Oil spill slows Alabama island tourism to trickle
* Dauphin Island merchants say cancellations running high
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* Slowdown comes as travel season should be heating up
* Day-trippers, curiosity seekers dominate island commerce
DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala., May 10 (Reuters) – Long before tarballs washed up on its sugar-white sandy beaches, the tinybarrier island at the mouth of Mobile Bay saw its main sourceof commerce — tourism — take a beating from oil gushing intothe Gulf of Mexico.
Dauphin Island is steeped in history and known for itspristine beaches, sport fishing and abundant bird life butmerchants there say vacation traffic to the scenic resort hasslowed to a trickle as an environmental disaster looms off theGulf Coast.
The slowdown comes just as the tourist season should beheating up, catching some business owners, like souvenirproprietor Lynn Wickman, with full inventories bought on creditin anticipation of a busy spring and summer.
Instead of families on vacation, the bulk of the island’scommerce now consists of curiosity seekers and locals whogenerally spend less time, and less money, in the town.
“It sucks,” said Wickman, owner of the Treasure Trove giftshop that occupies an 18th-century church — one of Alabama’soldest buildings — at the end of a quiet Mother’s Day. “Weshould have had a very busy day today and we have not.”
She estimates her business has dropped by half since newsof the April 20 explosion that destroyed an oil rig undercontract with BP, killing 11 crewmen and unleashing an underseagusher that threatens to become the worst U.S. oil spill ever.
Making matters worse, Dauphin Island was just starting torebound from Hurricane Katrina, which demolished some 200homes, said Wickman, a resident of the area for more than 20years.
Gary Bratt of Chaise N’ Rays Rentals, specializing in beachchairs, umbrellas and motor scooters, said his business was offby 70 percent. Hand-lettered signs posted in front of his shopoffer potential customers an “Oil Spill Special” discount forscooter rentals.
“You’ve got to do something. Sales are down so bad,” hesaid. “If you talk to any of the realtors and rental managementcompanies, they’re getting cancellations right and left.
“Every reservation we’ve had in the last two weeks has beencanceled.”
About 1,300 people live year-round on the narrow 14-mile-(23-km) long island, which touts itself as “America’s BirdiestCoastal Town” and his home Fort Gaines, site of the U.S. CivilWar naval battle of Mobile Bay where U.S. Admiral DavidFarragut is said to have famously declared, “Damn thetorpedoes, full speed ahead!”
On Saturday, globs of tar washed up from the Gulf onto themain public beach of Dauphin Island’s east end, alarming somebeachgoers, stirring media excitement and prompting thedispatch of a cleanup and assessment team.
Samples of the tar, the first seen in a populated areasince the Deepwater Horizon explosion, were collected foranalysis to determine if they came from the oil spill.
The beach was clean and tar free on Sunday as sunbathersand swimmers abounded, seemingly undaunted by clusters ofoil-absorbing synthetics, or pom-poms, left along the water’sedge the previous day.
Jason Sullivan, 30, of Mobile said he and his family camefor the day partly out of curiosity about the tar.
“We were just going to come anyway and see what it was allabout,” he said. “But there’s a lot of people here and it’sclean and a beautiful day.”
Regular U.S. Coast Guard patrols of the area since thespill have found no sign of oil, Petty Officer Joel Huffmansaid on Sunday, after one excursion to the island’s east end.
But he and other locals said the appearance of the tarballs on the barrier island beach was unusual and not somethingthey had seen before in that area.
Wickman blamed intense media coverage of the spill forcontributing to the island’s current economic woes.
“I believe it’s probably the media’s overreaction to whatis a potential disaster,” she said. “I’ve seen this every timethere’s been a hurricane in the Gulf.”
Bratt said he understood consumers’ reluctance to spendhard-earned dollars and precious vacation time on a Gulf Coastdestination at the moment.
“You wait all year for your vacation — you don’t want tospend it in what you perceive is going to be a cesspool.” (Editing by Peter Cooney)