Back to the Beach

President Barack Obama and his family will spend the weekend of Aug. 14 somewhere on Florida’s Gulf Coast, doing their part to revive tourism in the wake of BP’s massive oil spill.

We don’t know yet exactly where the first family will go -- it’s hurricane season, so the White House might want to check with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration before the Obamas pack their bags.

Some may view this as a make-up vacation for the president’s decision to take his family to Maine last weekend instead of the Gulf. Others may view this announcement, coupled with his frequent trips around the country to promote his agenda and raise money for Democratic candidates, as ironic, given that he’s ordered federal agencies to cut back on employee travel. But it’s welcome news on the Gulf Coast, a tourism-reliant region which has seen a sharp drop in visitors ever since the oil spill.

Even the west coast of Florida, which sits on the Gulf but hasn’t been touched by the oil spill, has seen a sharp decline in tourism.

“Travel is a perception business,” said Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association.

Many Americans think the whole Gulf Coast is covered in oil, or at least dotted with tar balls. If that perception isn’t changed, the economies of the Gulf Coast states could take a $23 billion hit over the next three years, according to a study conducted for the U.S. Travel Association by Oxford Economics USA. To reduce that negative impact, the association wants the federal government to create a $500 million tourism marketing program, funded by BP.

This program should include a Web site that consumers could use to get up-to-the-minute information about which areas on the Gulf are free from oil damage and ready for visitors.

The federal government also should provide tax incentives to encourage visitors to travel to the Gulf Coast, and provide low-interest loans and other breaks to businesses in the region, according to the association.

In 2008, the tourism industry employed 400,000 in the Gulf region, according to the study. Many of those people are in danger of losing their jobs -- if they haven’t lost them already -- because of the oil spill. Plans to travel to the region have plummeted ever since the April 20 spill. Gulf Shores, Ala., has seen a 65 percent drop in visitor interest, and Pensacola, Fla., has seen a 52 percent decline, according to the report. But even beaches like Clearwater, Fla., which hasn’t seen a drop of oil, have seen double-digit declines in visitors.

Declines in tourism could continue long after the oil is cleaned up, the study concluded. That’s based on a look at how other disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina and the Exxon Valdez oil spill, have affected tourism in their regions. Tourism to New Orleans still remains below pre-Katrina levels, the study noted.

“We know from this research that the oil spill will have long-term effects on businesses and jobs in the Gulf Coast region unless we counteract the usual course of events with an unprecedented response,” Dow said.