Ocean City Today/Dew Tour
Page 8
June 2014
Dew Tour becomes OC’s signature event Aside from revenue, resort also benefits from media coverage around globe
By Lisa Capitelli Managing Editor (June 27, 2014) There is no doubt the Dew Tour Beach Championships has a positive impact on the Town of Ocean City. “[Dew Tour] has become one of our signature events,” Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan said last week. “A lot of people are looking forward to it…Many people plan their vacations around when Dew Tour will be here.” This is the fourth year the Dew Tour will host skateboarding and BMX competitions in the resort. During its Ocean City debut–its first beachfront venue–in 2011, the Pantech Open, held July 21-24, set a Dew Tour attendance record by drawing approximately 73,000. That record was shattered in 2012 as an estimated 93,000 spectators came out for the Dew Tour Pantech Beach Championships, Aug. 16-19. The Dew Tour returned to Ocean City in 2013, and again, a new attendance record was set. It was the first time the Dew Tour had ever hosted more than 100,000 attendees at a single event. Over the course of five days, June 19-23, an estimated
103,000 fans visited the Dew Tour Beach Championships. According to the Demoflush statistics, which uses wastewater flows to estimate the city’s population, approximately 258,809 people were in town (Saturday and Sunday average) during Dew Tour weekend last year. Many of those people stayed in Ocean City’s hotels and motels, ate in restaurants and shopped in the town’s stores. But Ocean City doesn’t just benefit from the number of people who come to town for the event. Ocean City also gains national and international attention on television. The 2014 Dew Tour will be presented on NBC, NBCSN and DewTour.com/live on the NBC Sports Live Extra platform. “To see Ocean City on TV and the way it is depicted is fantastic,” Meehan said. According to the Dew Tour, “Thanks to greater distribution platforms, across international television, digital and distribution partners, including Globostat (Brazil) and TVA (Canada), we are able to bring the 2014 Dew Tour Beach Championships partners and athletes to 103 countries and more than 215 million households worldwide.” “The media coverage surrounding the event and the footage you see on NBC Sports provides great exposure for Ocean City,” said Susan Jones, executive director of the Ocean City Hotel-Motel-
OCEAN CITY TODAY/LISA CAPITELLI
Tom Schaar wows the crowd during last year’s Dew Tour Beach Championships Skate Bowl event in Ocean City. He is scheduled to compete again this weekend.
Restaurant Association. “The Town of Ocean City benefits in many ways from the Dew Tour. Of course, there is the revenue that is generated by the visitors who come to watch the event and the millions of impressions from the international television exposure, but mostly, it is the memories that are made by the people who come and experience the Beach Championships that they will never forget,” said
Jessica Waters, Ocean City’s communications manager. “The Dew Tour brings an exciting energy to Ocean City, with fun, lively and youthful events and concerts. When people arrive and see the extraordinary footprint of the Dew Tour, they are amazed. It is dazzling and I think being able to offer that feeling is something that is the largest benefit from the Dew Tour,” she said.
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