The Monterey Bay region is throwing the doors open to visitors starting today. Hotels and vacation rentals are permitted to get back in business as well as sport fishing, whale watching and campgrounds. It’s all good news for local restaurants who have been struggling to find diners.
Tourism is what drives the Monterey Peninsula, second only to agriculture in the county. Today hotels like the InterContinental and the Marriott are reopening their doors, and leisure cruises are finally leaving the docks.
“Mercury starts getting to 100 degrees, they all come over here, this is where they run to to cool down,” said Dominic Mercurio, owner of Domenico’s in Monterey, “without the tourists we have nothing here, the locals are a huge part of our business also during the winter but during the summer they tend to stay away - Monterey needs tourists, there’s no question about it.”
After laying off over 100 workers in March, he’s been selling slices of takeaway pizza, but with hopes of bringing back his full Italian seafood menu within 2-3 weeks. The problem is, with the cancellation of the usual big summer events like the Monterey Jazz Festival and big car show, who knows how many visitors will show up.
“Pebble Beach. It’s huge, that’s seven days of a lot of money and people coming into town and taking all the hotel rooms up,” said Mercurio.
The Pebble Beach Company, one of the biggest employers in the county, isn’t opening its lodges and inns until Monday, and some of the areas biggest tourist draws still haven’t announced a reopening date.
