Florida Hotel Reservation Lines Go Silent as BP Spill Arrives

[marmar]

Florida Hotel Reservation Lines Go Silent as BP Spill Arrives
By Mary Jane Credeur and Kim Chipman


June 5 (Bloomberg) -- More clumps of oil washed up on Florida’s Pensacola Beach overnight, and local officials said hotels and restaurants aren’t getting reservation phone calls as the BP Plc spill hits the state’s tourism industry.

About 400 people are working to clean up tar balls that have come ashore, triple the number from yesterday, and an additional 100 are being trained, BP spokeswoman Lucia Bustamante said today at a press briefing in Escambia County in northwest Florida. A large sheen of oil with thick patches of “tar mats” was about 1 mile to 7 miles off the shore from Pensacola Beach, county officials said.

Florida officials and tourism industry executives are juggling two missions, working to protect the shore from oil spreading from the April 20 spill in the Gulf of Mexico while assuring tourists that the state’s 825 miles (1,327 kilometers) of beaches remained safe so far. Hotels relaxed cancellation policies for wary guests while updating photos on websites to show beaches that remained pristine.

“I’ve talked to hoteliers and it’s not so much that there are cancellations -- it’s the reservations line,” Grover Robinson, chairman of the Escambia County Commission, said today at a press briefing. “The phone just isn’t ringing.” .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aa6dcdWoqMEE&pos=9

[lib2DaBone]

1. At least BP is paying off the fishermen (temporarily)

Who is going to pay the Florida Hotel Employees?

The Blue Dogs have already said they will vote against any further aid for the unemployed.