Another record month for tourism

[Abby Prentiss]

More signs that the Gulf Coast has bounced back from last year's BP oil spill scare.

South Walton's Tourist Development Council August bed tax numbers are way up.

The latest bed tax revenues show South Walton had its best August in history.

"August was busy, fortunately very busy," said TDC Communication Coordinator Elisa Smith.

"Crazy. In fact we saw more people this year than in the nine years that I've been here. It was unbelievable," said Beach Maintenance Operations Manager Dave Sell.

South Walton lodgers collected more than $600,000 in bed tax revenues during August.

That's 64 percent more than 2010 and 11percent more than the previous August record in 2008.

Another indicator of the big crowds?

The amount of trash they produced.

"We hauled over 130 tons of trash off that beach. To put it in perspective that's equivalent to 20, 50 yard containers in one month,” Sell.

TDC officials attribute the success to a new marketing campaign, BP grant money and the return of regular vacationers.

"We know we're getting that repeat visitation, but we are also not resting on our loyals. We are out in all our major markets and we are expanding to new major markets as well. Due to this BP funding we are able to capture visitors that may not have known who we were before," said Smith.

TDC officials say they'll easily beat last year's bed tax collections and are on-track to possibly surpass their biggest year in 2007-2008.

http://www.wjhg.com/home/headlines/S_Walton_TDC_report_record_August__131192993.html

 

[Abby Prentiss]

The final month of summer capped off a strong end to a record-breaking tourism season in which area counties saw double and even triple-digit increases over last year.

Tourist development agencies in Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Walton counties recently released their bed tax collection data for August. Collections were up 61.99 percent in Okaloosa County, 63.88 percent in Walton County and a staggering 101.3 percent in Santa Rosa County.

“I was certainly hoping people would realize (the oil spill was) over,” said Kate Wilkes, executive director of the Santa Rosa County Tourist Development Council. “I have to say, it’s less than I hoped for but more than I expected. I’m not shocked by the figures. Our ad agency really got the word out there.”

Bed taxes are collected on short-term rentals in Walton, Santa Rosa and southern Okaloosa counties and are indicators of how many tourists are visiting the Emerald Coast. The funds are used primarily to promote the area to potential visitors.

All three counties posted huge increases this summer compared to the same period last year.

For the months of June, July and August, Okaloosa County’s bed tax collections were up 57.81 percent from 2010. Santa Rosa County was up 63.11 percent and Walton County was up 42.26 percent.

Earlier in the summer, Okaloosa and Walton counties broke records on the amount of bed taxes collected in a single month.

The recovery from last year’s oil spill even caught the attention of Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who visited the area earlier this week.

“You had a great tourist season,” Scott said. “We think you’re headed in the right direction. All of your regional efforts had a big impact.”

John Russell, president of Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, said it was a tremendous summer. He said he saw in March and April that the year was going to be stronger than he originally had thought. At the end of March, Sandestin revised all of its projections for the rest of the year based on the strength of spring break. Even then, it underestimated August and September.

“Down here, you expect June and July to be good,” Russell said. “That’s a given, and they were great months and so much better than last year. What’s encouraging is not only was the summer strong, but the spring was strong and the fall was strong. For this economy, this is really what we need. We need to do well in the shoulder months.

“What has been the most gratifying for us has been the way August performed,” he added. “August is kind of the shoulder season, but our leisure business in August was up 156 percent over last year and our group business was up 40 percent over last year. It was just an incredible month.”

Mark Bellinger, executive director of the Okaloosa County Tourist Development Council, said several factors contributed to the strong rebound from last year.

“Visitor numbers this past summer far exceeded the majority of businesses’ pre-summer forecasts and expectations,” Bellinger wrote in an email. “The Emerald Coast received a fantastic positive economic boost from our destination’s record-breaking months of June and July of 2011.

“I think a number of things contributed to the recent summer success,” he continued, “such as repeat guests who skipped vacationing here last summer (but) really wanted to return to enjoy our world class beaches and southern hospitality, the amount of national advertising by Northwest Florida’s Tourist Development Councils and regional tourism-related businesses, the wonderful weather and the continued lodging incentives and package plans.”

Bellinger and Wilkes said they now are focusing their marketing efforts to increase the shoulder and off season. Santa Rosa’s TDC recently completed its second annual sand sculpting contest that drew more than 20,000 people to Navarre Beach last weekend, and Wilkes said there already is talk of bringing it back next year.

Russell said October is off to a good start at Sandestin. Reservations from snowbirds already are running 20 percent higher than last year, which was a record-breaker for the resort.

http://www.nwfdailynews.com/articles/county-44162-percent-august.html#ixzz1a06sIkBI