Despite soaring gas and hotel prices, Hamptons restaurant owner is seeing ‘record demand’
Michael Pitsinos, owner of NAIA Hamptons restaurant, explains what to expect this Memorial Day weekend.
A restaurant owner in the Hamptons said he had seen “record demand” despite soaring inflation.
Michael Pitsinos, the owner of Naia restaurant at the Capri boutique hotel in Southampton, NY, told “Cavuto: Coast to Coast” on Monday that despite soaring gas and hotel prices, he expects to may this Memorial Day weekend be the “busiest in three years, if not ever.”
Memorial Day weekend is expected to attract millions of drivers despite rising gas prices, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).
The association predicts that 39.2 million people will travel 50 miles or more from home over the holiday weekend, which is an 8.3% increase from 2021, but is still below levels of before the pandemic in 2019 when 42.8 million people traveled by car.
Gas prices have hit new highs for about two weeks amid the U.S. energy supply crisis, according to AAA, which noted that the stretch in record prices at the pump is “unprecedented.”
RECORD GAS PRICE FOR THIS “UNPRECEDENTED” LONG: AAA
Speaking to Fox News Digital last week, Andrew Gross, national spokesperson for AAA Inc. revealed that drivers should expect high prices throughout the summer, especially if the war in Ukraine is raging.
Memorial Day weekend is expected to attract millions of drivers despite rising gas prices, according to AAA. (iStock/iStock)
The national average for gasoline on Monday was at a record $4.59 a gallon, a slight increase from the day before and nearly fifty cents more than the previous month, according to AAA.
“I think despite high gas prices and rising hotel costs, people are more than willing to pay extra and get out east,” Pitsinos said Monday.
He acknowledged, however, that Hamptons customers tend to be more affluent and not as price-sensitive as the average consumer.
Pitsinos noted that, despite higher costs, people still come to his room — even just for a few hours — looking for a “mental escape.” Pitsinos said “the world has had enough for the past three years and this will be the first COVID-19 summer without any restrictions.”
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Earlier this month, it was revealed that inflation had slowed on an annual basis for the first time in months in April, but had risen more than expected, the chain constraints of supply, the Russian war in Ukraine and strong consumer demand continuing to keep consumer prices high.
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The Labor Department said earlier this month that the Consumer Price Index, a broad measure of the price of everyday goods, including gas, groceries and rents, rose by 8.3% in April from a year ago, below the 8.5% year-on-year rise on record. in March. Prices jumped 0.3% in the month-long period from March.
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Those figures were both higher than the headline figure of 8.1% and the monthly gain of 0.2% predicted by economists at Refinitiv.