Marissa Lupo
Mr. Reuter
Economics
14 March 2017
The Economic Impact of College Spring Break
For many college students, March is only notable for one reason: Spring Break. At a midpoint in the semester, it is typical for at least 55% of college students to pack up for a week, and head to the beaches. Deciding whether or not a vacation is the smartest option on a college budget, many students allow the opportunity cost of missing out on a week of fun, warm weather and relaxation to guide their choice to travel. Notable college spring break destinations in the United States include Panama City Beach and South Padre Island.
With an increase in population for the month of March, there is a shift to the right in the demand curve for many resources in these Spring Break towns. Students need to pay for transportation, hotel rooms, food, and any complement good of a beach vacation, including sun screen, sunglasses, and swimsuits. College students alone pump more than “$1 billion each year into Texas and Florida’s economies alone” on spring break, which aids especially smaller businesses in the area (Staff). This revenue is not always seen in the whole county, rather more locally in certain cities.
However, while college students can pride themselves with boosting the local economy for the month they invade, a great deal of negative externalities come along with college spring break. Having a reputation of being rowdy, spring breakers in Panama City Beach crowd the area with 42 students -1 resident, and crime rates increase significantly. Additionally, more non-vehicle citations are written in March than any other month, likely for underage drinking or public intoxication. The influx of college students makes the city less safe, which is a negative side effect. Below are graphs showing this data.
And while the economy may flourish in these southern states in March, local businesses back home for many of these students see a decline in revenue. With a decrease in population, even for a week, there is a shift to the left in the demand curve in many local college-town businesses. Discussed in the video below, an owner of a local bar tells how “the effects of spring break are most felt” and how the sales being “cut in half” result in less employment for the week, and overall less revenue. Less students visiting and purchasing from the local businesses means that less employees can work, making them less money. Overall, the economy of college towns sees a decrease during the spring break week.
Spring Breakers bring with them a youthful spirit to the popular tourist cities for spring break, and spend a good amount of money, too. But, while they are increasing revenue in these cities, with the demand of many goods being high, they bring with them negative side effects. Cities like Panama City Beach see tourism all year round, and it is only slightly peaked when spring break rolls around, which pegs the question is all the crime even worth the extra $1 billion? Because even though an economy may be boosted with the increase of college students, the economy back home faces the opposite effect.
Works Cited
Bartholomew, Colten. "The Price of Spring Break." Exponent. The Exponent, n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.
Free Enterprise Staff. "Spring Break & the Economy." Free Enterprise. N.p., 14 Mar. 2016. Web. 13
Mar. 2017.
Thompson, Derek. "People Started Partying Hard For Spring Break Thousands Of Years Ago."
Business Insider. Business Insider, 27 Mar. 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.
This was an interesting choice for topic, as I've never even considered this. It's also interesting to look at the opportunity cost of whether or not to go somewhere for Spring Break. Option 1, stay home and save money, as college is already expensive enough as it is. Or option 2, indulge for a week and reward yourself for you (hopefully) hard work thus far that semester. It's a tough call to make. Naturally, everyone would go for the trip if they had the money, but that's where economics comes into play.
ReplyDeleteI think it's great for cities such as Panama City that have an increase in revenue during March because of spring break. However, I didn't know that crime increased that much compared to the rest of the year. I know I would definitely be annoyed if I lived in these cities year round and had to put up with wild college kids for the month. Although, wouldn't it be true that if local businesses lost revenue during spring break, they'd also lose it during the summer when college kids go back home? It seems like the only time their businesses would flourish would be during the school year.
ReplyDeleteYou have a really good point. Since so many people go to these places and purchase not only necessities, but also souvenirs, the destination city benefits a lot as the demand increases. Vacations cost a lot of money, but all of the money spent is money that is put into that city. Stores probably staff more people during this month for the sole reason that they expect a lot of business because of spring break.
ReplyDeleteGood article I liked the amount and use of vocab. It was interesting to see that spring breakers has been decreasing. That must be a big hit on the tourist places during spring break. It is shocking to know that even though we have more people going to college that the spring breakers is still not increasing. I would have gone further into the increase of students and added some data about it.
ReplyDeleteI thought that your blog post was very relevant and you did a great job of incorporating vocabulary from class. One suggestion is that you could’ve maybe discussed the opportunity cost of attending spring break in a little more depth. For example, the true opportunity cost is a financial setback for college students, most of whom are already pretty poor, which they could feel for months after their trips. In addition, I just heard that Panama City passed some new laws to limit Spring Breakers, and it could’ve been interesting to analyze how this government intervention will affect the supply. Overall, great job!
ReplyDeleteIt does seem that the spring break crowd would pull in large amounts of revenue for the cities that are visited. But on the negative side, kids visiting the area for spring break can leave the area trashed, or as mentioned can cause an increase in crime rates.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good question to ask whether it is worth the crime for 1 billion dollars. I think it's a matter of whether the person that answers it is effected directly or not. If they are effected directly then many people will say that it is not worth it go through all of the crime to get that amount of income. But on the other hand if they are not effected at all then there is no reason why they should complain or why they would say it is not worth it. Not only does our economy have a positive outcome from this but our government does as well due to all of the citations that are handed out every year.
ReplyDeleteI agree with many of the things that you had to say about the effects of spring break, and I found it interesting how much non-vehicle citations and crime increase just in the month of March. The amount doesn’t just double, it seem to even tripple just in this one month alone! I agree with you that the $1 billion is worth the increase in crime, but I don’t think that many college students would say the same. If they have the money, many of them wouldn’t think twice about going on a vacation or not. All they want to do is get away from school and have fun with their friends. To me, the smart choice would be to stay at home and keep working, because during spring break, students would be able to work more since they don’t have to worry about homework deadlines. By working all during spring break, you will have more money afterwards then maybe some of our friends who decided to go on a vacation.
ReplyDeleteWith all the college students and excitement, it's no wonder crime goes up.However, it seems that if the towns ensured proper curfews crime might go down ensuring safety
ReplyDeleteAn interesting topic, something I've never really considered before. Having older siblings who have gone through college and made the decision on whether or not to leave, I've only been able to remember just a handful of times where they decided to stay home. It's incredible to think that a college-level revenue would allow these kids to travel like that. However, that does also pose the question on if THEY are even paying for it? Do the parents send them money for school and they they see the different opportunity costs going a long with it? Who knows, the data is there and those demand curves really do show how much college kids really spend.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see how the economy changes in the destinations of spring breakers and in the college towns students leave behind during March. From the crime standpoint, it's debatable whether $1 billion is worth it because there are several pros and cons. One thing to consider is that the fines of citations--for non-residents especially--would still bring in money. But then again, whether the crimes are worth money is still a relevant question.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this, I realized I havent thought about the negative externalities of spring break, because of how easy it is to think about the positives. PCB makes a fortune off of college spring breakers because they can raise the price of drinks and goods, knowing kids on vacation will pay. I'm going on spring break soon and, reading this made me think about the descisions I will have to make financially, planning for my trip to Destin, Florida.
ReplyDeleteI really think this is a good article to write about, especially with spring break coming up. I know the past 2 years I’ve gone to Destin Florida for spring break and there is always an overwhelming amount of noisy college students that pull the hotels fire alarm at 2 in the morning. I’m actually surprised that only 55% of college students go on vacation for spring break. I would’ve thought it would be a lot higher percent. Overall, I really like your use of the vocabulary words and your take on this interesting topic.
ReplyDeleteI thought your blog was really interesting and relevant since most of us will be in college next year and will be making this decision whether to go on spring break or not. I think since this topic is something most of us can take away from you could of went more in depth with the opportunity cost, but overall I thought your article was very interesting and important to those going to college.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great idea for a blog post, and very relevant to this audience specifically, because most students taking economics are either juniors and seniors, and for many of us, college is the next step, and we need to start planning financially for that. It is no surprise to me that only 55% of college students go on vacation for spring break. I imagine I will stay home next year and possibly try to work a little and save up some extra cash. I think it will be a pretty big wake up call when we all go to college next year and begin to take out student loans and account for our own money. There probably won't be as many trips to the movie or lots of eating out, simply just because we will need to focus our money towards our college loans and payments.
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ReplyDeleteI had no idea that more than 55 percent of all college students go on spring break each year. I also never considered the opportunity cost that students risk when they decide to travel and party instead of saving money and studying. While it may not be the smartest choice, going on vacation with your friends is far more exciting than sitting around reading textbooks. I also really like that you touched on the various negative externalities spring break brings, specifically the increase in crime and the large number of people who receive tickets for public intoxication.
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ReplyDeleteI never thought about how spring break can affect the local college businesses when students leave for the week! It was a really interesting point and almost makes students have pity on these little businesses because they are losing so much revenue for the week. But when you think about those small businesses profits they have their own "spring break" time where they make more money than usual, which makes up for this week of loss. Another good point was how many negative externalities occur from spring breakers, while high school students usually aren't that crazy on spring break, college students are quite different and I never thought about how they affected those living in the area year round.
There's no doubt that many college students travel for spring break, but I had never thought about the negative externalities that could result from it. I thought that your article posed a really good question, is $1 billion dollars really worth all the chaos? If I were a resident of one of these popular vacation destinations, I would be so frustrated about the situation. It's hard to imagine a solution that would solve the issue in its entirety, but maybe more universities should encourage staying on campus or going home over spring break, possibly by having more fun on-campus activities going on throughout the week.
ReplyDeleteEVerything comes with negative and positives. Not everything will be 100% perfect. Some of that revenue made I'm sure comes from college students purchasing alcohol or having someone else do it for them. The crime does not last for a long time and its just small things like being intoxicated. Its not like the kids are going to these vacation areas and causing shootings and things. OVerall this blog post was really good and connects to us easily seeing that spring break is coming up and majority of us will be in college next year.
ReplyDeleteYour topic of choice about spring break was a good idea to write about with college spring break occurring right now. Also, it relates to us as the reader because most of us will be in that situation a year from now. I agree that there is a definite opportunity cost of the money portion of spring break and the experience of their vacation, but ultimately it is up to the student on what they choose to do. When reading your blog post, I was shocked by the 42:1 ratio of students versus residents. Just in the month of March that must cause a huge increase in those certain state's economy, like shown in the graph. Overall, your article was was quite interesting and relevant to most of the readers.
ReplyDeleteI thought that your blog post was very interesting and worked will with the curriculum we are currently learning. The topic was a great real life example showing how the demand curve changes. I wonder if really the two months or so of spring break for families increases revenue in these places as well, not just college students. I was only really surprised by the fact that only 55% of college students go on spring break, I thought it would have been more than that but some students I guess would rather go home.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize that there were so many negative aspects that can come with "Spring Breakers". It's easy to see how the college students would bring in a great deal of revenue to many Spring Break destinations, however, your observation on the crime increase is very interesting. Many college students tend to struggle financially between paying for college and trying to earn money, all the while, keeping up with their higher level academics. I wonder if many Spring Breakers consider the opportunity cost of their week of fun in the sun. Between paying for activities, food, and the trip itself, the cost of Spring Break really adds up and can take a scoop out of many college students' wallets when also trying to pay off their loans and college fees.
ReplyDeleteWhen most people think about spring break they aren't thinking about crime rates and economic advantages/disadvantages. This post was very informative and gets people to think about whether they are positive or negative externalities on spring break. While crime and increased danger is not good for any city, I would argue students need spring break in some form to get a break from tough assignments and a busy schedule. If universities wanted to improve the crime rates while maintaining high profits in destination towns, they could change up the dates of spring break per university. This way, the destruction will be dispersed and less of a problem while still maintaining high revenue.
ReplyDeleteA large aspect of the opportunity cost of deciding whether or not to go on spring break this year was saying goodbye to friends from PHS. Senior year spring break is a little different from others. A lot of us are going down to Florida with our friends, while others are staying home to work and save up for college. It's a hard decision, because both are very important. The people that do decide to stay home will hopefully cushion the blow to the economy with all of the people out of town.
ReplyDeleteI have definitely seen different effect of spring break on different places depending on where I have gone. When I went to Alabama for spring break I saw a very large amount of spring breakers due to the fact that it is a very affordable vacation spot. When I went to Mexico or Belize for spring break I hardly saw any college spring breakers do to the fact that it is much more expense. Putting a bunch of college kids together is bound to cause some trouble, but if the money made can make up for the money lost by stupid things that college kids do I still see spring break as a very big success for many people throughout the country.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that college students alone can make dramatic changes to its states income flow. I didn't know that that there would be a lot of cons with college students going on break. The crime rates would never have matched what I was thinking along with the decline in revenue of the state the college students are from. Student's spending their money on vacation is fine if they need a break when they are allowed I say go ahead.
ReplyDeleteI think it is awesome that high school and college spring breaks are at different times because if they were at the same time there would be even more of these negative externalizes. Additionally, I somewhat think the good outweighs the bad here because anywhere where there are more people there is going to be a higher crime rate and I know that many business owners depend on spring breakers. Also, we could maybe limit the crime rates by somehow decreasing alcohol consumption would help.
ReplyDeleteI thought you brought up a lot of interesting externalities of spring break that I hadn’t thought of. It’s no surprise that college kids are a little disruptive to these areas, but seeing the increase in crime rate during this time as well makes me wonder how willing local businesses are to be the go-to place for spring break. One thing that I’d like to see is the average spending of a college student during this week, to know if it’s truly worth the vacation.
ReplyDeleteTo most high schoolers Spring Break just seems like a fun time to unwind and take a break from school, but it’s crazy to think how much these Spring Break towns are affected by the break. Overcrowding is an obvious consequence of destinations being popular for Spring Break, but the increase in crime rates is something most people would immediately think of. I was, however, shocked at first that only 55% of college students go on vacation for Spring Break, though, the more I think about the financial situation that college students tend to be in the more 55% seems like a high percentage of students to be spending money on vacations.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to hear about the negative externalities of an increase in crime rates during spring break. I think, for the spring break towns, the increase in revenue, would outweigh those negative externalities that come with spring breakers. I also think that most students, when given the opportunity, would find that the opportunity cost of missing a good experience with their friends or family outweighs the cost of spring break. And that common choice is what makes spring break such a big deal for businesses in those areas because they get so much more business and revenue from spring breakers. Although it might come with a few negative externalities, it tends to be worth it for the businesses because they make so much money off of the demand of beach complement goods.
ReplyDeleteThere's always that stereotype of "broke college students" who are unable to do anything because of their lack of money. It's interesting to see how many students are willing to endure the opportunity cost of spending a week in luxury rather than spending a week earning money. With the stress of college classes and homework it's not a surprise students choose the week of relaxation.
ReplyDeleteI guess I've never really looked at spring break like that. This is interesting because at first it sounds like a party and everyone wins but I never looked at how spring break could be negative. I have never been on a big vacation to anywhere tropical but I know a lot of places are tourist attractions all year round. It bad that a good thing is so bad also but what can you do you can't stop crime it will happen whenever and wherever we all know that. But what about the tourists can you stop people from coming and going and taking vacation? Does the amount of revenue outweigh the crime?
ReplyDeleteI found it surprising that only 55% of college students go on vacation for spring break. I always thought students would automatically jump on the chance to leave for a while.But while reading this, you brought up some very valid points. When in college there are many fees that need to be paid and some just can't afford traveling and there a lot of benefits to saving the money and skipping the trip. Considering most of us economic students are either a junior or senior and it's the spring break time to the year, this was a very valid post.
ReplyDeleteThe good that having separate spring break's for high schools and colleges outweighs the bad reasons here. Knowing the crowd that is spring break there tends to be crimes such as underage drinking and drug use present. However, businesses rely on spring breakers for most of their business before summer break.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised at the percentages of college students that go on spring break. I always thought that students would jump at the opportunities to get away for a week but looking at some of your statistics makes it clear to why many would not. There are so many fees that come with vacation and if you truly think about it, many college students can not afford it. This blog post made me think about spring break in different aspects.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a great piece since it is so interesting and relevant to the timeline of students, high school or college starting to go on spring break. I was surprised that even though college students get the "broke college kid" label, many of them forgo the opportunity cost and spend the money anyway. Since spring break is such a positive and brings a happy spirit to all, I was surprised to hear about the negative externalities like an increase in crime rates. I would like to think that vacation destinations, would outweigh those negative externalities since there is such an increase in revenue for the economy. Although there are higher crime rates, I am sure some businesses, hotels, and car companies find it worth it since spring break has such a high demand which helps out factors that correspond to it.
ReplyDeleteI was unaware of the fact that crime rates of spring break destinations increase so much when college students are visiting. This definitely brings a different perspective onto the topic of spring break. Students are already spending a lot of money just to go on vacation, and then to have to pay for tickets only increases the opportunity cost when they could be saving money staying home or even working at home. When the price of college is so high, you would think students would do as much as possible to save their money, however many students think the opportunity cost of going on vacation during spring break is worth it.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to find out that 55% of college kids travel for spring break. This is interesting because so many college kids are broke to the point where it wouldn't be a smart investment for them to travel. I'm surprised that more students don't find the opportunity cost more attractive for them would be to work get money to pay off their dept. Additionally I found some of the negative externalizes interesting. Especially about the increased crime rates during spring break season.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that just one week of students migrating can change the economy so significantly. The benefits to the economy must outweigh the negative externalities that the students bring to these cities or they would be discouraged from traveling at all. It is probably something that each city needs to decide on their own based on how much tourism they get and how much it affects their city overall.
ReplyDeleteIt is not surprising to see such an economic impact that spring break has and the different economic concepts within it. First off, the monopolistic pricing of the oligopoly airlines is interesting, as they price discriminate cheaper tickets for spring breakers, because they would otherwise not travel if the tickets were equal to those of a business traveler. The negative externalizes that these students bring to the spring break cities, such as drugs and alcohol, are outweighed by the sheer positive economic impact it brings, such as hotel, travel, food, and commodity expenses. It is most intersesting to see how the economy in these cities adapts to these broke college students, as they have to make their prices for goods and services equal to the demand these students have for the products, meeting at price equilibrium. Overall, the economics behind spring break is a sheer amazement.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who is going to PCB in two weeks, I'm actually terrified thinking about the major negative externality: higher crime rate. However, I think after college spring break, the area quiets down. Looking into the future as a college student, I wonder if I will even be able to afford a spring break. The opportunity cost is huge: I've been saving forever and it takes a while for a 17 year old to make $1000. As of right now, I want to save that money rather than blowing it on 4 days of beaches and partying. But if I was the owner of a club down in PCB, I would find it easy to ignore the crime since I would be making serious bank.
ReplyDeleteIt is not surprising how many economic impacts spring break has on southern cities. Although the students bring lots of negative externalizes with them, similar to what Evan said, the amount of money they bring with them outweighs these. I truly don't understand where these students get the money to spend and travel like they do but I'm sure businesses in the areas they travel love it. Being a college student in the upcoming years I don't understand how students have this much money to spend or why they do because I know myself will not be dropping upwards of $1000 dollars for less than a week.
ReplyDeleteTo most high schoolers Spring Break just seems like a fun time to unwind and take a break from school, but it’s crazy to think how much these Spring Break towns are affected by the break. Overcrowding is an obvious consequence of destinations being popular for Spring Break, but the increase in crime rates is something most people would immediately think of. I was, however, shocked at first that only 55% of college students go on vacation for Spring Break, though, the more I think about the financial situation that college students tend to be in the more 55% seems like a high percentage of students to be spending money on vacations.
ReplyDeleteAfter mid-terms, a lot of students are willing to spend the extra amounts of money for a much-needed vacation. Since this is one of the only times students are able to travel during the school year, it would be interesting to see, as well, how flights and businesses located in these vacation spots raise their prices in anticipation of the increased business during spring break. Despite the likely price increases and expenses, however, I think that students will continue to splurge on these vacations.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to hear that 1 billion dollars were added to Florida's and Texas' economies. Considering college students are only gone for a week this greatly impacts vacation spots. However I don't think it would affect the college town as much because if the students aren't going on vacation they are probably going back home to visit. I was also surprised and worried to see the increase of crime rates in vacation cities. For our spring break I am heading down around Panama City Beach so this directly impacts me if college kids are still on vacation then. I think if college kids can reduce the crime rates they are causing then it is good for the economy, however if the crime rates stay at the same rate, then college vacations at the beach are a bad idea.
ReplyDeleteBecause college students often have a restricted budget, they have to consider whether or not the trade off of paying to go on a spring break vacation is worth sacrificing funds in other areas. Many college students find that at this point in the semester, they are willing to cut back in other areas to be able to afford spending more money during this one week. For other families or individuals trying to plan vacations, college spring break is definitely a negative externality that makes destinations less safe, accommodations less relaxing, and prices much higher. For this reason, for people with more flexibility in their scheduled time off, it is extremely beneficial to try to take vacations when others are less likely to be traveling as air-fare and hotels are much less expensive.
ReplyDeleteFor many local communities on the gulf and Atlantic Coast, there are upsides and downside like you said. Many of the upsides include the money that young students bring to spend. However, they also need to spend more money on a police presence to maintain safety. However, police can also make money from the tickets that they give out to the college students.
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