SEPTEMBER 2010

BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill had impact on amusement facilities

Although oil spill did not hit all beach areas, lost tourism resulted in lost business for many facilties and attractions

Pam Sherborne - Amusement Today

Scenes of oil gushing from a broken well deep below the surface of the waters of the Gulf of Mexico were common beginning in the first couple of weeks after British Petroleum’s Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20.

The explosion killed 11 platform workers and uncapped a well that some reports now estimate released 4.9 million barrels of oil before efforts to finally stop the oil seemed successful at the first of August.

Photos of sunbathers on the white sandy beaches of the Gulf shores and in the background workers in hazardous materials suits cleaning up oil hit the news and almost immediately cancellations at hotels, motels, resorts, condominiums, and attractions began.

Tar balls and oil sheens seen on the pristine waters in some regions of the gulf scared away the one thing many along the Gulf coast rely on — tourism.

Even though it appeared the oil had stopped, as more tourists began to head back to the shores and more fishing areas reopened, from Louisiana to as far east as Apalachicola, Fla., Gulf businesses were feeling the impact from that oil whether or not it had shown up on their shores.

Amusement attractions were right in there with the rest of the businesses that rely heavily on summer visitors.

Confusion on which way the oil would track at the onset of the Deepwater Horizon explosion led to a few cancellations west of the well site, along the Texas seaboard. Jeffrey Siebert, communications director, Schlitterbahn Waterpark, said he did hear those reports. But, the Schlitterbahn parks in both St. Padre Island and Galveston Island were not impacted.

“There was some initial confusion,” Siebert said. “But, both parks have held their own and business looks to be on par with last year.”

When the track of the oil became clear, areas east of the well site started feeling the pinch.

“About 90 percent of our business is based on tourism,” said Ron Hardy, an owner of the Gulf World Marine Park, Panama City Beach. “We are significantly off. We are down between 23 to 25 percent in the main part of our season.”

Hardy represented one of the few attractions along the Gulf coast to speak publicly with AT about the impact. With so many claims against BP still being negotiated for lost revenues, some representatives from amusement attractions are apparently keeping their cards close to their chests.

But, when final numbers are in, it won’t be a very good season for many.

"We were actually up for the first part of 2010,” said Shelley Ragsdale, public relations/marketing, National Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola, Fla. “Last year, our attendance was just under 760,000. We were on target to hit about 800,000 this year. Now, I think we will end our season in the low 700,000s.”

This Pensacola museum, which opened in 1962, has free admission. Funds for renovations, maintenance, and operations for the many educational programs come from offerings inside the museum, such as admission into the Imax theater.

“So, we are very much tied to visitation,” Ragsdale said.

Ragsdale started to see the drop in May. It was worse in June and then more so in July. She estimated those two months were between 20-25 percent down from 2009.

The Gulfarium, an aquarium located right on the beach on Okaloosa Island, Fla., at Ft. Walton Beach, Fla., is down by 50 percent.

“We have filed a BP claim and we have filed amended BP claims,” said Tammy Abrams, public relations, the first week in August. “We have been heavily, heavily impacted. And, we have had only a few little tar balls here and there. I was out on the beach yesterday and it was absolutely gorgeous. The waters were a lovely aqua color. It was just beautiful. But, people are scared.”

No cutbacks have had to be made so far, Abrams said, but some budgetary changes were implemented. Those changes impacted the hiring of seasonal employees.

“We just didn’t hire as many this summer,” she said. “During these summers months, May-August, we make the majority of our income for the rest of the year.”

With the facility located on the beach, water from the Gulf is run through a filtration system and is used in the tanks for the marine life. They haven’t had any problems.

Chip Cleary, senior vice president, Palace Entertainment, which owns Big Kahuna Waterpark, Destin, Fla., one hour east of Pensacola, said: “On behalf of Palace Entertainment, it (the oil) has had a very large impact on our business this summer and on the Destin region. It is too early to tell right now what that total impact will be."

Other businesses in Destin were also reporting losses. Hotels and condominium rentals were down by as much as 30 percent, according to some reports.

In Panama City Beach, about 60 miles east of Destin, Buddy Wilkes, owner of Shipwreck Island waterpark, said his business is down this summer, but he feels, at least for him, it may have more to do with the local school calendar than any oil tar balls or the threat thereof.

“There were maybe four or five tar balls reported on the beach so far this summer,” Wilkes said, at the first of August.

Right after this interview, however, over the weekend of Aug. 6-8, there were reports of tar balls washing ashore in the Panama City Beach area. A news report from the local ABC affiliate there reported tar balls ranging in size from as small as a penny to as large as a softball were collected by cleanup crews that descended quickly on the beaches. In all, over the three days, there were about 35 pounds collected, according to the report.

Yet, school schedules are still Wilkes’s nemesis. Schools in the Panama City Beach area got out for the summer break June 10 and were scheduled to return Aug. 11 this year.

“That is a 70-day window for us,” Wilkes said. “That doesn’t give us much time.”

In the initial several weeks after the Deepwater Horizon explosion, Wilkes said the Panama City Beach area did begin to see cancellations.

“Some said they were seeing cancellations of up to four to one and then later 10 to one,” he said. “But, when they realized it hadn’t come back, some of the people started coming back. We began a very aggressive marketing cam- OIL Continued from page 1 paign and came up with some promotions.”

One successful promotion for them this summer was tied to the Florida Lottery. People who purchased Florida lottery tickets and didn’t win could bring their losing tickets to the waterpark and receive a $5 off discount towards admission.

“We had a ton of these,” he said. “When we look at what could have been we are really pleased at where we are right now in the season. In fact, if you can hold your own this year, that is really good.”

Wilkes also said that the Panama City Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau received $1 million of a $20 million payment made by BP to the State of Florida to promote tourism. With that, the Panama City Beach CVB created several promotions.

Management at Gulf World Marine Park staff has done what it could to draw in its share of the local Panama City Beach visitors. But, many of its programs begin filling up early in the year, as they are reservation-only, such as the dolphin swim. People began canceling reservations not long after the oil started heading in that direction, even though it hadn’t reached his shores.

“Even our more popular educational programs, like the Dolphin Camp and Vet Camp, are down as much as 35 percent,” Hardy said.

Management at some other Gulf shore attractions couldn’t be reached for comments. Officials at the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans were not interested in giving comments for this story.

The New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau stated in several reports that tourism was still going strong. It seems people were still visiting New Orleans, but were skittish about eating seafood, according to the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, who found their business way down.

Repeated attempts to reach management at The Track Family Recreation Center and Waterville USA, both located in Gulf Shores, Ala., went unanswered.

Kim Chapman, public relations manager, Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau, responded by sending tourism figures for the first portion of the 2010 season.

Taxable lodging rentals for May 2010, reached more than $20 million, a 7.3 percent decrease from $22 million collected in May 2009. Taxable retail sales topped $51 million for May 2010, which is a 4.3 percent decrease from $53 million for May 2009.

“While June taxes are being processed, hotel and condominium occupancy rates for the month allude to a 20 to 30 percent decrease,” information released from the Gulf Shores, Orange Beach CVB stated. “Hotels were filled more than 60 percent while condominiums were about 44 percent full. These rates show a decrease of 22.7 percent and 38.4 percent, respectively, when compared to June 2009.”