Lack of Hurricanes Bolsters Florida Tourism
Florida’s critical tourism market rebounded sharply during the hurricane season now coming to an end, according to new figures.
More than 21 million people visited the Sunshine State from 1 July 1 to 30 Sept., a 4.8% increase over a year ago when memories of past storms sent tourism numbers down sharply.
“It shows the impact of two years of no hurricanes,” said Nicki Grossman, Broward County’s tourism chief and vice chairman of Visit Florida, the state tourism board that released the figures.
Tourism officials are predicting a stronger year in 2008, despite a slowing economy.
“The outlook is quite good,” said Mark Lunt, a hospitality analyst with Ernst & Young.
The official hurricane season ended last week as quietly as it did last year, prompting some critics to wonder what happened to all the predicted storms. There was only one hurricane striking the US over the season, sparing Florida for the second straight year.
Hurricane predictions for three straight years have been well off the mark.
“They need to do their work quietly, in a corner — until they get it right,” said Rob Young, a coastal geologist at Western Carolina University.
Tourism officials say the inaccurate forecasts cost millions in lost dollars because tourists avoid the area.
“All because this nutty professor has the unmitigated gall and arrogance to say things he knows aren’t fact,” complained Orlando hotelier Harris Rosen, who last year threatened to sue prominent forecaster William Gray.
Several predictors envisioned more than a dozen storms. Forecasters say their work is instructive and meets a need.
But critics point out the forecasts are never specific and don’t do anything to help tourists avoid visiting an area during a hurricane.
Report by David Wilkening
Chitra Mogul
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