Last year, Christos Mavronas’s checking account was dwindling, his revenue plummeted by more than tenfold, and he watched as businesses around him permanently shuttered their doors when one of the largest tourist areas in Florida went into lockdown at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I was on the brink of losing the business. That’s how bad it was,” Mavronas, owner of Steve’s Famous Diner in Daytona Beach, told the Washington Examiner in an interview. “Nothing was coming in.”
Mavronas said his company suffered huge revenue losses, forcing his business to adapt to the new circumstances.
“Normally, I average $3,000 to $5,000 in sales a day. I went down to $300 in sales,” he continued. “I had two employees and me just doing takeout, just hustling, doing Facebook advertising trying to get people to call in so I could get some revenue going because I have fixed expenses.”
But now, the chef and business owner fears no more, in part due to the thousands of young adult revelers who have descended on the beach-front town in recent weeks, jump-starting sales for his previously battered establishment.
“I haven’t seen business like this since the 90s when MTV was here,” he said. “It’s a lot of people in Daytona Beach this year, and my numbers are through the roof. [There’s] a lot of young people, a lot of families.”
Mavronas doesn’t mind the influx. In fact, “they’re awesome,” he said.
“They’re coming out and [doing] nothing crazy,” he said. “It’s like they always act — they’re kids. They’re hanging out, [and] they’re drinking, but nothing that bothers me. They come down, they sit down, they order, and they go.”
Spring breakers have earned themselves a reputation for rambunctious behavior, but this year in Daytona Beach, it’s more mellow. A spokesperson for the city’s police department told the Washington Examiner there have been “no such issues,” and the young adults have “been well behaved.”
The teenaged and college co-eds with their pockets full of cash helped to bring Mavronas and other small business owners out of what seemed like an eternal rut in the beginning stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mavronas’s diner has fully recovered.
“Right now, the way the numbers look this year, I’m fully recovered,” he said. “I’m just grateful and thankful that I stayed in business. It’s my life. For me, this is not just a job.”
Other businesses in the area, such as Spanky’s 33 Tavern, a popular bar, said they’re “packed” with beachgoers, in stark contrast to a dismal showing last year. The Fountain Beach Resort also told the Washington Examiner that business is booming, and not a single room in the hotel was unoccupied as of Sunday.
MIAMI BEACH DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY OVER SPRING BREAK CROWDS
The spring breakers, who may be a nuisance to some, are working wonders on the Sunshine State’s tourism economy. President of Visit St. Pete Clearwater Steve Hayes said the co-eds are partially responsible for filling 90% of the area’s lodging industry last weekend, up from an abysmal 50% the year prior during lockdowns.
“We’re gonna do better than last year because we were shut down halfway through the month of March,” he told the Washington Examiner in an interview. “If we could get roughly around 65% to 70% occupancy, that would be success. This last weekend, we ran basically low 90%. That is for the county as a whole, not only beach but [also] inland properties.”
In 2019, Hayes’s area, Pinellas County, saw 15.2 million visitors, who occupied 71% of the region’s hotels and spent $5.5 billion, according to data provided by the city. In 2020, only 12.5 million tourists came to Clearwater or St. Pete. They spent $3.6 billion, and 52% of the lodging industry was occupied. The COVID-19 pandemic also led to the loss of roughly 37,000 jobs in the tourism field for that area.
For the most part, the spring breakers in Hayes’s area of operation have been incident-free, until last week when an 18-year-old was caught on video leaping out of a police vehicle and attempting to flee while in handcuffs. Dominic Glass, 18, was apprehended about 100 yards away from the patrol car and booked into jail on charges of disorderly conduct, resisting an officer, and escaping.
In Miami Beach, the situation is far more dire. Upwards of 1,000 people have been arrested after days of partying devolved into violent clashes with law enforcement over a mandatory 8 p.m. curfew. The city has declared a state of emergency and since extended the curfew.
MIAMI BEACH CURFEW: Miami Beach imposed an emergency 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew after spring breakers trashed restaurants, brawled in the streets, and gathered by the thousands without masks or social distancing. https://t.co/T1GOv27Q9m pic.twitter.com/AOtMY44QpE
— WFLA NEWS (@WFLA) March 21, 2021
Police deployed pepper balls and other nonlethal munitions this week in riot-like scenes, where thousands took to the streets, destroyed property, and hopped on parked cars. SWAT teams were used to quell the unruly crowds, and over 80 firearms were seized throughout the week.
The Miami tourism industry lost billions amid lockdowns over the same time frame last year and recently spent $5 million on an advertising campaign to draw visitors. Neither city officials nor local law enforcement in the area responded to requests for comment from the Washington Examiner at the time of publishing.
Fort Lauderdale, another hotbed for spring break activity, has not seen the same issue, and its police department told the Washington Examiner that officers have encountered “nothing outside what [they] typically see.” The city’s mayor, Dean Trantalis, welcomed visitors and reminded the public to adhere to coronavirus protocols.
“I’d like to welcome all of our visitors to the world-class beaches, fine dining, and outstanding amenities our city has to offer,” he said in a video. “I’d also like to take a moment to remind everyone, in light of the current pandemic, we want to make sure your time visiting Fort Lauderdale is enjoyable, memorable, and safe,” adding that face coverings and social distancing are paramount.
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The mayor encouraged visitors to enjoy his city while practicing public health safety measures.
“Fort Lauderdale is open for business, but at the same time, our police department and our code enforcement officers will be highly visible throughout the season.”
