WITH A BANG OR BUST? Rental companies put their hopes in summer's last holiday weekend

A month and a half after the BP well was capped and oil finally stopped gushing into the gulf, the spill is still being blamed for keeping tourists from visiting local beaches.

Although business has not yet returned to normal for some rental properties, others have seen an increase in reservations and are expecting big numbers for Labor Day weekend.

“We are getting a few last-minute reservations for the weekend, but we have been booking it for quite some time,” said Eric Outzen, director of sales and marketing for Dale E. Peterson Vacations. “It looks like our guests over the last 30 days have really started to call in and reserve the holiday weekend.

“Right now, for the Friday, Saturday and Sunday, it looks like we’re going to be running in the low 80 percent occupancy range, which given what we went through this summer is a pretty good weekend for us. We’re excited that we may end the summer here with a pretty decent weekend.”

Dale E. Peterson Vacations has offered rate discounts on their properties for the holiday weekend and is taking advantage of the incentive programs offered by Santa Rosa and Walton counties’ tourist development councils.

With the money they received from the $7 million BP grant, the Santa Rosa County TDC has offered a voucher program that will reimburse people up to 50 percent for staying at a hotel or condominium that collects bed tax.

Walton County started its Be Rewarded campaign, which offers a $250 gift card to Silver Sands Factory Stores or Southwest Airlines. Those gift cards are given to anyone who stays in a Beaches of South Walton lodging between Aug. 2 and Sept. 30. Reservations must be booked by Sept. 15.

Okaloosa County’s comparable program is expected to start in early September. It will provide a $200 debit card, for use only in Okaloosa, to anyone who pays for a minimum two-night stay in the southern part of the county.

Outzen said the incentives have been effective in enticing tourists back to the region.

“It’s almost the feeling of getting back to normal in a way. It’s the first in a while since we’ve had that feeling,” Outzen said.

Dawn Moliterno, executive director of the Walton County Tourist Development Council, said the response from the TDC’s gift card program has been strong and she expects that to lead to a strong holiday weekend.

“We’re pretty optimistic we’ll be able to pull through with a pretty solid Labor Day weekend,” Moliterno said.

At ResortQuest, which has more than 3,000 vacation rentals along the Northwest Florida and Alabama coast, Fort Walton Beach and the areas to the west have already seen strong reservations for the holiday.

Rentals in the Orange Beach and Gulf Shores areas are already at about 96 percent occupancy for the holiday weekend. Vickie Warner, regional marketing director for ResortQuest, said Destin and the areas to the east have more availability, but they also have more lodgings.

Warner said that, regionwide, ResortQuest reached about 90 percent occupancy for last year’s Labor Day and she believes they are on track to match that number this year.

“Labor Day weekend is coming in as a blessing,” Warner said. “Each day is a brand new day in relation to the number of people that are booking. It’s more and more all the time.”

The Holiday Inn on Okaloosa Island has offered a 20 percent discount and changed its cancellation policy to make it more tourist-friendly. Still, Assistant General Manager Rachel Robinson said the volume of calls and reservations at the hotel has not returned to pre-spill levels.

Other rentals on the island, such as the Breakers, said this year’s holiday weekend is expected to be slower than years past.

“We are not even close to where we were last year,” Robinson said. “Normally on Labor Day weekend, we do have a heavy activity of walk-ins and late calls, but today is Monday and the phones aren’t even ringing.

“We’ve done everything to try to get people here,” Robinson added.