20 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • JUNE 2019
PRESS BUSINESS
LI TOURISM SEASON FORECAST CHANGES WITH THE WEATHER
continued from page 19
“It is always, always, always about the
weather,” says Steve Haweeli, a veteran
East Ender and former president of the
East Hampton Chamber of Commerce.
“If it’s a cold summer, it’s not going to
bode well for the East End.”
As always, most on the East End are
optimistic.
“I’m always looking for a better summer
than the last one,” says Mark
Smith, owner of Nick and Toni’s in
East Hampton, and several other
high-end restaurants. “The economy
is better. That should be good for
business out here. But people say the
real estate market is overpriced, and
there could be a correction. You just
never know.”
Long Island’s East End is made up of
five towns — Riverhead, Southampton,
East Hampton, Southold and
Shelter Island — that offer a sweeping
vista of Atlantic Ocean shoreline,
Long Island Sound waters, dense
forests populated by deer and other
wildlife, and majestic images like
the Montauk Lighthouse, whose construction
was approved by George
Washington in 1792. The East End is
dotted by charming Victorian homes
in East Hampton and Southampton,
and quaint bungalows and wineries
on the bucolic North Fork. Winters,
most of the East End is a ghost town.
Summers, it is teeming with visitors,
all-night dance clubs, bars, tony
restaurants, and farm stands where
farm-fresh food is sold.
The East End is also big business. According
to Discover Long Island, the
tourism-promoting agency, tourism on
the Island is a $5.9 billion industry that
supports some 100,000 jobs and expects
this year to generate more than $720
million in local and state tax revenues.
The agency says that 48 percent of
visitors come to LI in the summer, 22
percent in the spring, 21 percent in
autumn, and 9 percent in winter.
“Our trends show year-over-year
growth in tourism, of from 3 percent
to 5 percent,” says Kristen Jarnagin,
Discover Long Island’s president and
chief executive. “But you just never
know,” she added, citing the uncertainty
of the weather and limited new
hotel inventory.
Erin Keneally, a real-estate agent with
the Corcoran Group, says that in the
last few years, renters have been
making their summer plans later
than in the past, just because they
are busier in the hyper-cyber age.
Rentals this year so far have been
slow, “but are picking up.”
One major factor on the real estate
scene this year is the growing presence
of lodging arranged through
the San Francisco-based internet
company Airbnb. Judy Desiderio,
CEO of Town & Country Real Estate,
estimates that about 50 percent of
summer renters are now Airbnbs
— generally meaning shorter-term
stays — compared with about 40
percent who are seasonal, meaning
stays of about two months.
Most on the East End have come to
accept it.
“Change is inevitable,” Desiderio
says.
About that long-range weather forecast:
The National Weather Service at
Brookhaven National Laboratory in
Upton says there’s about a 50 percent
chance of above-normal temperatures
and precipitation on the East
End this summer.
So will there be a good summer? Flip
a coin.
“It is always, always, always about the
weather,” says Steve Haweeli.
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