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SHORES.
LAST YEAR SET ALL-TIME RECORDS,
BUT AS FOX TEN REPORTER HAL
SCHEURICH FOUND OUT, 2012 HAS
BEEN EVEN BETTER.
< As Fall sets in, Alabama's
beaches are pretty much left to
the birdssea gulls and snow
birds that is. There was no
problem finding a sandy piece of
beach in the sun today, but that
certainly wasn't the case this
summer. Herb Malone with the
Orange Beach and Gulf Shores
Convention and Visitor's Bureau
says this
year's taxable revenues
surpassed even last year's
record setting numbers.
"We set all new records last
year and this year, we're
already looking at being up
sixteen percent over last year."
By year's end, it's estimated
that will equal 320 million
dollars taxable lodging
revenues40 million more than
last year. Retail sales are
also up by nearly eight percent
over 2011. Malone credits B-P's
continued marketing
efforts with much of the area's
continued rebound from the oil
spill of 2010.
"BP has run their commercials
throughout the United StatesI
believe in every TV market and
every TV station, because
everywhere I travel and
everybody I talk to from other
places has seen them and seen
them with great frequency."
Whatever the reasons, there's no
doubt
people came. Bill McGinnes has
owned Pappa Rocco's Pizzeria
in Gulf Shores for 27 years and
said this summer was the best
he's ever had.
"Why? I don't really know man.
I wish I had the answer, but I
hope next summer's just as good.
It's been great." "Of course,
the extra
revenues are exciting for the
businesses here as well as the
cities, but what are the plans
to
keep this upward trend going?"
"The elected officials always
like the revenues to be up. It
gives them the opportunity to do
more for the citizens of the
community, continue to
maintain a quality of life we
all enjoy and we're all looking
forward to the Restore Act and
how
that's going to change our world
with some of the funding that's
going to come with that."
Reporting from Gulf ShoresHal
ScheurichFox Ten News.
LAST YEAR, BALDWIN COUNTY
BEACHES SAW NEARLY 5 MILLION
GUESTS WHO
SPENT 2-AND A HALF BILLION
DOLLARS WHILE HERE.
THOSE NUMBERS ARE ALSO EXPECTED
TO BE SURPASSED BY YEAR'S END.
IMAGINE AN ELEVATED PATHWAY NOT
JUST GOING UP TO THE CONVENTION