Ocean City has come a long way from its origins as a quaint seaside fishing village.  The town has emerged as one of the nation’s top beach destinations and hosts millions of visitors each year.  While the town continues to grow as a year round destination, our primary tourism season is the summertime.

OC transforms into Maryland’s second largest city during the summer with an aggregate population of nearly 4 million between Memorial Day and Labor Day.  The Ocean City Public Relations Office’s statistics indicate the town had an average of 273,227 visitors on any given day during the summer of 2008.  The town experiences high visitor turnover with common rental property terms of one week.  Given the total tourism estimate of 3,962,197 between Memorial Day and Labor Day of 2008, the implied turnover is more than 280,000 tourists per week.  These visitors travel from throughout the nation and world to enjoy Maryland’s only beach.

There are many attractions that spur this vibrant tourist season with the town’s beautiful 10 mile beach and 3 mile boardwalk at the top of most lists.  Other activities include golf, amusement parks, boating and fishing, and a plethora of worthy dining establishments.  As a vacation town, most visitors make it a point to find some way of entertaining themselves.

In such an escapist environment, many visitors find themselves watching far less television, spending less time in their cars, and reading fewer newspapers; thereby making it difficult for advertisers to reach them.  The SeaBoard delivers our clients’ messages to a captive audience where they are most likely to spend their time, the beach and boardwalk!
Ocean City is a great market for advertisers to focus on building brand and product awareness.  The success of an Ocean City campaign is augmented by word of mouth as our visitors bring their awareness home with them after the vacation.

Highlights regarding Ocean City’s tourist population are presented below.  Please contact us for more.

OC Visitors by State

OC Visitors Household Incomes

$18k-$25k - 8%
$25k-$35k - 12%
$35k-$50k - 15%
$50k-$75k - 22%
$75k-$95k - 19%
>$95k - 21%

69% of Visitors Visit Every Year

# of Times they'll Visit per year

1x - 42
2x - 24%
3x - 10%
4x - 3%
5x+ 18%

(Source: Ocean City Department of Tourism)

Recent Media Accolades

One of the “Top 10 U.S. Beaches” – Woman’s Day Online (2007)
One of the “Best Boardwalks in America” – the Travel Channel (2004)
One of America’s “Best Seaside Strolls” – Reader’s Digest (2006)
One of the “Top Boardwalks” – The Today Show (2007)
One of the Top 10 “East Coast Family Vacations under $250(day)” - AOL Travel (2008)