With the Deep Horizon well now finally capped with the success of BP’s “static kill” of the well, it is now expected that the vast majority of Florida’s beaches will ride out the oil spill with few negative effects. Their beaches have been largely unaffected by the spill, and the $25 million advertising grant from BP’s $20 billion claims fund has prevented the drop in Florida’s tourism that many were worried about.
We’ve already reported on Camscape how Florida has been battling public misconceptions about the state of their beaches. The use of webcams has been prominent in this battle (through the Visit Florida website), providing live footage of Florida’s beaches for all to see.
The webcams appear to have helped, as Florida’s has had 20.8 million visitors in the second quarter of this year, a 3.4 percent increase when compared to 2009, with a marked increase in the number of visitors from overseas. While those parts of the state that have been effect by the oil spill have suffered economically, those beaches that have been unaffected have still been pulling in the crowds. Overall, it seems Florida’s tourism industry has put in a solid performance.
Visit Florida’s advertising campaign was centred around the idea of transparency, keeping the general public informed as to the true impact of the oil spill on Florida. The webcams of their beaches played a big part in providing that transparency, letting the general public know that Florida’s beaches were okay. It’s great to see webcams used to such great effect!
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