CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — With spring break quickly approaching, many Coastal Bend businesses are expecting to see big profits from incoming crowds.
Toni Adams manages Jon's Surf Shop in Port Aransas and is optimistic about the turnout he will have this year.
"We're hoping to have the same crowd as last year. We had a really good summer. We had a lot of people here in Port Aransas," she said.
Public Relations Manager for Visit Corpus Christi America Segura said that she is expecting slightly fewer numbers than years past.
"Last year we sold about 47,000 hotel room nights during the busiest week of spring break. This year we do anticipate seeing a five-to-10 percent decrease compared to last year, we are seeing because of the economy," she said.
Port Aransas is representative of other Coastal Bend communities who are expecting more spring breakers because of successful marketing in Texas and across the nation.
President of the Port Aransas Chamber of Commerce Brett Stawar said that the popular week of rest and relaxation always promotes good business for the area.
"We're still seeing the registered short-term rentals somewhere around the 2,500 mark in Port Aransas. That's in addition to our hotel rooms that we have and certain of our limited service hotels," he said.
The Port Aransas Visitor's Bureau said the city is currently at 60-70 percent occupancy for spring break. President of United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce Al Arreola Jr. said a problem that everyone seems to be dealing with is a lack of workers.
"Throughout the pandemic and even post pandemic a lot of businesses have been dealing with labor shortages trying their best to get fully staffed," he said.
3NEWS was told that tourist businesses are still seeing a 15-30 percent shortage in workers. However, Adams said she's hoping for a great year.
"This past weekend was real good. We had a lot of people out here. So I'm just kind of hoping that's the indication," she said.
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