By Philip K. Ireland
North County Times
July 2, 2006
CARLSBAD
---- The typical visitor at Carlsbad's beaches spends $66
whiling away a day in the sand and surf, according to a new
study commissioned by city officials.
About $44 of that daily spending occurs at Carlsbad
businesses, resulting in more than $26 million in total
spending during the months of June through August, according
to a new study titled "The Economic and Fiscal Impact of
Carlsbad's Beaches: A Survey and Estimate of Attendance."
The
spending resulted in the collection of more than $94,000 in
sales taxes and $1.2 million in hotel taxes for city coffers,
according to the study's author, Dr. Philip King, chairman of
the economics department at San Francisco State University.
"The purpose (of the study) was to gather facts on how
many people come to Carlsbad beaches and how much they
spend," said Steve Jantz, a city engineer assigned to
support the Beach Preservation Committee. The seven-member
committee, appointed by the City Council to collect
information and offer advice on Carlsbad beaches, presented
the study's findings to the council last week.
Jantz said a few state-sponsored studies have looked at the
economics of beach tourism, but that there aren't any
Carlsbad-specific studies of this type.
"The key point is that tourism is very important
financially to city businesses," said Patrick Fearn,
board chairman of the Carlsbad Convention and Visitors Bureau.
King and his graduate students collected data in a random
survey of 562 beachgoers last June, July and August ---- the
same summer Carlsbad made the top five list for best family
beach destinations on ABC's "Good Morning America"
show. The survey was limited to people actually in the sand at
Carlsbad beaches.
King has completed similar studies for other coastal
California cities, including Encinitas, San Clemente and
Ventura, Jantz said. The city paid King $27,480 for the work
contained in the 25-page report.
The study also sought to identify the reasons why visitors
choose one beach over another, according to Dick Erhardt,
chairman of the beach preservation committee.
Topping the list
The survey found that beachgoers valued cleanliness (83
percent), parking (55 percent) and wide sandy beaches (43
percent) as the top three factors influencing their decisions
about which beach to visit.
About 600,000 people visited Carlsbad beaches during the
study, from June through August 2005, according to King.
Carlsbad has nearly seven miles of beach frontage. The
California State Parks System owns and controls Carlsbad State
Beach, South Carlsbad State Beach and Frazee State Beach. The
remainder of coastal land is privately owned above the high
tide line. All beaches in California are publically owned and
open to the public from the high tide line down to the water.
The vast majority, 83 percent, of visitors to Carlsbad beaches
do not live with the city limits, though half live within 20
miles. One out of four beach visitors come from out of state,
the report said.
"The big confirmation of the report is that having safe,
attractive, clean beaches is very important to the city's
businesses," Fearn said.
When asked to compare Carlsbad beaches to others, respondents
ranked Pacific Beach in San Diego and Moonlight Beach in
Encinitas slightly better. Beaches in La Jolla, Del Mar and
Newport ranked about evenly with Carlsbad. Respondents
preferred Carlsbad beaches to Torrey Pines State Beach,
Mission Beach in San Diego and those in Oceanside and
Huntington Beach.
Jantz noted the importance respondents placed on clean, wide
sandy beaches.
The study found that if beaches eroded by 50 percent, beach
attendance would drop by 28 percent. The drop in attendance
equates to a $7 million loss in annual spending, Jantz said.
That potential loss concerns Fearn.
"People don't want to come sit on rocks," he said,
emphasizing the need for a city-driven program to replace sand
on eroded beaches.
Further, Fearn said he was surprised that lifeguard coverage
and beach safety did not rank higher in the study, noting that
no lifeguards man towers north of Pine Street. Almost half of
the visitors said lifeguard services were "not
important."
Fearn said Carlsbad should contract with the state to ensure
the safety of visitors and avoid the "very bad
press" that a drowning could bring.
Three recommendations
Along with the findings, the committee recommended three
actions for the council:
- The council should consider developing a local beach
nourishment project to maintain sand coverage and provide
wide, sandy beaches.
- The council should lobby state and federal officials for
adequate funds to maintain clean beaches and provide lifeguard
coverage.
- The council should consider placing "beaches" on
its top 15 goals list.
"As a coastal city, and based on answers in the survey,
the city should make the beach a priority and consider ways to
improve trash pickup, beach safety and improvements to public
access," Jantz said.
King completed a similar study in 2001 for the city of
Encinitas. King, known for his beach economic research, has
been a consultant for the state since 1995 and recently did
work for San Clemente.
In his Encinitas study, King found that about 2.5 million
people visit the city's beaches each year. Working with
figures provided by beach visitors, King estimated that
beachgoers provided about $47 million in revenue in 2001 to
area hotels, restaurants, gift shops and other businesses.
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