Gulf Coast Tourism Rebounds after BP Oil Spill

Gulf Coast Tourism Rebounds after BP Oil Spill

The Gulf Coast is now again a hot destination two years after the massive BP Plc oil spill made the region a tourist dead zone, with the petroleum giant pumping more than $150 million into promotions to help the region recover.

In New Orleans, about 150 miles northeast of where BP's well blew up on April 20, 2010, the period since more than 4 million barrels of oil affected the Gulf of Mexico has seen a frenzy of tourism efforts.

A portion of the $15 million BP initially sent to Louisiana in June 2010 funded emergency advertising to suppress misperceptions that New Orleans was laden with oil, and Schultz says it worked.  In the third quarter of 2010, hotel tax collections jumped 33 percent from year-earlier figures.

Since then, BP has sent more than $150 million to Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi to aid tourism, and will disburse close to $30 million more by the end of 2013. Another $82 million was pledged for seafood marketing and testing, BP spokesman Craig Savage said.

Data from international market analyst Smith Travel Research Inc. show that occupancy in hotels within 10 miles of the Gulf Coast went 11 percent higher in the first quarter of this year as compared with the same quarter in 2010, immediately before the oil spill. Average daily hotel room rates rose 7 percent in that period.

Hotel occupancy and room rates nationwide rose.  And along the Texas coast - where the oil spill had no direct impact and BP provided no marketing money - hotel occupancy rose 15 percent during the same period.

Jon Ervin, Walton County tourism Director, is awed over a tourism boom that has pushed hotel room tax revenue up almost 60 percent since 2010 along the white sand shores of the Florida panhandle.

Ervin disclosed that from the initial funding from BP, Florida received the largest portion among the four states, which helped speed the area's recovery.

Posted by Sophia Andrews on Thursday May 31 2012, 5:06 AM EST. Ref: Yahoo. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Travel. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0