Summer beach rentals on East Coast vacant

SHIP BOTTOM, N.J. -- When skittish travelers began avoiding airplanes after Sept. 11, Jersey shore real estate brokers thought it might mean big business for summer rentals.

After all, ocean beach resorts like this one on New Jersey's Long Beach Island are an easy drive for millions of East Coast vacationers. It stood to reason that families would forego flying to drive somewhere closer to home.

"We thought it was going to be robust because of the tightening economy, and the catastrophes of Sept. 11. But after the first two months of the year, our bookings dropped precipitously," said Joe Mayo, broker-owner at Re/Max of Long Beach Island.

Cheap air fares, attractive package deals offered by cruise lines and stepped-up marketing campaigns by fly-drive destinations like Miami and Orlando, Fla., have provided stiff competition for drive-to resorts.

With Memorial Day approaching, rental agents and tourism officials in some other beach destinations are wondering where their customers are, too:

In Cape Hatteras, N.C., summer rental bookings are down.

"There are, in fact, more July weeks available this year than we usually have," said Dick Davis, property manager for Hatteras Realty.

Davis, who handles rentals for 420 luxury homes on the Outer Banks, said they are 78 percent booked for the summer, a 4 percent decrease from this time last year.

He blames the post-Sept. 11 economy.

"One of the things we have found is that there have been a tremendous amount of layoffs and people aren't able to go on vacations like they used to."

"As a drive-to destination, we expected a significant increase, but we haven't seen that," said Susan Holt, vice president and regional director of rentals for O'Conor, Piper and Flynn/ERA in Ocean City. "We are victims of our own expectations."

Historically, 80 percent of U.S. summer leisure travel is by automobile, according to the AAA. This year, that share will grow to about 83 percent, according to AAA spokesman Jerry Cheske.

"The issue of fear of flying hasn't abated for everyone but it has in the vast majority of people. But there's still lingering concerns about what people perceive as the hassle of air travel," he said.

Some resort areas are flourishing, thanks in part to Americans' desire to stay closer to home this summer.

Demand for rentals along California's Orange County coast -- between Los Angeles and San Diego -- remains high. Gary Liggett, who rents out a three-bedroom, one-bathroom house in Sunset Beach, says demand for it increased this year, even after he boosted the weekly rent from $2,250 to $2,450.

On Cape Cod, summer rental business is booming and late-booking vacationers are reaping the benefits. "Our phones started ringing in January, and they haven't stopped," said Ken Brochu, rentals manager for Martin Surett Realty in West Dennis, Mass.