Memorial Day weekend expected to be busiest since 2005

On a yearly basis Santa Cruz County sees around 3 Million visitors, many of them will be coming this weekend as the unofficial kick off to summer.

“Santa Cruz is the closest recreational beach to Silicon Valley, the Central Valley visitors like to come down and get on our cool beaches,” said Visit Santa Cruz County Communications Director Christina Glynn.

AAA predicts almost 40 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from their home this Memorial Day weekend.

“The beach is our biggest draw, but so are the events taking place,” said Glynn.

The beaches will also be the biggest draw in Monterey County.

“We expect to see a great influx of visitors as well as locals enjoying our area,” said Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau President and CEO Tammy Blount.

The tourism industry accounts for 25,000 jobs, the economic impact…priceless.

“It’s an important part of our economy year round. We see more than 150 million come in local taxes, which supports our quality of life here,” said Blount.

Chuck and his wife made the trip down early to celebrate their 41st wedding anniversary and beat the crowds. AAA expects 34.6 million Americans will drive to their destinations this year and 2.9 million Americans to fly. And for those that already live in a vacation destination, they’ll probably just stay home.

“We survive on tourism, but we don’t need to be in the tourist’s way. When there’s good specials we take advantage of it. But most the time we just walk in a different direction,” said Monterey Resident Marianne vanGelder.

“It’s gets crowded you can’t move around a lot, but you have to be realistic that this is where we live and why people want to come here because it’s a great place,” said Capitola Resident Steve Shank.

At the end of the day, locals say they wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It’s fun to see it, it’s helpful for the community we really appreciate all the things that happen here,” said Monterey Resident Marcy Phelps.