Snowbirds in Gulf Shores

Video from Fox10 News...

Local Beaches Packed

By GUY BUSBY
Staff Reporter

GULF SHORES — Crowds filled local beaches Sunday as the Memorial Day weekend continued.

Surf conditions were calmer than earlier in the weekend, but yellow flags, warning of moderate surf conditions, still flew at the Gulf Shores Public Beach. At the Alabama Gulf State Park, where George Burnett of Orange Beach drowned Saturday, red flags warned swimmers of hazardous conditions. On Friday, Michael Evans of Mississippi drowned at Orange Beach.

While some visitors said rising gas prices hadn't affected their holiday plans, others said they had chosen a more local getaway to save money.

Mobile Press-Register

Beach bookings exceed records

Wednesday, May 14, 2008
By RYAN DEZEMBER
Staff Reporter

GULF SHORES Some 4.7 million people vacationed on Baldwin County's beaches and spent $2.3 billion last year, and the area's top tourism officials have forecast better returns this year despite a slumping economy and record high gas prices.

Speaking to a few hundred local business leaders Tuesday at the Erie Meyer Civic Center, Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau President Herb Malone said that in addition to this winter's lodgings income being up 4.5 percent over last year's, a survey of five of south Baldwin County's top accommodations providers found that summer reservations are up from last year between 6.2 percent and 8.5 percent for May, June and July.

Notwithstanding data that show Baldwin's tourism trade is as strong as it's ever been, Malone said he still gets questions about the progress of the area's recovery from Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina, which struck successively in 2004 and 2005.

Mobile Press-Register

Gulf Coast Tourism

WKRG.com Video

Beach leasing agents expect strong rentals

Although high gas prices are a concern, leasing agents foresee a repeat of last year's banner summer season at beach

Sunday, May 11, 2008
By KATHY JUMPER
Real Estate Editor

Got a tank of gas? Head to the beach.

Rental agents are hoping high gas prices won't stop vacationers from driving to vacation at Gulf beach condominiums, especially travelers within a 350- to 500-mile radius.

"The price of gas is a big thing this season, and we are watching it," said Marie Curren of Brett Robinson Real Estate & Development Co. in Orange Beach. "The condo owners are trusting us to generate some revenue, and it's something we balance one day at a time. The majority of our business on the Gulf comes from within the state, and we've not seen that decline, which is great."

Mobile Press-Register

High Gas Prices could mean more tourists along the Alabama Gulf Coast

RV owners won't let pump prices keep them off the road
Sunday, March 09, 2008

How many times have you been driving down the interstate recently and passed a motor home and thanked the Lord that you weren't driving one of those things into a gas station?

The thought of filling up a motor home or even a six-wheeled pickup towing a fifth-wheel RV can be a little unnerving these days.

Surely the owners of such vehicles will stay home this spring to save money.

Yeah, right.

During a slow economy, recreation tends to take a weak hit. Folks may not have enough discretionary money to put a new sprinkler system in their yard, but they are going to go play somewhere.

You're still going to see plenty of RVs on the road this year. What you won't be able to see is their destination. Shorter trips closer to home will be the norm.

"A family that might have gone on a trip to Maine this summer will go to Gulf Shores instead," Jim Cooley, the owner of the Dandy RV Superstore in Oxford, told me this past week.

Click here to read the full article from the Birmingham News.

Alabama beaches gear up for spring break- USA Today

By Garry Mitchell, Associated Press Writer

GULF SHORES, Ala. — Alabama beach resorts posted record visitor spending on lodgings last year, bouncing back three years after Hurricane Ivan left widespread wreckage on the coast.

Tourism officials hope high gas prices and a slide in the national economy won't reverse those gains this year.

March heralds student spring break frolics and the kickoff of get-to-the-beach tourism.

Click here to read the full article from USA Today.

Bayou La Batre Moves Toward Waterfront Tourism

Thursday, November 08, 2007
By KATHERINE SAYRE
Staff Reporter

CARRABELLE, Fla. -- For this sleepy fishing village on the banks of the Carrabelle River, the future of waterfront development could mean charter boats, not shrimp boats.

"Our future is going to lie in tourism, and yours might, too," said John McInnis, Carrabelle's city administrator, during a meeting with Bayou La Batre leaders on Wednesday. "The world looks at waterfront communities."

The seafood industry has shrunk considerably in Carrabelle, but city officials said the town of 1,300 has taken control of its future by creating public access to the waterfront, writing a city plan that focuses on small growth, and imposing strict rules on new developments, such as condominiums.

Click here to read the full article from the Mobile Press-Register.