TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Gustav Threatens Gulf Coast Tourism

ADVERTISEMENT

By KRISTEN A. LEE and JOSHUA FREED

The Associated Press

Published: August 30, 2008

As Hurricane Gustav approaches, the Gulf Coast's tourism industry is gearing up for the key holiday weekend while keeping a wary eye on the storm and preparing for the mixed bag it may bring next week.

The weekend's Southern Decadence gay pride festival, which drew 120,000 people last year, is expected to go on as planned, and Louisiana State University's football team still aims to kick off against Appalachian State in Baton Rouge today.

"As a tourism community, at this point, we are operating business as usual," said Kelly Schulz, a spokeswoman for the New Orleans' Convention and Visitors Bureau. "We've not seen any mass cancellations."

A hurricane can damage hotels in its path, but those in surrounding areas can see a boost as relief and construction workers move into the area, said Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Robert LaFleur.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which hit New Orleans three years ago Friday, hotels also were used as long-term housing.

"In a very sort of counterintuitive way, it was a net benefit for the hotels in the area because of storm displacement and temporary housing," LaFleur said. "It's not the way you want to boost your business, but, unfortunately, it's the reality."

Baton Rouge, which is one hour inland from New Orleans, is virtually sold out, said Theresa Overby, a spokeswoman for the Baton Rouge Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. First responders, government agencies and contractors have booked nearly all rooms not already taken by people connected to the LSU game.

A tennis tournament planned for this weekend rescheduled, freeing a couple of hundred rooms that were snapped up within minutes, Overby said. She said the city is looking for space in apartment buildings to meet lodging demand.

Residents evacuating their homes are being directed farther north.

"We just don't have the inventory," Overby said of hotels in her area.

The Sheraton New Orleans, one of very few hotels that stayed open during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and their aftermath in 2005, is prepared to house first-responders and emergency personnel in 200 of its 1,100 rooms.

Tommy Morel, director of sales and marketing of the New Orleans region for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, said he is amazed at how many of the hotel's staff have volunteered to stay in the event of an evacuation order in New Orleans.

"In general, everybody's really taking this seriously," Morel said. He noted the hotel has only had a few small cancellations. "We gladly let them cancel," he said.

Olivier House Hotel Manager Bobby Danner said his small, family-owned hotel in the city's French Quarter received only a few cancellation requests, but more worried phone calls. The hotel is relaxing its cancellation policy, he said.

Travel booking Web site Orbitz has e-mailed 650 travelers warning them about Gustav and expects to contact more during the weekend.

Spokeswoman Jeanenne Diefendorf said threatening storms often prompt travelers to shift bookings elsewhere, though overall bookings don't generally drop.

"When we see something like this happen earlier in the week, people will tend to look at other places, other destinations that aren't going to be affected," Diefendorf said.

With airlines now routinely filling more than 80 percent of seats on average - and many flights full - rebooking an alternate flight will be tricker, said Ed Perkins, a contributing editor to smartertravel.com.

"Given the flight cutbacks and high load factors, you may have a heck of a tough time finding a substitute trip that quickly," he said.

So-called weather waivers can help travelers stuck with tickets to a storm zone, Perkins said. He noted major air service to New Orleans was out for about three weeks after Katrina.

In an attempt to take the sting out of bad weather, Priceline.com has offered insurance-backed refunds since June for buyers of its vacation packages who see more than one-half inch of rain on more than half of the days of their trip. The refunds are automatic, but don't apply to airfare and hotels booked separately, said spokesman Brian Ek. By Friday, no refunds had been issued for Gustav, which was moving across the Caribbean, he said.

The travel industry has gotten better at adapting to catastrophes since the Sept. 11 attacks, said Debbie Westlake, vice president of traveler and transaction support services at Carlson Wagonlit Travel, a corporate travel agency.

But many in the industry hope Gulf Coast vacationers will stick with their plans this weekend.

"With a sunny and clear forecast for the weekend, we hope to have a normal Labor Day as people arrive on Friday evening, stay through the weekend and depart on Monday morning," said Herb Malone, president and chief executive of the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau.

FLYING OUT?

The big airlines have issued weather waivers in the area hit by Gustav, most allowing travelers to shift tickets for free to another day and, sometimes, to another destination.

What travelers should know:

•Watch for airport closures and government restrictions. For instance, on Thursday the Cayman Islands restricted entry by nonresidents.

•Dates and destinations covered by waivers can change, so check airline Web sites for updates. Some airlines began offering waivers only for certain Caribbean cities, then added U.S. Gulf Coast cities, for example.

•Changing destinations is more likely than changing dates to result in a higher fare, and changes often can be made only once before fees apply.

•Airlines sometimes shift service to nearby cities or add unscheduled flights to help people leave an area where a storm is headed. While the New Orleans airport was closed after Katrina, airlines added service in Baton Rouge.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT