South county gears up for busy summer seasonSEASIDE – As business owners and the lodging industry gear up for Memorial Day weekend, south county economic leaders are anticipating a busy summer.

“I think it’s going to be very good,” said Wayne Poole, owner of Pig ‘N Pancake and president of the Seaside Downtown Development Association. “This is based on the fact that the winter and spring has been pretty good. The economy is better and people have more money to spend.”

Economic leaders say that, despite high gas prices, people will still be willing to drive to the beach. Seaside and Cannon Beach are less than a tank of gas from the Portland market.

“You’ve got to remember that the average American consumer, even though they’re shocked and awed by the price of gas, usually adjusts to it,” said Seaside Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Ken Meiser. “Most people are going to bite the bullet on it.”

Meiser predicts that those people on a very tight budget, who were planning a short trip, may choose to stay at home. But those who were planning to drive long-distance, to New England or Canada for example, may change plans to a short-distance beach trip. The largest percentage of the south county’s tourists come from Seattle, Portland and the state of Washington in general.

“The Seattle market has always been great for Seaside,” said Keith Chandler, executive director of the Seaside Aquarium and SDDA treasurer. He is also a member of the Seaside Promotions Committee, which has placed Seaside advertising on several Seattle television stations. “We’ve always had an influx of Seattle people and the ads are just to remind them of us. Seaside has always been the closest best beach to Seattle and it’s a short drive.”

This will be the first full summer that the Trendwest Resort complex in Seaside will be open. The resort includes 283 suites, of which more than 114 have been sold as fractional timeshare condominiums. Members of WorldMark, a club affiliated with Trendwest, use the remaining suites. Trendwest officials estimate that guests will pump more than $10 million into the local economy each year.

“We will be full, running at a 98- to 99-percent occupancy,” said Trendwest Spokeswoman Sonia Tolbert. “That’s about 800 people per day at the resort.”

One of the largest draws to the area this summer will be the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial celebration. Overall, the Bicentennial is expected to bring about one million people to the area from 2003 to 2006. Fort Clatsop National Memorial is anticipating at least 272,000 visitors this year and April’s numbers are already up 20 percent over the same time last year, said Jill Harding, chief of visitor services.

“We don’t know exactly what’s going to go on this summer,” she said. “But we’re already hitting higher than predicted.”

The free Lewis and Clark Saltmakers Return to Seaside interpretive program will be held July 16-18 and Aug. 20-22 this year.

“We’re really starting to see a pick-up on our historic tourists,” Meiser said. “A lot of people may try to get a Lewis and Clark visit in this year to beat next year’s rush.”

Even early weather predictions point to a fairly normal summer season, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Mark O’Malley. Normal temperatures – from the low 60s in June to the high 60s in August – are predicted and there is no indication in the atmosphere that the summer will be abnormally warmer or cooler than that.

Normal precipitation is also predicted – approximately 2.5 inches of rain in June, 1.15 inches in July and 1.2 inches in August, O’Malley said.