Throwback Thursday: Carolina Beach hoped for Labor Day boost in 1997

CAROLINA BEACH, NC — Labor Day weekend has long been one of the final big opportunities for beach businesses to attract tourists before the summer season winds down.

In 1997, Carolina Beach businesses were hoping the holiday weekend would provide one last boost after a slower-than-usual summer.

WWAY cameras visited Carolina Beach that year as streets and beaches remained relatively quiet heading into the holiday weekend.

Business owners said tourism had been down slightly during the summer, with some visitors choosing shorter stays.

“Normally, it’s been bumper to bumper all summer, and we haven’t seen that,” one business owner said.

Another said many tourists were staying three or four days instead of the weeklong trips they had taken in previous years.

Some business owners blamed the slowdown on negative publicity following the previous year’s hurricanes.

Still, merchants were optimistic that Labor Day weekend would bring a strong final wave of visitors.

“Labor Day is important,” one business owner said. “It’s probably one of our top three weekends of the year.”

The previous Labor Day weekend had been particularly difficult because of Hurricane Edouard, which affected the area in September 1996.

More than 30,000 visitors were expected in Carolina Beach and Kure Beach for the 1997 holiday weekend.

Town officials said visitors would find a new pier, cleaner streets and recently renourished beaches.

For local businesses, the hope was that those improvements, combined with the long holiday weekend, would help close out the summer on a high note.

Nearly 30 years later, Labor Day weekend remains an important part of the Cape Fear’s tourism season.

The segment is part of a weekly Throwback Thursday series that features stories from WWAY’s historical news archives. That archive can be accessed here.