Numbers Are In: 2011 A Record Year For Tourism

Maybe the Chamber should give the head of tourism a raise. Oh yeah, they fired him.

Press Release: Lodging revenues collected in fiscal 2011 on hotel and rental stays in Escambia County totaled $162.6 million, a 27 percent increase over revenues collected in the same period in 2010. The record total also topped 2009 revenues by 22 percent and 2008 revenues by almost 18 percent. The previous record for lodging revenue collections came in 2008 when $138 million was generated.

“We knew that lodging revenues were going to be significantly higher than in 2010, but we didn’t expect as strong a rebound as occurred,” said Denis McKinnon, chairman of the Escambia County Tourist Development Council. “The fact the tourism industry experienced its best year directly on the heels of the BP oil spill disaster is truly phenomenal. I credit that rebound directly to our increased marketing efforts.”

July 2011 generated $29 million in lodging revenues, the largest single-month total ever. Prior to July, no month on record had ever generated more than $25 million.

Tourism in other Northwest Florida counties also fared well compared with last year, with an overall, across-the-board increase of 26 percent. The region benefitted from an infusion of BP funds earmarked for marketing with $7 million coming to Escambia County. Of that total, $4.4 million was allocated to Visit Pensacola, the chamber’s tourism arm, for advertising, public relations, social media and incentivized travel.

“Because of marketing grants from BP, which created a budget nearly three times the amount we work with in a typical year, Visit Pensacola has been able to advertise and promote the area like never before,” said Terry Scruggs, interim vice president of tourism for the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce. “We think the results are evident.”

Marketing initiatives underwritten by Visit Pensacola included national television advertising, a tactic normally too costly to pursue, as well as advertising in more expensive markets, including Chicago, Dallas and Washington, D.C., all served by direct air service from Pensacola. Other initiatives included gift cards for visitors, expanded social media campaigns and ramped-up outreach to the media resulting in articles reflecting positively on the Pensacola Bay Area in publications such as Coastal Living, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Southern Living.

Scruggs said the BP-funded marketing grants end this year while pointing out that the record tourism numbers argue for a permanent increase in the dollars used to market area tourism.

“If this year tells us anything, it’s that we need to start thinking about a long-term investment in our tourism industry,” he said. “We have 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. Now is the time to ask ourselves how we can continue to grow 20 percent every year. Now is the time to start thinking bigger about where we want to go in tourism and what it will take to get there.”