TOURIST HAVE RETURNED TO THE EMERALD COAST IN A BIG WAY

Well some more positive news for the Emerald Coast. The tourist have made it back in a big way and as long as we don’t have CNN or the WEATHER CHANNEL down here, we will be just fine. From informal talks with tourist, I have heard over and over again, “We thought the beaches were covered in oil based on the news coverage we saw”. They have since found out this was not the case. Moral of the story. As long as the news is a profit center, news will be sensationized to the point you can’t walk away from the TV or NEWSPAPER, and get your fix on Hurricane Disasters and other Disasters. Remember, when the weather was the weather, and news was the news. Now they are interest stories played over and over again. The one film footage which infuriated me was the oil soaked pelican in Louisiana being played over and over again in footage in Florida. Yes, you can guess what this did to people’s perspective of Florida during the BP Spill. Yes, BP Spill was bad and should be held accountable. But, the media played a bigger role in hurting our local economy with the slided news stories to keep you on the edge of your seats waiting for the next destroyed life. NEWS AND WEATHER SHOULD BE FACTUALLY: “See spot run”, not; “See spot run through forest with a hop in his step”. In closing, I believe the numbers represent this view and more and more have decided to not read the papers and watch the news and see for themselves.

The numbers are in: tourists have returned to the Emerald Coast
Dusty Ricketts
2011-06-07 17:18:30
Anyone who has driven on U.S. Highway 98 knows this, but official numbers now confirm it: The tourists have returned. Tourist development agencies in Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Walton counties recently released their bed tax collection data for April, and all three counties posted big increases. Bed tax collections were up 8.79 percent in Okaloosa County, 21 percent in Santa Rosa County and 18.85 percent in Walton County. “We had a significant increase and are very excited about those positive numbers coming in and continue to hear good things about the season, the reservations and bookings being very solid,” said Dawn Moliterno, executive director of the South Walton Tourist Development Council. In addition to outpacing last April’s numbers, Mark Bellinger, executive director of the Okaloosa County Tourist Development Council, said April 2011 also outperformed April 2009 and 2008. “The Okaloosa County TDC and the majority of our hospitality businesses were extremely pleased with the increase in overall lodging occupancy,” Bellinger wrote in an email. “The average daily lodging rate and the revenue per available room increased in April of 2011. “Numerous stakeholders had their best Memorial Day weekend in years,” Bellinger added. Kate Wilkes, executive director of the Santa Rosa County TDC, agreed and said many lodging properties on Navarre Beach were completely booked on Memorial Day. “I was pleased. I really kind of expected it because March was up as well and I have heard nothing but people saying how good business was,” Wilkes said. Wilkes said she believed the marketing and promotions the Santa Rosa County TDC conducted with the grant money they received from BP following last year’s oil spill contributed to the large increases in bed tax revenues. She said events like last year’s sand sculpture contest, which will return this fall, helped show people the beaches were in good shape. Local tourism officials believe the strong tourism season will continue throughout the summer. “The TDC is optimistic about the summer peak season,” Bellinger wrote. “From what we have been learning, June and July seem to be ahead of pace, but the month of August needs help.”