South Walton Marketing to Tourists

[Hansonfam2002]

From about 2005 to 2019 my family vacationed in the South Walton - 30a area each year. Now the overcrowding, traffic and prices are just out of control. It surprises me that living in the south I still regularly see ads on TV, magazines, and online promoting SoWal. When is enough enough? Will it never end? And on a related note I see others have the same feeling I do especially with lack of public beach. Where do you guys go ore any recommendations for alternative beaches for vacation? TIA!

 

[EZ4144]

Most locals agree and tourists are beginning to see the real problems you mention. But more and more beds are getting installed in new rentals so the marketing will only increase and competition heat up.

 

[navigate30a]

From about 2005 to 2019 my family vacationed in the South Walton - 30a area each year. Now the overcrowding, traffic and prices are just out of control. It surprises me that living in the south I still regularly see ads on TV, magazines, and online promoting SoWal. When is enough enough? Will it never end? And on a related note I see others have the same feeling I do especially with lack of public beach. Where do you guys go ore any recommendations for alternative beaches for vacation? TIA!

Local Realtor here

I can tell you for certain that the private beaches have had an impact and despite more rentals being built, vacancies are up. It’s not the only factor, but it is a big driving factor for why we have so much inventory on the market right now. That said, it hasn’t all been tainted. Communities like Rosemary, Alys, Watercolor etc that have large spans of deeded beach and communities that border state parks will be relatively unimpacted. As for alternatives, I think a lot of the pains you’re describing are driving a lot development of West Panama City Beach between Lake Powell and Hwy 79. That’s Bay county, and their beaches are wide open. You can already see new development happening and prices indicative of the expansion. I’d be happy to discuss further if you’d like to shoot me an email at Russell@Live30A.com

 

[bob1]

It'd be weird if they weren't advertising or ran disclaimers that you might not be able to go to the beach but I'm sure some would prefer that and maybe they should. How long before rental companies and the county get so sued for false advertising? Or for money back on rentals?

 

[bob bob]

I can tell you for certain that the private beaches have had an impact and despite more rentals being built, vacancies are up.

Wouldn't vacancies be up if more rentals are being built? I heard from one rental agent who said bookings were down some this spring because spring break was 8 weeks this year instead of 6 and overall volume of people over tghe 8 weeks was similar to last year.

 

[navigate30a]

Wouldn't vacancies be up if more rentals are being built? I heard from one rental agent who said bookings were down some this spring because spring break was 8 weeks this year instead of 6 and overall volume of people over tghe 8 weeks was similar to last year.

I’ve heard a few people blame saturation for the vacancies, and that may be partially to blame, but I’d argue that places like Miramar and Destin have been saturated for a lot longer and still perform well. Bottom line is that the impacts of the beach privatization are only just being felt as last year was most peoples’ first exposure to the new dynamic. There are numerous examples of tourists talking about vacationing to different beach towns as a result of overcrowding and rent-a-cops chasing people off the empty sand. I wish I knew how all of it would play out, but I’m an armchair psychic just like the next guy so we’ll see! ‍

As of right now, the overwhelming consensus is that people still love this place and want to visit and live here. Like many others, I transplanted from elsewhere (New Orleans, 2018) and, by comparison, I’ll take this any day.

 

[UpNorth]

Most likely reason is that SoWal is just becoming too high end. Rates for short term rentals have skyrocketed over the past five years and now with customary use it seems anything near beach is obscene. This seems confirmed by the bed tax numbers, which despite a crashing Airbnb market, aren’t really down that much. From what I’ve heard a lot of the traffic has left 30A and either gone to West End of Panama City Beach or just picked an entirely different location altogether. This is somewhat balanced out by more year round people being here, but not the best of trends.

 

[Jemmabeach]

Most likely reason is that SoWal is just becoming too high end. Rates for short term rentals have skyrocketed over the past five years and now with customary use it seems anything near beach is obscene. This seems confirmed by the bed tax numbers, which despite a crashing Airbnb market, aren’t really down that much. From what I’ve heard a lot of the traffic has left 30A and either gone to West End of Panama City Beach or just picked an entirely different location altogether. This is somewhat balanced out by more year round people being here, but not the best of trends.

I suppose some rentals will have to drop rates and those with access will go up. If people come and have a bad experience it will get around and really hurt.

 

[SUP Boarder]

From WJHG...
Walton County sees low tourism numbers in recent years


Last year's tourism tracking study....
Walton County Tourism Spring 2024 Visitor Tracking Study March - May 2024


Most likely still get the "first-time" visitors who may not be fully aware of some of the "complexities", but may be an increase in "one and done" visitors (in the middle 48% below)....