Pensacola, Fla., - Sept. 2, 2011 - Tourism in Escambia County set lodging revenue records in both June and July, according to Denis McKinnon, chairman of the Escambia County Tourist Development Council.
“The lodging revenue collections we are seeing continue an upward trend that began last fall,” he said. “The area set records in both June and July and early indications are that August will be very strong as well.”
Revenues collected on stays in hotels, condos and rental homes in Escambia County in June were $23.6 million and revenues in July were $29 million. The previous record for June was in 2008 with $20.1 million, and the previous record for July, which was also the all-time record, was $23.8 million in 2009.
“Revenues have never topped $25 million in a single month,” McKinnon said.
Since last fall, revenues have pursued an upward trend. Comparing the pre-oil spill revenues of 2010 to 2011, the jump was 20 percent in December, 19 percent in February, 21 percent in March and 22 percent in May. Every month but November saw double-digit increases, and every month but April beat out revenue increases in other Northwest Florida counties that Escambia competes against in the tourism market.
“The question we have asked ourselves is why are we doing so well?” said Ed Schroeder, vice president of tourism for the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce. “A big factor is we’ve been working with a budget that is about three times the size of our normal tourism marketing budget.”
Because of marketing grants from BP, Visit Pensacola has been able to advertise and promote the area unlike ever before. The initiatives have included national television advertising, something that was too costly before, and advertising in expensive markets, such as Chicago, Dallas and Washington, D.C., that are served by direct air service from Pensacola. Also included were gift cards for visitors, expanded social media campaigns and ramped-up outreach to media resulting in positive articles about the Pensacola Bay Area in publications such as Coastal Living, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Southern Living.
Schroeder, who pointed out that the marketing grants from BP end in April, said the consistently high numbers support an argument for a permanent increase in tourism marketing dollars.
“We should invest more in tourism marketing because what we have is pretty substantial proof that more dollars and more marketing lead to more tourists who come, spend money, create jobs and inject additional millions into our local economy,” he said. “It is an investment in one of the more important foundations of our economy. I think these numbers show what we can do when we have the dollars we need.” |
