The Santa Rosa County Tourist Development Council is set to ease into phase two of a marketing plan designed to lure visitors back to the sugar-sand beaches of the Panhandle.

The previous program, launched in August, provided tourists with a 50-percent discount on their hotel rooms and concluded after just two weeks, having enjoyed what TDC Executive Director Kate Wilkes said was "great success."

Using funds from a BP grant created to compensate local areas hit hard by the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, the TDC's voucher program doled out $400,000 to local bed tax collectors, which, in some cases, prompted better than pre-oil spill revenues.

The monies came with "no strings attached," according to BP spokesperson Daren Beaudo, who spoke to Navarre Press in a telephone interview on Monday.

"The grants were provided to communities along the Gulf Coast in order to respond to an immediate need," said Beaudo. "We felt that it was an appropriate thing to do."

 

For more on this story, see the Oct. 7 issue of the Navarre Press or subscribe online.