As the oil spill retreats, the tourism industry tries to lure visitors back.
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It's been a tough summer for tourism along Florida's Gulf Coast, which has been suffering since the start of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in late April. Although surface oil did little damage to beaches in the Panhandle, pictures of oil-bathed birds and blackened sand fueled misconceptions and kept many visitors away. But President Obama's visit to Panama City Beach last weekend and some last-minute summer deals may help attract a new wave of vacationers to the Sunshine State.
The president's visit was part of a larger effort to put the area's beaches back on vacationers' lists. Obama and his younger daughter, Sasha, even took a well-publicized dip in the water. An official White House photo of the two wading near Panama City Beach was meant to encourage reluctant tourists: "I also want to point out that as a result of the cleanup effort, beaches all along the Gulf Coast are clean and safe and open for business," Obama told reporters after speaking with local business owners.
BP, roundly condemned for the spill, is trying to do its part, giving
$7 million to seven Panhandle counties to "put heads in beds," says
company spokesman John Curry. The money, divided among the counties
based on size and relative bed taxes (paid by all transient guests in
Florida), will fund--and in some cases already has funded--voucher
programs, lodging-discount programs, and beach concerts. Ed Schroeder,
director of Visit Pensacola, says Escambia County, home to Pensacola's
beaches, received $1.3 million, of which $700,000 will fund a gift-card
program.
The promotion will offer American Express gift cards to visitors for each night they stay at a participating hotel, up to a maximum of $300 worth of cards. The program begins this week and ends Sept. 30, says Schroeder. So far, Visit Pensacola has received 300 phone calls about the promotion and is expecting 7,000 to 10,000 new rooms to be booked. Pensacola beaches were barely affected by the spill, Schroeder says, but "the perception of the oil damage was enormous." No oil has been found on Escambia's beaches in more than a month, and even before that, little oil reached the region's shores, he says.
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