MORE FOLKS IN THE COUNTRY HAVE FOUND THE PANHANDLE OF FLORIDA A PLACE TO VACATION - TOURISM RECORDS CONTINUE TO BE BROKEN

As Mark Bellinger of the Tourist Development Council has noted, The Emerald Coast should have a record breaking year. Our sister company, Southern Resorts, one of the top vacation rental companies in our area, has reported reservations for deep into the year and have been made. As seen by the large amount of traffic in the Fall and Winter, it is quite obvious a large amount of Baby Boomers/Snow birds are making the Panhandle a place to call home during this time of year.

Strong spring tourism buoys hope for summer
By MATT ALGARIN and JORDAN SWANSON
The Destin Log
DESTIN — Spring breakers come for the sun, surf and sand. But they stay for the shopping and snacking. “We’ve spent a lot of money at the restaurants at HarborWalk,” said Marlee Ketelaar, 16, from Howell, Mich., who was lying out on the beach behind Jetty East recently with her family. Ditto for Ashley Petty from Louisville, Ky. “I would say, for our family, we’ve probably spent $150 a day going to breakfast, getting gas, buying food, shopping at Target — $150 to $200 a day,” said Petty, who was tanning on the beach behind The Islander with a large group of friends and family. It all adds up to a successful 2012 spring break. “The Emerald Coast 2012 spring break period’s average overall lodging occupancy percentage and total visiting guests number will come in ahead of goal,” Okaloosa County Tourist Development Director Mark Bellinger said. “Emerald Coast bed tax collections for the spring break period are estimated to be a 17 percent cumulative increase in 2012 compared to the same period in 2011.“ Bellinger said he expects similar numbers for the next few months. “TheTDCstill anticipates a record-breaking summer season for attendance, but predicts tourism-related discretionary spending will decrease,” he said. HarborWalk Village, Destin Commons and Silver Sands Factory Stores reported strong sales. “The spring season was an encouraging and enthusiastic launch of what we hope to be the best all-time season in Destin Harbor tourism/visitor history,” Hall said. Still, the beach was the place to be. Destin Beach Safety Chief Joe D’Agostino said that before April 6 the beaches saw almost 300,000 visitors in the first 30 days his lifeguards were on duty. “It was certainly a record-breaking pace,” he said. If those numbers hold for the eight months lifeguards patrol the beaches, it would be a record 2.4 million people. The spring saw one drowning near the jetties, an area not patrolled by the beach safety team. Michele Nicholson with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office said spring break went pretty smoothly. She said one significant difference this year was that many students rented houses in the Crystal Beach area and had large parties in which they could walk from house to house. “There were several weeks, especially at the beginning of the season, that were exceptionally busy on the beaches due to great weather and many of the SEC schools having simultaneous breaks, but no major crime-related issues,” she said.