Obviously, anyone who lives here or regularly visits the island has seen a significant increase in activity this year, especially if you have tried to cross the bridge on Saturdays. In our post-Covid world, the local businessperson and resident has to be asking the same question, "Is this a wave or a trend?"

Can I, as a local business person, expect this volume of visitors to continue? Do I need to change my operations, hire more people long-term, increase my inventory? Or is this just a pent-up demand as a result of the pandemic that will soon pass?

As a resident of the island, I appreciate that people want to get out and come to the island, but will this volume continue? If so, do we need to look at measures to better control traffic flows, law enforcement, and other community services? Are there other restrictions we need to look into so we can still pleasantly live here?

Those are important questions from two essential perspectives. But again, the first question is, "is this a wave or a trend?" In my opinion, it is a trend. The island will still have its seasons, but the pandemic has propelled tourism on South Padre Island about 5 years ahead of where we were pre-Covid. We became 'the place to escape from the pandemic.' SpaceX, and the fact that 1000 people a day are moving to Texas, hasn't hurt either.

The trend goes well beyond the simple answers I have given. Vacation markets all over the country are experiencing heavy influxes of visitors. Rather than go into those fun facts, let's focus on the specific element of Vacation Rentals or Short-Term Rentals, or what may people refer to as Airbnb's. After all, that is my business.

A major portion of South Padre Island's revenue comes from the taxes charged to visitors who stay overnight on the island, often called a bed tax or, the proper name, the Hotel Occupancy Tax or HOT. If you want to know, a guest pays an extra 17% on top of their hotel or vacation rental rate, split between the state, the county, and the city, with the city getting the bigger portion. The HOT comes from both hotels and vacation rentals. In the fiscal year 2019-2020 (Oct thru Sep), 57% percent of the HOT came from vacation rental properties. During March this year, 56% of HOT came from vacation rental properties.

Interestingly, HOT collections for March this year are significantly higher than they were in 2019, 2018, or 2017. Add the fact that causeway crossings were not up, and we are left wondering what we did right — answer vacation rentals. As most of you know, this last March saw many more families than your typical Spring Breakers. Your Average Daily Rate to rent a short-term rental property is significantly higher than your average hotel room. Fewer people spent more money.

At the South Padre Island CVB, as in vacation markets all over the country, we are still unpacking the long-term ramifications of the changes in the travel industry as a result of the pandemic. But there is one thing for certain; the vacation rental market has been greatly impacted.

In anticipation of the continuing changes in the vacation rental market on South Padre Island, I, with a group of other professional local vacation rental managers, have formed an association. The VRMA-SPI (Vacation Rental Managers Association of South Padre Island) has a mission to lift the professionalism of the vacation rental industry on South Padre Island. Too many independent operators of vacation homes circumvent the rules and give the rest of us who do this for a living a bad name.

In the coming months, getting past our busy season, we will be working with the city to make sure the proper rules are in place with the teeth for enforcement. We all love our little bit of paradise here, and we are committed to making it even better.