In an effort to boost tourism, Manatee County will request $600,000 from BP to market the area as oil-free.
“The only oil down here is suntan oil,” said Larry White, who is retiring from the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau this week.
He announced the request last week after Pinellas County requested $2 million, or 25 percent of its marketing budget, from BP. The money will be used to advertise summer travel to potential visitors in Orlando, Daytona Beach and Palm Beach, White said. Sales representatives are already en route to Atlanta, Birmingham and Nashville to drum up summer business. “Don’t crack open that million dollar disaster recovery fund yet because we have hurricane season to face,” White advised county commissioners, referring to an emergency fund created to pay for marketing campaigns that would repair the area’s image after a disaster. County commissioners have agreed to sign the BP request, and also voted to ask the governor to convene a summit on coastal protection and restoration, promote alternative energy legislation and call a special legislative session to draft a constitutional amendment banning offshore oil drilling in state waters. Panhandle counties are having trouble getting BP to pay up, so some tourism business owners are contacting Gov. Charlie Crist and President Barack Obama independently, said David Teitelbaum, vice chairman of the Manatee County Tourist Development Council. “We have to take matters in our own hands,” he said. “We’re on our own.”
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Tags: Anna Maria Island, Barack Obama, BP, County commissioners, funds, Longboat Key, Manatee County, tourism
