The Spring Break Effect
Carson Abrahamson
Every year near Easter Time, students are forced to take a mandatory hiatus from their education, aptly titled “spring break”. Most students find themselves thoroughly depressed during this period as they miss their schooling dearly. Some try to mask this depression by traveling to faraway lands in attempt to fill the void left in their souls by the absence of tutelage. Such prime locations for spring break travelers see noticeable revenue generated by the influx of college and high school students who come to party, but the ultimate effect is highly overrated, except for the law enforcement industry.
With that being said, the amount of finances pumped into spring break destinations, most notably warm climate regions such as Texas and Florida, cannot be downplayed. Roughly 40% of all collegiate students in the United States vacation to some region, and they bring with them billions of dollars. Between Texas and Florida alone, nearly $1 billion is spent by the students looking to cure their spring break boredom. This money is mostly directed towards income for small businesses that pride themselves on selling cheap rooms or cheap beverages, and has led to an uptick in entrepreneurship. In Panama City, a popular Florida destination, positive business growth was posted for every year between 2001 and 2005 as the amount of total businesses rose from 634 to 779 across the same period.
Panama’s spring break gains are not all that they seem, however, as the lucrative amount of money spent does not translate to a proportional increase in tax revenue. Over the six week period that spring break occurs, around the months of March and April, a reported $170 million was spent by partiers, but the local government asserts that the very same months rake in the fewest tax revenues of the entire year. The same goes for hotel receipts; July is the biggest winner when it come to earning the big bucks with regards to hotel spending. Such results are awfully counterintuitive, until one considers the actual spending habits of students; they are cheap. Often cramming innumerable quantities of people into the same room and consuming the cheapest beer that the human body can safely ingest, it’s no wonder that certain financial situations are not what one might expect.
Aside from hotel receipts and tax revenue, a mark is still left on the spring break towns’, most notably in the form of crime. For police men and women, business is booming when it comes to spring break. The month of March tends to be, by far, the most popular month for crime and citations, and that is almost certainly the result of the influx of hormonal and drunk college students. From February to March, crime in Panama city more than quadruples, and citations increase almost twenty times over. Safe to say, law enforcement workers break a sweat when the spring breakers begin to arrive by the busload, but year round residents might get a kick out of the college aged antics.
Overall, it is clear that spring break partiers provide some form of stimuli to the local economy, but the impact is largely overrated. Aside from providers of cheap booze and cramped hotel rooms, the local economy is affected by dozens of factors that are more significant than the spring breakers. Furthermore, spring breakers bring a wealth of problems that overworked college students tend to provide. The fun of spring break is timeless, but it does not found great and illustrious cities.
Works Cited
"Spring Break & the Economy." Free Enterprise. N.p., 14 Mar. 2016. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.
Thompson, Derek. "2,000 Years of Partying: The Brief History and Economics of Spring Break." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 26 Mar. 2013. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.
Spring Break spending boosts economy SELENA YAKABENews Editor sdsucollegian.com | 0 comments. "Spring Break spending boosts economy." Sdsucollegian.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.
Spring Break really does have a big impact on basically all aspects of the country. Many people stop focusing, especially students, and start focusing on spending money. I, myself didn't actually travel this year but practically all of my friends went to locations in the south dropped lots of cash and boosting the economy. Spring Break greatly helps the economy and all of the businesses jump starting GDP.
ReplyDeleteSpring break is what a lot of resorts look forward to every year. It seems every high school and college kid is posting on social media about going somewhere nice for spring break, and this leads to huge revenues for resorts over spring break every year. Unless we go into a recession I would guess that the trend of people visiting these places on spring break would only continue.
ReplyDeleteIt was very interesting to read the points and data you brought up in this blog post. I found the information about crime to be very intriguing. But overall spring break is a big part of Florida's and Texas's economy and is great to see the small businesses increasing. Even though spring break does have its benefits and its downfalls I personally feel like spring break is more of a benefit because it is a time to get away from school and life and ultimately relax.
ReplyDeleteI find it fascinating to hear all these facts about the economics of spring break in our economy. The part where you talked about the criminal activity for the police becoming larger is interesting to hear, but is not all that surprising, as spring break brings an increase in drugs and alcohol into cities across the United States and in other countries. The benefits you pointed out are endless, as spring break seems to bring a lot of tax revenue and business for local restaurants and hotels. This increases the GDP in the United States by a lot, as many families and college students spend thousands of dollars on vacation, which can have a huge positive impact on our economy. Overall, spring break brings more economic advantages than disadvantages to our economy, as you pointed out.
ReplyDeleteI think it's great to see these small, hardworking businesses increasing their revenue during spring break. It does make sense that these states might see the most significant impact in revenue because both these states are very warm and are an attraction for people to go and visit. I think spring break is a benefit because it provides me much needed time to relax.
ReplyDeleteWhat a time, Spring time. Going on vacation is the highlight of many people's years, if not lives. This enjoyable moment in one's life is a profit machine for others. Small Business owners or even corporations that have prime infrastructure in vacation areas benefit a lot during vacation periods like spring break. Some companies are only open during these times and can sustain their business without going into loss.
ReplyDeleteI was not surprised to see that the crime increases during the month of March. I agree it has to do with alcohol and hormones. However, you mention the billion dollars that spring breakers bring in during the month of March. I believe that when people save for big trips like this, they tend to be more lose with their money... aka buying more alcohol then they usually would, and maybe drugs. I think that although they are boosting the economy, it is also safe to say that drugs are a large part of spring break, which isn't counted in GDP since they are illegal. In my final conclusion, I believe the crime rate is affected more than the RGDP due to the consumption of drugs.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting to see actual numbers behind spring break. Like in the one area of Florida is goes up drastically. To nearly 1,000,000. Other things like the crime going up is interesting as well but with college and high school students that isn't very surprising. It is basically just like one huge part for them which usually isn't a good thing. Especially when 40% are in the same region which I found kind of surprising. Not sure how big that region is but still a large percentage.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting seeing how much states like Florida and Texas do make from Spring Break. I was able to go down to Destin, Florida myself during Spring break and one of the interesting things that I saw was how newly developed it was. 10 years ago, Destin looked nothing like it did now, but because it's such a popular destination, it racks in billions of dollars. This is why so many small businesses are able to develop and thrive in this area. Also, some small businesses do so well, they are able to open up multiple locations within one area. So overall, I think Spring Break is a great piece of our economy.
ReplyDeleteNo one misses school during that time. some kids do stay home and save money. Granted i can't believe that the kids that do go on vacation dose spend 3,000 dollars on their vacation.
ReplyDelete