Dow In the early days of the BP oil spill disaster, numerous media crews from around the country camped at Pensacola Beach poised to beam images of the first oil to reach local shores.

National TV news coverage often showed reports from Northwest Florida coupled with split-screen images of catastrophic damage and oiled wildlife from Louisiana marshes. Americans quickly assumed that the entire coast was covered in oil, and business on Pensacola Beach and other local and regional tourist destinations plummeted by as much as 30 percent.

Local waters have seen some tar balls and spotty blobs of mousse, and more oil looms several miles off the coast, but Pensacola and Navarre beaches continue to be minimally impacted. Hotels, restaurants and other businesses are eager to accommodate visitors during what is traditionally the busiest time of year.

Battling the “perception is reality” effect on potential travelers, tourism representatives are developing strategies and incentives to lure tourists to the suddenly reeling Gulf Coast. Members of SouthcoastUSA, a multi-state consortium of destinations along Interstate 10 and the Gulf of Mexico, met on Pensacola Beach last Friday. Among those on hand was Roger Dow, head of the U.S. Travel Association, which represents the country’s entire travel industry.

Schroeder “Perception often is more damaging that reality,” Dow said during a news conference. “Travel is a perception business. We have to work aggressively to stop the oil, and we also have to cap the harm and the long-term harm. We can still save jobs, lessen the long-term damage and shrink that by keeping travel alive.

“Americans can help by coming down to this area.”

Dow said his organization will be working in tandem with the U.S. Department of Commerce to conduct comprehensive research to fully understand the economic impact and the impact on jobs. Data from similar previous disasters in California, Alaska and Australia and other calamities will be compared to conditions of the Gulf oil spill.

“We’ve got to have facts in order to build a comprehensive recovery plan,” Dow said. “We’ve got to get the local experts the tools they need. That’s the message we are carrying to the President, the Secretary of Commerce. BP understands this. They just spent $50 million to promote their image because they know image is reality for the company.

“It’s time to step forward and spend ten-fold to twentyfold on the image and perception of what is going on here, and the damage will be far lessened. The travel economy is really a powerful way to be a catalyst for recovery.”

Locally, the Pensacola Bay Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (PBACVU) is one local agency responsible for attracting vacationers, tourists and convention business. Ed Schroeder, director of the PBACVU, expects the oil spill to affect the area for years to come. A marketing plan for only the summer months will not be sufficient. Fall and winter is the peak season for convention business in this area.

“Every aspect of this crisis is an unknown until the well is capped,” Schroeder said. “Once it’s capped, then you can start measuring how much oil is in the Gulf, how much is going to be taken care of through nature, where the wind, tides and currents are going to take it.

“We can start now putting some vital numbers to what the threat is, but if we are impacted like Louisiana has been or Alaska was with the Exxon-Valdez, you are talking five to six years for tourists to return to where we were 60 days.”

Schroeder said local tourism agencies have gotten their fair share of marketing stimulus funds from BP and the state of Florida, but it’s still hard to compete against areas like Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Ala., which get the bulk of Alabama’s tourism marketing funds. Florida’s money is spread out over seven counties. In Alabama, the number is two.

“Visit Florida is emphasizing Northwest Florida in their marketing muscle right now,” Schroeder said. “So we’ve kind of got a big brother out there that’s doing a good job of pushing us.

“Still, our budget is not big enough, and it’s not going to be big enough, to overcome either the disaster or the competition. But we’ve got help in getting our message out, and we’ll do our best to get our market share.”