The tourism season on Martha’s Vineyard opened with a slow start, but massive August numbers resulted in a summer on par with years past.

Tourism officials, inn keepers and business owners polled this week reported a good, if slightly uneven summer of 2025. But the growing disparity between the summer months has raised concerns that the Vineyard is becoming increasingly reliant on one month to cover expenses for the year.

“It’s definitely been a mixed bag,” said Erica Ashton, the executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce. “July had a modest dip. August really delivered a strong recovery.”

Warning signs that this year could be different from other post-Covid banner summers, where tourists flocked to the Island in numbers previously unseen, started to appear in the spring. Real estate brokers said they had an unusual amount of vacancies in prime summer weeks, leading to questions about if the economy and tense relationship between the U.S. and other countries were contributing factors.

Susan Goldstein, the owner of the Mansion House Inn, said the spring was slow at her 48-room hotel in Vineyard Haven, and there were more last minute customers than in the past. That trend continued into July but flipped in August.

“The spring and July did not live up to our expectations,” she said. “But August did.”

Both Ms. Goldstein and Ms. Ashton expected that the lack of Canadian and other international tourists this year was at play, as they normally come in the earlier part of the summer.

Harbors were packed most of the summer.

Ray Ewing

Harbors were packed most of the summer.

Ray Ewing

“It wasn’t terrible, it was just a dip,” Ms. Ashton said.

Traffic on the Steamship ferries for the year has remained largely flat compared to last summer. June was less than 1 per cent down for passengers, and July was 1.8 per cent up. August was up 4.8 per cent, bringing the first eight months of the year to 1.8 per cent above the same period in 2024.

Passenger vehicles aboard the ferries have also been essentially flat. The first eight months of 2025 saw a .8 per cent dip compared to last year.

Where there has been a shift is at the Martha’s Vineyard Airport. In August this year, there were 21 per cent more passengers aboard commercial flights than last year, accounting for a total of about 32,300 passengers in that month alone.

July had a more modest bump of 3 per cent, and June was down 13 per cent. The dip in June may be partially due to the later starting date for JetBlue, which, in the past, had run flights to the Island starting in May, but didn’t kick off Vineyard operations until July this year.

August has long been a popular month for Island vacationers. Annabelle Hunton, the owner of the Nobnocket Inn in Vineyard Haven and the president of the Vineyard’s lodging association, felt the month’s large events are now part of what makes it the premier month for tourists.

The African American Film Festival, Grand Illumination, the Oak Bluffs fireworks and the Agricultural Fair seem to have cemented August’s status, she said. Still, she’s struggling to figure out why July can’t keep up.

“August was just and is always great,” she said. “I don’t know what happened to July, I really don’t.”

She worried that the Vineyard’s seasonal economy could become even more unstable if it largely hinges on just August.

“We don’t want to think summer is just one month,” Ms. Hunton said. “Hopefully we are not going to a six-week summer.”

Enjoying art at the North Water Gallery.

Ray Ewing

Enjoying art at the North Water Gallery.

Ray Ewing

Some saw the Vineyard’s rising prices on everything from lodging to food as part of the problem when it came to drops in July. While the lure of August will keep vacationers coming, others may turn away from the Island for other destinations.

“I think the Vineyard post-Covid has really priced itself high,” said Larkin Stallings, the owner of the Ritz Cafe in Oak Bluffs and the president of the Oak Bluffs Association. “I think that definitely has an effect.”

John Tiernan, the owner of the Dockside Inn in Oak Bluffs, has seen hotel rates continue to climb, and he said that he had to modestly raise his room rates to keep up. If he doesn’t keep within sight of other hoteliers’ prices, bookings drop because prospective customers are puzzled by why one room may be so much cheaper than another, he reasoned.

“The higher they go, I have to creep it up a little bit,” he said.

That means that even though his spring and early summer bookings were down, revenue for the year was on par, if not slightly better than last year.

Mr. Tiernan said he’s seen the bustle of Illumination and fireworks week spread to the entire month.

“It didn’t die down and it started two weeks early,” he said.

While the summer was mixed, most said the season overall ended fine, though it may have resulted in slightly more work than in the past. For instance, Joanna Fairchild, a rental agent with Martha’s Vineyard Vacation Rentals, said more customers are calling last minute and are looking to negotiate on prices.

“We came out okay at the end,” she said. “It wasn’t one of the banner years....It was a harder sell this summer.”

Luke DeBettencourt, owner of the Corner Store in Oak Bluffs, said his season resembled those of years past, potentially due to the nature of his business.

Ice cream at night — always a delight.

Ray Ewing

Ice cream at night — always a delight.

Ray Ewing

“My business here is a little distinct from some of the more niche stores,” he said. “[We have] everything you possibly could need on vacation that you might have forgotten. We’re kind of like Target before Target existed.”

Other trends emerged this summer as well.

Melissa Scammell, the owner of the Rainy Day gift shop in Vineyard Haven, noticed a high number of day trippers this summer, as well as increased foot traffic that coincided with the Island’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of Jaws.

“[I was hearing] that rentals weren’t booked and reservations were down and we go off of that, but overall, it ended up being a good season,” she said.

Maryanne Jerome, who has worked for more than 13 years for Rags, a clothing store on Dock street in Edgartown, saw similar patterns. While working the register, she said more customers than usual said they were day tripping rather than renting a house or staying in nearby hotels.

“Most of the comments of the people that I spoke with came over on the Steamship for the day or the Island Queen for the day,” Ms. Jerome said.

There is some uncertainty heading into the fall as hotels, vacation rental agencies and businesses look toward the latter stages of the shoulder season and next summer.

At Coastal Supply Co, a shop in Vineyard Haven, owner Anne-Marie Eddy has seen the tariffs implemented by the federal government affect her buying. She has paid more than $2,000 in excess tariffs that she hadn’t originally accounted for.

“That’s just the reality now,” she said. “So I’m not buying from them anymore. Forget it. I’m not doing it. I’ll just try to do U.S. vendors.”

Joan Talmadge, the co-owner of We Need A Vacation, an agency that manages vacation rental homes on the Cape and Islands, said she’s seen a 30 per cent rise in inquiries on Vineyard listings in the last two and a half months, pointing to a potential strong demand next year.

Summer on Main street in Vineyard Haven.

Ray Ewing

Summer on Main street in Vineyard Haven.

Ray Ewing

Ms. Hunton was also hopeful that the national attention of the Jaws anniversary may give the Island a boost in 2026 when people plan their summer vacations.

“Jaws brought the eyes back on the Island and I’m hoping that will have a knock-on effect next year,” she said.

Next year will also mark the start of a shift in the August event calendar. The Agricultural Fair is moving to earlier in the month, meaning for the first time in years it won’t be held the same week as Illumination and the Oak Bluffs fireworks.

Several people in the lodging industry weren’t sure if that would change anything because August is just so popular. Ms. Fairchild hoped that the jam-packed August schedule may prompt event organizers in general to reconsider July.

“Those first three weeks in August are pretty well booked right now but July is wide open again,” she said. “I think August is always going to be August. I think we maybe need to do something to help July.”

Katrina Liu, Emma Kilbride and Gwyn Skiles contributed to this article.