Tourism officials on Florida's Gulf Coast say one way concerned people can help the area recover is to visit as tourists, even though some beaches are still closed to the public and debris is still piled next to streets from recent hurricanes Helene and Milton.
The tourism promotion agency for the St. Petersburg-Clearwater area said in a news release that 80% of hotels and businesses in the area are open for business, even as clean-up and recovery continues.
“Many people have asked, ‘How can I help?’ and the answer is this: Come visit and support our local businesses when they need you most,” Visit St. Pete-Clearwater said Friday in the news release. “You can also pitch in at beach cleanups, attend fundraisers and donate.”
Helene made landfall as a category 4 storm in Florida's Big Bend region last month. Milton made landfall earlier this month as a category 3 hurricane on a barrier island in Sarasota County.
The state tourism promotion agency says it plans to spend $5.7 million to promote Florida as a tourism destination following the hurricanes.
The campaign's first phase will focus on social media promotion of areas of Florida that were comparatively untouched by the storms, such as Pensacola, Panama City Beach and Islamorada in the Florida Keys.
The second phase will spend $3 million promoting areas impacted by the storms but already have recovered such as Naples and Fort Myers.
The last phase will offer direct marketing assistance to the counties most affected by the storms in the St. Petersburg and Sarasota areas, and rural areas in the Panhandle, according to Visit Florida.
A South Tampa man turned to Susan Solves It after he said ADT told him he had to keep paying for a security system at his Hurricane Helene-damaged home, even though the system was so new that he never had a day of service.
