TOURIST FLOCK TO THE PANHANDLE OF FLORIDA IN RECORD NUMBERS IN FEBRUARY 2012

Another record breaking month for tourism in the Panhandle of Florida. With the help of BP with their marketing dollars, many more areas of the country have found the Panhandle of Florida to be a place to visit and get away from it all. In a meeting with Southern Resorts, one of the area’s Vacation Rental Company; they noted they are expected to have a banner year.

Okaloosa bed tax collections set February record
Walton, Santa Rosa revenues also rise
By DUSTY RICKETTS
315-4448 @DustyRnwfdn dricketts@nwfdailynews.com  
Having a county break a record for the amount of bed taxes collected in a given month now happens so frequently it’s beginning to be the norm rather than the exception. The trend continued in February when Okaloosa County collected $437,614 in bed taxes, a 19.7 percent increase from last year and the best February on record. While not record-breaking, Walton and Santa Rosa counties also posted gains over last year. “Everybody is doing really, really well,” said Kate Wilkes, executive director of the Santa Rosa County Tourist Development Council. “The predictions for spring break have been great and summer reservations are up. Everybody is thrilled. You can just tell by the cars around. It’s amazing.” Bed taxes are collected on short-term rentals in Okaloosa, Walton and Santa Rosa counties. The revenues are used primarily to promote the area to potential tourists. Martin Owen, regional marketing director for ResortQuest, said a strong snowbird presence contributed to the good winter season this year. ResortQuest operates more than 3,000 vacation rentals in Northwest Florida and southern Alabama. “We were certainly up on the previous year (in February),” Owen said. “It’s been a good snowbird season for us. We’ve had more of them from wider destinations and they stayed longer, which is nice.” In Walton County, $444,324 in bed taxes was collected in February, an increase of 23 percent from February 2011 and only about $55,000 shy of its top February in 2007. “It was very exciting for us to see the numbers the way they came in,” said Dawn Moliterno, executive director of Walton’s Tourist Development Council. “We’re very fortunate to have good bed tax collectors that partnered with us, and as a result the marketing was very strategic.” Santa Rosa’s bed tax collections were up 5.7 percent, from $44,322 collected in February 2011 to $46,834 this past February. Tourism professionals in all three counties expect the strong winter and spring season to carry over into summer. “Overall, advance lodging reservations on the Emerald Coast are still looking strong for this summer season,” Mark Bellinger, executive director of the Okaloosa County’s Tourist Development Council, wrote in an email. Owen said ResortQuest is working with Visit Florida and local tourist development councils to promote the region in the Washington/Baltimore area to take advantage of US Airways’ new direct flights between Northwest Florida Regional Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The company also hopes to beef up summer traffic by promoting outside the normal drive-to destinations, including some international locations. “At the moment, things are shaping up very well,” Owen said. “It looks good for us. We’re having a very good spring break and we’re seeing good signs for the summer. We’re not relying purely on the traditional markets. We’re trying to expand our market and go into new markets, and hopefully that’s having an effect on ResortQuest