THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY: After a lost summer, Labor Day weekend brings tourists, relief (PHOTOS)

Now that the beaches have cleared and the tourists have gone home, locals in the tourism industry are relieved by the solid numbers they saw over the Labor Day weekend.

“I heard really good things,” said Destin Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Shane Moody. “Based on traffic and the amount of out-of-state plates, it appeared to be a really good weekend.”

With early reports calling the last big hoorah of the summer “just another summer day,” industry insiders The Log spoke with were pleased with what they saw.

PHOTOS

• To see a photo gallery from Club Overboard Saturday night, click here.
• To see a bird's eye view of Crab Island, click here.
• Click here to see a gallery of photos from The Track in Destin
• Click here to see a gallery of photos from Big Kahuna's water park
• Click here to see a gallery of boaters at Norreigo Point
• View photos from Beasley Park and Gulf Island National Seashore. »
• See how things were on The Boardwalk. »
  
• View photos of Crab Island. »
• View photos from Destin beaches. »

RELATED STORY

Sea slime and slugs worry beachgoers, workers (PHOTOS)

Labor Day crowds a relief after tough summer (PHOTO GALLERIES)

'JUST ANOTHER SUMMER DAY': Weekend beach crowds nothing like last year (PHOTO GALLERIES)

While the bookings may have started out somewhat slow at Dale E. Peterson Vacation Rentals, vice president Michelle Eason said they finished up the weekend booked at about 90 percent.

“Last year, Labor Day was real weak for us and it seemed like people just didn’t want to come to the beach,” she said Tuesday. “We were really excited to see that people wanted to come back to the beach.”

For Eason, while the summer was partially lost due to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, she said “once the spill was capped our phones started to ring again.” And while she wouldn’t go as far as saying the weekend was what she had expected, Eason did say that it was what the area was looking for and needed.

“People seemed like they wanted to take their vacations for the holiday weekend that they didn’t get to take earlier this summer,” she added.

And the tourists who did make their way to the Emerald Coast for one last summer retreat were showered with clear skies and clean beaches.

Destin Beach Safety Chief Joe D’Agostino told The Log Tuesday “area beaches were packed.”

“There were a lot of people out this weekend and the conditions were absolutely gorgeous,” he said.

When asked how this Labor Day compared to year’s past, D’Agostino said he thought there were more people on the beaches compared to last year. The reason for the increase was that this year the Gulf was free from tropical activity, which D’Agostino said has played a part in keeping the numbers low in previous years.

As the community continues to recover from a dismal summer and moves forward with uncertainty, Moody said the “strong numbers” over the weekend were a “welcomed end to the summer season.”

 “I think what this does is show how hard we have worked to get the message out that our beaches are open,” he said. “And it worked. We just have to keep pushing it and continue to let people know Destin is open for business.”

New TDC Campaign

The Okaloosa County Tourist Development Council is launching an “Emerald Coast Money” Campaign nationally. The campaign will distribute 5,000 Emerald Coast Money Cards, each valued at $200, to overnight visitors who make new reservations after Sept. 17 and stay two nights or more in participating lodging facilities located in Destin, Fort Walton Beach, Okaloosa Island, Mary Esther and Cinco Bayou. The money cards can be used at any Okaloosa County business and will be made available on a first come, first serve basis. For more information, see destin-fwb.com