C'mon down! Panama City Beach wants college students to know that spring break is back.
Not that it ever really went away, but the BP oil disaster last summer blew a hole in Gulf tourism, and beach towns on Florida's Panhandle are spreading the word that the coast is clear.
A robust crowd in March -- the high season for college revelers -- can prime the tourism pump for the rest of the year, says Dan Rowe, president and CEO of the Panama City Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau.
"Spring break is part of our DNA," he says.
March is traditionally the third biggest tourism month for the famed beach town, right after June and July. Rowe figures that if the college spring-break crowd returns en masse, family vacationers will follow.
To keep Panama City Beach on collegiate itineraries, Rowe's staff has been visiting campuses up North. They've come armed with gift bags, coolers, T-shirts, koozies and fact cards.
"It's all part of the recovery process from BP," Rowe said. "Fighting the uncertainty in the public perception was our biggest battle last year."
Each year, Panama City Beach attracts around 6 million tourists. That number dipped last year amid the oil spill -- but only by 1.8 percent from 2009, Rowe said.
The college crowds, which numbered some 500,000 each March a decade ago, have tumbled more precipitously, with recent totals running between 300,000 and 350,000.
Much of that decline was self-imposed, as Panama City Beach moved to dial back the raucous partying by underage binge drinkers and bare-breasted co-eds. Such antics were a hit on MTV, but didn't play well with the area's more sedate and family oriented condo dwellers.
Now, Rowe's team wants to recruit more collegians, while assuring locals that their community will remain safe and clean.
Panama City Beach has hit the sand running. It has a robust social media following of 175,000 Facebook fans, and a new regional airport is landing more visitors.
Southwest Airlines now offers direct flights from Nashville, Houston and Baltimore. Delta's traffic is up 25 percent, and the two airlines combine for 20 flights a day, said Rowe, whose agency joined with South Walton County in a five-year marketing campaign with SWA.
Across Florida, beach towns are banking on more March madness, says Chris Thompson, president and CEO of Visit Florida.
"Florida has always been a strong destination [for the college crowd]," he said. After the BP spill, Thompson said he sees "a lot of pent-up demand."
Though Thompson said Visit Florida doesn't specifically market to colleges, he said the agency reaches out to younger demographics via Facebook and Twitter accounts that have a combined following of more than 51,000.
With 6.5 million tourists representing the annual high-water mark for Panama City Beach, Rowe is optimistic about this year's prospects.
"We could beat that," he says.
If that happens, college revelers will lead the way in March.
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Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
