Florida tourism leaders acknowledged Subtropical Storm Alberto didn’t cause as much mayhem as was expected – but the Panhandle is still counting the cost of hundreds of millions of lost tourism revenue thanks to ‘bad timing.’
"The timing couldn’t have been worse," said James Miller of the Florida Retail Federation.
The Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer and the second busiest weekend of the year for tourism.
Initial estimates put the economic loss caused by the Alberto storm at up to $700 million.
Restaurants and stores targeting vacationers reported earnings were down by as much as 60% over the weekend.
"It’ll be very hard to recoup some of these losses," said Richard Turner, vice president of the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association.
Gov. Rick Scott has asked state tourism agency Visit Florida to accelerate short-term marketing efforts.
"Visit Florida will definitely do their part nationally and globally to get people there," Miller added.
Areas impacted by Alberto included Laguna Beach and Panama City which saw heavy rains and strong winds while a falling tree and a landslide caused the deaths of four people in separate incidents in North Carolina.
