Visitors Returning to the Gulf Coast

Mississippi Gulf Coast

eTurboNews: Visitor numbers for Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida dropped in the wake of the disaster that caused 205.8m gallons to spill some 18 months ago. Florida Governor Rick Scott said even tourism in the state's famous Panhandle was affected despite the minimal impact on its beaches.

"Around the state, people think that BP could be doing more to help market the entire state but what I said to them is, 'look, you need to help the whole state but you need to make sure the Panhandle gets back on its trajectory'," he said.

"We have a plan and BP has helped fund that plan and it's heading in the right direction but we're not there with regards to seafood. It's my belief that it's in their best interest to make sure tourism has come back."

Governor Scott said BP had given Florida $30m to fund campaigns to attract back its 82m tourists a year. Legal discussions over a state claim against the oil giant have yet to begin.

In Alabama, visitors to the coast dropped by 50pc last summer, according to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism. But an $18m advertising drive helped numbers not only recover but also rise by 30pc this year.

Mike Foster, marketing vice president at Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism, said: "We dramatically got hit in terms of people coming to our area. When we got our initial allotment of marketing dollars, we were thinking that this was going to be a three to five-year project. At this point, it doesn't appear that way. It appears the visitors are back."

BP said it had made a long-term commitment to support tourism in the Gulf states. A spokesman said: "BP has provided tourism grants to help the Gulf Coast states promote tourism in the Gulf region."

Lee Washes Away Mississippi Tourism

Fox News: The Gulf Coast lives for tourism dollars, and no where is that more true than in Biloxi, Miss., where instead of crowds, Tropical Storm Lee came for the Labor Day weekend. The beaches are empty, the casinos quiet and resorts are deserted.

City officials say they ended up having almost half the occupancy they were expecting.

Biloxi public information officer Vincent Creel says the Mississippi Gulf Coast was preparing for an almost sold-out weekend, with occupancy estimated at around 90 percent or higher. Casino and hotel employees were bracing for the 13,000 rooms across the coast to be full. That is, until Lee came along, bringing with it heavy winds and driving rains.

"Once it's named," Creel said. "People really start to relate," said Creel. He said Friday the cancelations started coming in. Driving visitors were urged to stay off the roads and flights were canceled.

Creel says those hotels that did have visitors, most likely gave inviting deals. "We tried to salvage what we could. But the business we did do was at a lower rate," Creel said.

And he said they're grateful for what business they did see, and despite the fact it was a big weekend for them, the area is still struggling to get back on its feet from other disasters.

Just a year ago they were urging people to visit, despite the BP oil spill. They wanted visitors to see how far they had come after getting wiped out from Katrina in 2005.

Hopes High for Mississippi Gulf Coast Tourism

Mississippi Gulf Coast

WLOX: A four day Fourth of July weekend begins today. And folks in the tourism industry are predicting big crowds this weekend. Last year, the normally busy Fourth of July holiday was tarnished by the impact of the oil spill.

Not so this year. There are certainly plenty of positive signs this day before the official start of the long holiday weekend: Busy beaches, boat trips and families enjoying some South Mississippi hospitality. All point to a promising holiday weekend.

Families are already flocking to the Mississippi Gulf Coast for a relaxing weekend.

"A quick getaway. Close by," was how Jim Parish of Florence, Mississippi described the upcoming coast weekend with his wife and kids. That's why the Parish family made the short drive south from Florence, Mississippi. We caught up with them boarding the "Sailfish" for the Biloxi Shrimp Trip.

"Kids have never been here. The wife and I have probably been ten plus years, if not more," he said.

"The beach. Just relaxing and enjoying the scenery. Just getting away from home for awhile,"
said his wife, Jodi.

Following last year's unwanted interruption from the oil spill, Biloxi Cruise Company has been enjoying a great summer so far. And numbers look good for the upcoming weekend.

"We're going to be packed out. We actually offered a fireworks cruise Monday night and are booked up already. Been booked up for a week and a half now. And we've been getting lots of calls for this weekend," said Brandy Moore with the Biloxi Cruise Company.

Plenty of folks will be soaking up Fourth of July sun on the beach this weekend. Don Irwin hit the sand shortly after his 14 hour drive from up north. "Well, this is nice. Yeah, we have nothing up there in Indiana like this," said Irwin.

While the 26 miles of sand beach might be the biggest attraction for tourists this holiday weekend, we also found plenty of visitors in the market for fresh seafood. While fishermen aboard the "Miss Kim" loaded ice for another shrimping trip, plenty of visitors lined up to fill their coolers with fresh shrimp.

"Picking up some shrimp. We're glad to see that the shrimp are in. So we're going to take those back to Central Mississippi," said Jackie Etie of Decatur, Mississippi."We went to Ship Island. And we've come over to get the shrimp. We went to New Orleans yesterday. And we've been fishing at his house, taking it easy," said Oklahoma City visitor, Steve Wells.

All signs point to a busy tourism weekend. Hotel operators are expecting a "good" weekend, but there are still plenty of vacancies.