TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Vacationing On A Budget

ADVERTISEMENT

By TED JACKOVICS

tjackovics@tampatrib.com

Published: March 14, 2009

Updated: 03/14/2009 12:11 am

TIERRA VERDE - Dan Pasternacki knows that running a mortgage brokerage in a frigid place like Denver is no day at the beach. It's become a month at the beach.

"The economy is the same in Denver as it is in Florida," he said "What better time to take off when business is terrible?"

It's necessary to save, too, so instead of heading to Italy, France or Mexico this year, Pasternacki came to Florida and discovered life beyond Orlando at Fort De Soto Park at the southern tip of Pinellas County. He also found that businesses are willing to bargain, so he's paying $61 a night for a hotel room in Clearwater Beach rather than $130.

That willingness by visitors and visitor-related businesses to adjust in tough economic times has buttressed the Bay area's mainstay visitors industry during the height of the late winter and spring vacation season.

Although restaurant business is a little slower than a year ago and hotels hope for last-minute travelers, the decline is not as harsh as many expected.

Pinellas County's marketing strategy targets a diversity of U.S. and international travelers and appears to be paying off. The visitors retain the desire to get away, especially to return to a favorite beach or even an ice cream shop or restaurant, and stay an average of 6.8 days in March, the county's tourism consultant reported.

In addition, the Tampa Bay area hosts snowbirds - regular seasonal visitors who own condominiums, other winter homes, or return to the same campgrounds and trailer grounds each year - with some arriving after Thanksgiving and remaining beyond Easter.

The parking lot at Billy's Stone Crab, Seafood & Steaks in Tierra Verde was nearly filled Wednesday afternoon with 53 cars, including 17 with out-of-state tags from 11 different places.

Billy's is tucked out of sight on an inlet off the Pinellas Bayway South, but a combination of more than 35 years in business, plus a willingness to alter menus with the economic times and provide music and free evening boat cruises, will result in another profitable year, operations manager Jono Nye said.

"The wholesalers got a promise from us to lower prices if they would lower prices and could get fishermen to take less, too," said Nye, explaining the Lion King-like Circle of Economic Life during tough times.

The economy has not affected the plans of Billy's patrons Doug Abel of Mansfield, Ohio, and Joe Schott of Strasburg, Ohio, snowbirds who are spending two months and three months, respectively, in Florida with their families.

"Maybe I'm not playing as much golf as usual," said Schott, who said it generally costs between $40 and $80 to play a round locally.

Occupancy Rate Same As '08

This vacation period is a mixed bag for the hotel and motel industry.

The motel occupancy rate this past week on Pinellas County's beachfront areas was about 85 percent, about the same as a year ago, according to the Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber of Commerce. A handful of smaller motels such as the Billows Apartment Motel with 10 units on Redington Beach and the Great Heron Inn with 16 units on Indian Rocks Beach - many supported by visitors who return year after year - posted "No Vacancy" signs.

Larger brand name hotels remain cautious, in part because upwards of 50 percent of their business depends on meetings and conferences, which are in decline.

"Bookings are happening so last minute that it is really difficult to gauge how our March and April business will be," said D.T. Minich, executive director of Visit St. Petersburg/Clearwater, before departing for an international tourism conference in Berlin. "Travelers are waiting until the last minute, hoping to get great deals."

Camping And Candy

Some places clearly are flourishing.

Fort De Soto's campground a few miles south of Tierra Verde is booked through Memorial Day, and waterfront spaces are not available until mid-July.

The lines at the Candy Kitchen in Madeira Beach extend well down the Gulf Boulevard sidewalk after the 10 p.m. closing time, just like always.

"We have been slammed," said Nichole Colin as she served up some fudge stuffed with chocolate chips. "People come in and say, 'We have no worries about the recession as long as there is ice cream.'"

Likewise, business is strong at Larry's Ice Cream & Gelatos in St. Pete Beach, where a dozen students traveling together on spring break from Harding University in Searcy, Ark, were paying a return visit.

"The guys budgeted $350 to spend for a week, and the girls, who are staying with the parents of one of our group on Treasure Island, budgeted $300," said Jordan Binkley, a Harding senior from Broken Arrow, Okla. "Gas is the biggest expense; we kept an eye on that when we made our plans."

Although Panama City is one place in Florida that still attracts college students on spring break, Pinellas, like most places in the state these days, caters mostly to a "spring vacation," family-oriented crowd.

Official numbers of Pinellas visitors in March won't be available until May. A year ago, Pinellas drew 636,700 overnight visitors to commercial lodging, including condos and stays with friends and relatives, according to a report by Walter Klages, Pinellas County's tourism consultant.

About 43 percent came from the Midwest, 28 percent from the Northeast, 12.5 percent from Canada, 7.6 percent from Europe and 7.4 percent from Florida and the Southeast in general.

Visitors' direct expenditures last March amounted to $433.2 million of the $3.4 billion in direct expenditures in 2008, up 0.2 percent in a year when the actual number of visitors declined by 2 percent.

Retaining strong visitor demand is key in the local economy.

When business is good for Rick and Bonnie Fatzinger of Bangor, Pa., who run a DirecTV franchise in eastern Pennsylvania and parts of New Jersey, Frenchy's Cafe on Clearwater Beach benefits because they stop in for a fish sandwich, and server Jenifer Day can earn a tip.

But there's more. The Fatzingers bought a condo on Sand Key in 2007, providing a boost to Jackie Diaz of JMC Realty Inc., whose job is difficult in the current economy.

Now, the Fatzingers are developing a local DirecTV outlet, Bay Area Satellite, benefiting local economic development.
Tourism consultant Klages said the nation was in recession two years ago, well before most others acknowledged the problems were becoming severe. He now shares a different view: "Tourism will lead Pinellas out of the local recession, starting by late summer."

Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at (813) 259-7817.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT