A Slow, Slow Summer Tourist Season

Louise Befumo’s four motels along the New Jersey coast would normally be packed at this time of year. “When you have a heat wave like this, people should be running to the shore,” says Befumo, who has been in the motel business in New Jersey since 1972. “Still, we don’t fill up. A lot of people have gone from having secure incomes to not being sure about their jobs.” This summer Befumo hasn’t lit the “No Vacancy” sign even once during the week.

From the Jersey Shore to Mackinaw City on Lake Michigan to Gatlinburg, Tenn., and Ocean Shores, Wash., businesses that depend on middle-class vacationers are suffering. With unemployment stalled above 9 percent and companies including Merck, Lockheed Martin, and Cisco Systems announcing layoffs, occupancy at economy hotels and motels is off from pre-recession peaks. Attendance is down at national parks, including Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore. “There’s a lot of misery among middle-class families with incomes between $40,000 and $85,000,” says Chris G. Christopher Jr., an economist at forecaster IHS. “Discretionary spending for things like taking a vacation aren’t top of the list.”