Published: Thursday, December 29, 2011 at 10:44 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, December 29, 2011 at 10:44 a.m.
PANAMA CITY BEACH | Sports towels and fleece blankets. A poker tournament. A $1 million Christmas display. A prom for senior citizens. BP gas card giveaways. A "most deserving mom" contest. And advertising, lots of advertising.
Florida Panhandle officials made the mix of eyebrow-raising purchases with $30 million BP gave them earlier this year to help tourism recover from 2010's disastrous Gulf oil spill.
The money allowed seven area tourism bureaus to try promotions they could never have afforded otherwise, and it has propelled the Panhandle's visitor counts to record numbers this year following a disastrous season right after the spill. The question now is what happens when the BP money dries up, most likely next April. The grants doubled and tripled the tourism-promotion budgets in these Panhandle counties, and officials worry the boost in visitors may prove fleeting.
"It is one thing to have your numbers go up when a tremendous amount of money is being put, not only in our economy, but in all of north Florida," said Curt Blair, executive director of the Franklin County Tourist Development Council. "We will see after April whether part of this was a real recovery ... or if we see fall-off. ... Whether we've done that or if we've just propped up the market."
BP announced the $30 million tourism grants in April. While the agreement for the $30 million doesn't prevent Florida from pursuing any claims against BP or others, officials there decided a week later not to join other Gulf states in a lawsuit against Transocean, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig at the heart of the spill.
Florida's tourism spending spree isn't the first time that BP money has allowed government officials to snag items from their wish lists.
Separately, BP had already poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the four Gulf states in the months after the oil spill ? with few strings attached.
The Associated Press documented earlier this year how some of the $754 million given to local governments had been spent on tasers, SUVS and pick-up trucks, rock concerts, an iPad and other items with no direct connection to the oil spill.
In all, BP has given $150 million to Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi for tourism promotion since the oil spill, with the Sunshine State getting the lion's share ? $62 million.
In the case of the more-recent payout, Florida Panhandle counties have allocated more than $23 million of the $30 million through September, with $13.5 million used on for television, digital, radio and print advertising.
The counties have also spent millions on a variety of attention-grabbing gimmicks, The Associated Press found through public records requests and interviews.
Some wonder whether the most extravagant promotions ? such as Panama City Beach's $1 million Christmas display ? are worth it.
"It wasn't all that busy out here last weekend," Charles Walsingham, a beachside merchant near the display, said a few days after the Christmas lights were turned on and the ice rink opened in early December. "There weren't that many people over there skating and that is a lot of money to spend."
The seven counties spent $2.5 million on promotions alone.
In Pensacola, the BP money paid for $30,000 worth of sports towels and another $30,000 worth of fleece blankets given out at local sporting events. In neighboring Perdido Key, officials spent $300,000 on American Express gift cards for overnight visitors. They also purchased $12,500 worth of BP gas cards for tourists who present receipts showing they've stayed in the area, essentially putting BP funds back into the company's pocket.
Alison Davenport, chair of the Perdido Key Chamber and Visitors Center, said the goal is to get tourists driving to the area next spring. "We had no hesitation in choosing BP gas cards over any others since BP's grant money has made the incentivized travel promotion possible," she said.
Okaloosa County, home to Destin and Fort Walton Beach, is giving away a trip to the Super Bowl and tickets to the BCS championship football game to drive traffic to its Facebook page. South Walton Beach also is giving away BCS tickets on Facebook.
Okaloosa County spent a half-million dollars marketing and advertising Vision Airlines, which this year launched service from the Northwest Florida Regional Airport to several Southeast cities.
The grants have funded a half-dozen fishing tournaments, a poker tournament, a national flag football championship and a soccer tournament.
It has paid for contests galore. Carol Daley of Arlington, Texas, won a "Search for America's Most Deserving Mom" contest from Okaloosa County. Her prizes were a one-week stay in Destin, roundtrip airfare, $1,000 for a spending spree and a 2011 Buick Enclave valued at more than $36,000. Ashley Spencer won a beach photo contest from South Walton Beach that netted her a $15,000 vacation.
A $166,000 Panama City Beach program includes a prom next month for senior citizens. The couple chosen prom king and queen from online submissions will get to invite two friends for a weekend at the beach.
The BP funding paid for almost 20 different festivals.
The BP money was more than triple the tourism promotion funds normally spent by officials in Okaloosa County. It was double the regular $750,000 budget for tourism officials in Franklin County, home to Apalachicola. The $7 million Bay County got is more than double its normal $3 million budget.
"We wouldn't have been able to do two-thirds of what we did without that BP grant," said Mark Bellinger, executive director of the Okaloosa County Tourist Development Council.
Source: http://www.theledger.com/article/20111229/news/111229276
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