the fall because kids will just be able to do their schoolwork while on vacation,” Braddy said. 

Nettles agreed: “Virtual learning and working, could very well produce a bump in visitation this fall. I expect it to be stronger than most falls, but we’ll still have less visitation than we see in the summer.” 

So, despite the changes COVID-19 brings every day, our little community has been able to step up to the challenge and keep those visitors coming all summer long. 

“I’m just really proud of our local tourism industry and the community in general for figuring out a way to conduct business during these strange times and still do everything we can to keep the COVID case count down,” Nettles said. 

Junior Maren Ingram can be reached at [email protected].