Post-Isaac tourism concerned officials

ORANGE BEACH, Ala. (WALA) - Highway 59 saw a steady flow of traffic heading north Monday morning.  That’s usually a sign of a good weekend for leasing agents and businesses.  All were hoping for a good Labor Day weekend to put a bow on the summer, but all were also worried that many would cancel their travel plans.

Labor Day winds down the summer beach and tourist season for the Alabama coast, and tourism officials and business owners have been concerned about how Hurricane Isaac would affect travel over what is typically a very busy weekend.

 “With our occupancy, we were a little over fifty percent, so we would have liked to see a little bit more,” said Kelly Garrett with Young’s Suncoast Realty.  “It was…it matched to last year, so our numbers didn’t drop considerably because of the storm.”

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Lots of folks were still enjoying the great weather and hospitality on Labor Day.  Restaurants along the beach were busy serving up local favorites.  They too were glad to get whatever business they could.

The Pink Pony Pub in Gulf Shores opened back up on Thursday and manager Jennifer Baity said business wasn’t too bad considering how slow the weekend started off.

“Friday was slow,” Baity said.  “It picked up on Saturday, and Sunday was real good. So it’s just been picking up each day, and more people coming out and having a good time.”

For those who did come to the coast for the weekend, Alabama’s beaches didn’t disappoint. 

Michael Mangold and his family had been planning to come down from Minneapolis for some time.  Once they got here, his concerns were put to rest.

“This has been great,” Mangold said.  “We love it down here.  We’re definitely going to come back.”

Jane Merrill came from Indiana with family and had a big compliment to hand out.

“This Gulf Coast does a wonderful job of clean up and where we stay at, I mean, it’s amazing how well they get on to things,” Merrill said.

With that, she offered up a big, “Job well done” for all of the folks that make Alabama’s beaches such a great destination for so many.

Overall, from an occupancy standpoint, tourism officials said this has been a record summer for visitors.