AAA: Number of Travelers Who Changed Travel Plans Because of Oil Spill Has Risen

The Gulf of Mexico oil spill has triggered a rise in the number of changed travel plans arranged by eastern U.S. travelers considering visiting Florida's Gulf Coast in the next 12 months, a survey from popular travel resource AAA found Thursday.

Thirty-two percent (or 484 people) of the 1,500 travelers surveyed are planning to visit the state, and 52 percent of those plan to visit the state's Gulf Coast. Of that 52 percent, 13 percent have changed their travel plans to the Gulf Coast in the last month, and 21 percent of those did so because of the spill that has been leaking in to the Gulf for more than two months. Last month, no travelers identified the spill as a reason fror changing their travel plans, the report said.

Sixty percent of those surveyed have negative perceptions of Northwest Florida beaches because of the spill, the survey reports, and 24 percent have a negative perception of southern West Coast beaches.

Amid all the gloomy data, however, there is the good news that 87 percent of travelers to the Gulf Coast have not changed their plans in the past month. And 23 percent of those had plans to visit the Gulf Coast for the long 4th of July weekend, but 53 percent of those changed their plans because of the spill.

"The good news is that despite six in 10 respondents having a negative perception of some of Floridas beaches, almost nine in 10 have not changed their plans," said Brent Hubele, AAA Travel Vice President, in a press release . Although some of the Panhandle beaches have experienced the negative effects of the disaster, the majority of Floridas beaches are still pristine and unspoiled.

Check Sunshine State News for more to come.