Desert, Beach Cities Focus on Families for Spring Break

The resort community of Palm Springs is not necessarily slamming its door on young spring-break vacationers, as some recent news reports have indicated, according to city spokesman Frank Cullen.

Nor are the cities of Huntington Beach and Newport Beach trying to snatch the desert vacationers away, officials said.

“I don’t know how these reports got started,” said Huntington Beach Mayor Thomas J. Mays, who then referred to Sonny Bono, the Palm Springs mayor. “There’s a picture in one newspaper of Sonny Bono riding his motorcycle, so maybe they want one of me on my surfboard. But seriously, we are not recruiting the college kids.”

Newport Beach City Manager Bob Wynn quipped: “I think those reports about Newport Beach were started by Sonny Bono, but I’m saying that the kids really ought to go see Sonny since he’s a big star. Newport Beach is generally booked to capacity for Easter weekend.”

Bono could not be reached for comment, but Cullen said Palm Springs has no official stand on youthful spring-break visitors, who in years past have gotten unruly and even rioted.

“We’re certainly not saying ‘Get out of Dodge,’ ” Cullen said. But he added that the desert community is also doing nothing to encourage young visitors to come during this year’s spring break.

“While this city is not doing anything to promote spring break, we also realize it is an event that has a life of its own. Young people will come here, and if they come and spend money and don’t cause problems, the community is not slamming the door,” Cullen said Monday.

Huntington Beach and Newport Beach likewise are doing nothing special to attract youthful crowds.

Officials of visitors bureaus for both Huntington Beach and Newport Beach said that they are generally urging tourists to visit their communities. But the officials said the emphasis is on family business--not the college and high school crowd.

“Basically, I’d say we’re encouraging whole families to come to Huntington Beach and visit,” said Terri Vickers, administrative assistant at the Huntington Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau.

Richard Gartrell, president of the Newport Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau, said: “We’re not going for the cruisers and the spring-break crowd. We don’t need that.”

Mays said the city welcomes law-abiding young visitors in general, but added, “Our laws, including our prohibition against drinking on the beaches, will be strictly enforced. We’ll have mounted patrols on the beaches.”