Tourism on the rise in Escambia County


  • July 8, 2015
  • /   Mike Ensley
  • /   economy

According to Escambia County’s reporting of Tourism Development taxes, monies collected are up 12 percent from 2014-2015 year to date, which equates to $439,714 more in the coffers.

Visit Pensacola President Steve Hayes believes there are many reasons for the increase and while there are more visitors, there is also more money being spent.

“Occupancy is absolutely up,” Hayes said. “But so are the rates are hotels are charging.”

Hayes believes a renewed confidence in the economy is a big part of the growth.

“People are willing to pay more for the experience now than they were just a few years ago,” he said. “Travel is starting to trend up all over - people feel like getting away again.”

But there are other factors that affect the numbers each year, according to Hayes. And while the beach is always strong in the Summer season, hotels in town depend on what draws people to Pensacola.

“A lot of what we see here, particularly for the inland hotels, is event dependent,” Hayes said. “There are many major and minor events that play a role.”

One of those events was the regional Skills USA event, which brought high school and college students from across the Southeast in to compete in a wide variety of activities and funneled $3 million of total economic impact into the area.

Another is the annual Pensacon, which falls in the shoulder season during February and brings more heads in beds and a $4 million economic impact each year.

“These events have a big impact, but so do the smaller ones like church groups and business seminars,” Hayes said.

The number of new rooms available to the area also plays a part in the growth.

“When rooms open and close, it makes a difference,” Hays said. “For instance, we saw a 16% increase in the 32501 zip code because a new Holiday Inn Express property opened there.”

Another advantage tourism will see this year is the Independence Day holiday falling on a Saturday.

“That is going to feed the weekend stays,” he said. “I expect we will see better July 4 weekend numbers when the reports come in.”

Aside from the tax dollars, Hayes says the reports are important to Visit Pensacola in determining future needs.

“It’s useful to know where people are going when they come to visit because we can then determine where we might be missing resources,” he said. “We have to look at what the community needs in terms of hotels and facilities and what impact that could make on the tourist impact.”

But Hayes says, based on the increase from last year and projections for the coming year, things are looking rosy for tourism.

“Barring a major storm, if every month for the rest of this year stayed the same as last year, we would still be looking at an $8.8 million year vs. $7.9 million year in 2014.”

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