Upcoming Eclipse Expected to Raise Thousands in Revenue for Small Towns Throughout America

Eclipses are one of the only astronomical phenomena that can be seen from Earth without the aid of a telescope or other viewing device. Because of that, an eclipse can be an exciting event for locals and tourists alike. They are so uncommon that people travel from miles around to be able to see one. This year especially has been a big deal, because the so-named "Great Solar Eclipse," happening next month, is the first total solar eclipse to be seen in America in nearly 100 years. According to Rachel Spacek's L.A. Times article, the eclipse is expected to raise thousands of dollars in revenue for individuals and businesses alike across the country.

An eclipse is any obscuring of the light of one celestial body by another. Lunar eclipses can happen when the moon is on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun, in which case, the Earth's shadow passes over the moon and blocks its light. In the case of the upcoming Great American Eclipse, however, the moon will be passing directly in between the Earth and the Sun, which will block all but a corona of the Sun's light from reaching the Earth. Because of the relative sizes of the celestial bodies, lunar eclipses are far more common than solar eclipses, which makes the Great American Eclipse all the more exciting for viewers.

Although over 12 million Americans live somewhere in the "path of the totality," which is the area where people will be able to view the total solar eclipse in its entirety, millions more are going to be coming into town for the day, just to watch the phenomenon occur. The increased tourism, even just for a day or two, is expected to provide huge boosts to the economies of many small towns along the path. In states like Idaho, where the cost of living is usually very low, residents are taking advantage of the supply-and-demand aspect of the upcoming event and aiming to make a lot of money off of out-of-towners. Some are using sites like Airbnb to list a bedroom for over $1,000 on the night before the eclipse. Hotels have been sold out for months, if not years, and some people are even spending hundreds of dollars to camp out in people's backyards.

Souvenir companies are also making a killing off of the upcoming eclipse. From glow-in-the-dark T-shirts to temporary tattoos and luggage tags, people are selling anything and everything related to the eclipse. People are traveling for miles and paying thousands of dollars to see the eclipse, so it makes sense that they also want souvenirs to help remember the experience. Not only are online businesses getting a boost, but local businesses in towns along the path are expected to face a rush of new customers during the week of the eclipse. Restaurants are stocking up on menu items and are planning to truck in their employees to increase the number of available parking spots. Even Porta-Potty rentals are doing well in expectation of the increased number of people.

Supply-and-demand really is the name of the game. Tourists are looking for a place to stay and are willing to pay the money for a once-in-a-lifetime experience, so why shouldn't the small town residents make money off of it. No one is forcing people to go out and view the eclipse. It seems comparable to an amusement park charging high prices for patrons to get in. If people want to ride the roller coasters, they need to pay whatever price was set. And, for these small towns along the path of the totality, this chance to boost their local economy is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, as another total solar eclipse won't happen for several decades.

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California Tourism Indutry Grows for Seventh Consecutive Year

Tourism can be a huge economic boost for any given state or country. Tourists stay at hotels and motels, they eat at restaurants, and they shop at stores, all of which can help to stimulate the local economy. Big cities like Paris, New York City, and London are popular tourist destinations, but cities throughout California, especially Los Angeles and San Francisco, have been booming over the past several years. In fact, according to Makeda Easter's L.A. Times article, research shows that California's tourism industry has grown every year for the past seven consecutive years.

Data showed that spending on travel in California was up 3.8% last year to $126.3 billion. Over a million jobs in the state are involved in the tourism industry, up 2.5% from the year before. Even tax revenue was up from tourism-related expenditures. Tax revenue was over $10 billion last year and tourism incorporated nearly 3% of the state's GDP (gross domestic product). Not only is California generally a popular tourist destination, economists believe the continuing improvement of its tourism industry could be due to economic growth around the country and the world.

As the global economy improves, people have more money to spend and feel more stable and willing to spend the money. Because of that, they tend to take more vacations and spend more money on travel. Research shows that California is the number 1 tourist destination in the country. Its tourism industry is 2.5 times bigger than that of Florida, which has just as many tourist attractions and theme parks as California. Additionally, of the hundreds of millions of tourists each year throughout California, many of them come from different parts of California itself, rather than from out of the state or from other countries.

California tourism is expected to keep going strong. Some theme parks, such as Disneyland, are undergoing changes and renovations that they hope will bring in more visitors, but only time will tell if the improvements will succeed. People like to visit California for its weather, beaches, and popular social scene, but as the value of the dollar continues to increase, people may look to travel outside of the country for vacation. California can be a very expensive place to live, so people's preferences can change pretty quickly. Maybe next year will be the eighth consecutive year of growth. We'll just have to wait and see.

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Disneyland to Incorporate Surge Pricing in Response to High Demand

Nearly 40 years ago, Robert Crandall, the then chairman of American Airlines, first employed a "dynamic pricing" system through which customers could get "super saver" fares, which adjusted based on demand and seat availability, among other factors. Since then, dynamic pricing has spread throughout many markets, which has caused surge pricing to be more of a normal part of the economy. As described by James Peltz, in his L.A. Times article, Disney became one  of the most recent companies to join airlines, online retailers, and ride-sharing applications in employing dynamic pricing.

While Disney's decision to incorporate surge pricing at Disneyland and its other theme parks may have come as a surprise to many customers, business analysts saw it as the sensible move for the company. Airlines are able to fill more seats without becoming overbooked using dynamic pricing because the pricing strategy encourages customers to buy seats on days where demand is usually lower. In that way, both customers and airlines can benefit. Customers are able to get a discounted price while airlines are able to sell tickets and fill seats on an otherwise underbooked flight. In much the same way, Disney will be able to control daily traffic to some extent.

Under the new policy, visitors will have prices ranging from a 4% discount on low-traffic days to a 20% surcharge on exceedingly busy days. This plan allows Disney to follow the same laws of supply and demand that all businesses do. Disney's supply is limited since they can only allow a certain number of visitors at any given time. Very often, especially in the summer months, when many people are out of school or are able to take time off from work, more people want to enter the parks than can be safely admitted, so some have to be turned away. This is bad for business, because it reduces the number of tickets Disney can sell, and it leaves potential customers with a bad taste in their mouth and make them less likely to want to return to the park in the future.

So, rather than turning away potential customers, surge pricing can convince customers that their day of enjoyment at the park might be more worthwhile if rescheduled to a different day. If they visit the park on a low-traffic day, the visitors will not only receive reduced prices, they will also be in a much less crowded park, which will allow them to enjoy more rides and attractions. Dynamic pricing has become more prevalent in the society because of improvements in computing technology. American Airlines was able to employ surge pricing originally because they had a computing system that allowed them to easily compare prices and availability, enabling them to sell seats at competitive prices. For most businesses, dynamic pricing was impossible until their data became much more computerized.

From ride-sharing services like Uber to the stock market to auto dealerships, dynamic pricing has spread throughout most markets. Data is key in determining competitive pricing. Teams use data from previous games and sales of merchandise in order to determine which games will be most in demand, and therefore should have the most highly-priced tickets. Pricing for hotels can be determined based on the events happening in the area and the level of demand for short-term housing. In general, improvements in computing technology have made pricing a huge part of sales and have improved the profit margins of many businesses. In the future, dynamic pricing will likely spread to every business, thus giving customers a choice. A potential customer may not like the increased price, but when it comes down to it, they can either take it or leave it. Every customer has the choice whether to purchase something or not.

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Disney Prices Soar Due to High Demand

Back in 1955, when Disneyland first opened its gates, the one-day admission price for an adult was $3.50. After inflation adjustment, that price would be about $31 today. While that admission price included only 8 ride tickets, extra tickets could be purchased for 35 cents each. To put that in perspective, If a visitor to the park wanted to go on every single one of Disneyland's original 38 rides, it would have cost about $65 in today's money, a stark contrast to the current admission price of $99. In his article, Michael Hiltzik of the L.A. Times investigates some of the reasons why Disney's prices have so greatly outpaced inflation.

Most recently was an increase in the price of Disneyland's unrestricted annual pass, from $779 to $1049. This nearly 35% increase has even the most loyal customers accusing Disney executives of greed, especially since very few new attractions have been added to the park which might help make visitors consider the raised price worthwhile. According to Hiltzik, however, the decision to raise prices is probably not greed-based. Hiltzik believes that Disney's reasons are far more logistic than economical.

Even though Disney's average price of $99 for admission may seem high, especially when measured against the inflation rate, Disneyland still has thousands of visitors per day, from Southern California as well as the rest of the country and the world. Unfortunately, since Disneyland is a park on a limited plot of land, they have a maximum number of guests they can accept at any given time. Sometimes, especially during summer and the holiday season, when people have time off of work and school, Disney has had to close its gates and turn away potential customers simply because it was at maximum capacity.

Hiltzik thinks that this may be why Disney is continuously raising prices to seemingly outrageous levels. Since the $99 cost doesn't seem to be enough to reduce demand, Disney may be raising prices in the hope that people will have to save up money longer and therefore not come to the park as often. While it is not Disney's intention to force customers away, when the park can only house a certain number of people without causing a fire hazard, it needs to find some way to reduce the demand while still maintaining income.

This demand-controlling measure, while upsetting many customers, is not likely to reduce demand as much as some might think, says Hiltzik. While Southern Californians, one of Disneyland's target demographics, may reduce their visits, analysts expect that tourists and other visitors will still bring in enough for Disney to make the same amount of money, if not more, than before while also preventing overcrowding. It's a win-win situation for Disney and for those who can afford the higher prices. As the prices go up, the amusement park will have fewer people, thus enabling visitors to be able to go on more rides and see more attractions without waiting in long lines.

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