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Business Outlook 2006

Hurricanes miss, tourists flock in lucky 2005

Though the "constant threat" of storms did have an effect, tourism overall posted its best year since the Sept. 11 attacks.

By PHIL DAVIS
Published February 19, 2006

Pasco County's fortunate disaster dodging in 2005 helped fuel the strongest year in tourism since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks sent the entire industry into a tailspin.

The Red Tide that choked Pinellas County beaches with dead fish only brushed Pasco. The county also came through 2005's grim, record-breaking hurricane season unscathed. Evacuees who waited out October's Hurricane Wilma in Pasco helped ease the loss of out-of-state visitors scared away by hurricanes.

Wilma, in particular, provided an unexpected boon to those catering to tourists in the buff.

Richard Lambright, general manager of the Caliente clothing-optional resort in Land O'Lakes, said many tourists chose his resort in October instead of trekking through storm-battered South Florida to Fantasy Fest in Key West. About 2,600 people attended the resort's Halloween party.

"For us, it was a boon," Lambright said. "Halloween in the nudist industry is a big night."

Caliente is the newest of three nudist resorts in central Pasco that are a cornerstone of the county's tourism industry. The other two are Lake Como and Paradise Lakes.

"Those places are visited by people from all over the world," said Diane Jones, the county's public communications manager. "They are beautiful. They are gorgeous. A lot of Europeans come to Pasco for those facilities."

Only the 480-acre Saddlebrook Resort in Wesley Chapel contributes more to Pasco's bed tax coffers. About 85 percent of the resort's $400-million in revenues comes from corporate conventions.

Pasco County collected $807,499 from its 2 percent lodging tax in the 2004-2005 fiscal year, a 17 percent increase over the previous year.

The year's bed tax revenues, the only indicator the county uses to measure tourism, are the highest since the 2000-2001 peak of $814,221.

"We were estimating about $700,000, so we're quite a bit over what we thought we were going to get," Jones said. "We all know what happened to the tourism industry after Sept. 11. Since then, we've been building up again. Now we're almost at pre-Sept. 11 levels."

The county has amassed about $8-million to spend on tourism development. Most, about $5.7-million, is being set aside for a 5,000-seat tennis stadium near Saddlebrook.

Several businesses reported an improvement over the dismal 2004 tourist season when four hurricanes battered and soaked the entire state. But the 2005 hurricane menace did have an impact on Pasco.

"It was certainly a better year than last year, but you don't have to suffer a hurricane to lose hotel bookings," said Joe Lettelleir, general manager of Paradise Lakes. "The constant threat really took its toll. No matter where (the hurricane) was, if it was anywhere near Florida, they canceled.

"We're totally dependent on the sun," he said. "When they think the sun isn't going to be there, they go somewhere else."

Jones said the county continues to market itself as "an alternative to the theme parks, an alternative to the big city."

Pasco's tourism slogan - "It's Only Natural" - is a plug to the area's state parks and meandering rivers with a cheeky nod to the nudist resorts, which offer some of the only legal skinny-dipping in Florida.

The county is also marketing its quaint, historic downtowns in Dade City and New Port Richey. In September, the Pasco Tourism Development Council voted to spend $70,000 to promote more than a dozen festivals celebrating everything from roller skating to rattlesnakes.

Said council member Jack Phethean: "It would be a shame to throw a party and not tell people about it."

[Last modified February 19, 2006, 01:09:21]