GULF SHORES, Ala. — Gulf Shores has workers sprucing up for the 2011 tourist season. With spring break just a few weeks away, there is a bevy of activity along the beach, including new signs, brightly striped parking lots, and a freshly cleaned beach.

“With spring break upon us, we are getting a lot of things done to make everything have a friendly look to it,” said Grant Brown, Director of Recreation and Cultural Arts at Monday’s council meeting. “You should notice the improvements over the next several weeks.”

Brown said that he, along with Linda Whitlock, President and CEO of the Alabama Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce, as well as Herb Malone, President and CEO of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism, have been talking with the presidents of local snowbird clubs, encouraging them to spread the word when they return home about what they see along the coast.

“I have been invited to speak at four of the snowbird clubs, and they are asking what can we do, and my message is for them to tell the people back home what they see, tell the people back home how good it is,” Brown said.

But Brown said that many of the snowbirds are going the extra mile in helping improve the image of Alabama’s beaches.

“I had a gentleman who was a member of the  Michigan club come to me on Friday and wanted to have my notes in order to give the same presentation to his rotary club when he returned to Michigan.”

Parking charges

reinstated

Following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, new parking machines that were purchased by the city to replace the parking attendants at Gulf Shores public beaches, were suspended from use in order to allow visitors free parking. According to Brown, however, the machines will be up and running once again beginning the first of March.

“It is extremely expensive to just run the normal operations of the beach, regardless of any kind of issue that may happen on the beach, such as the oil spill. The fees that are generated go directly back into the management of the beaches including the beach patrol, vehicles that we operate, training, and clean up.”

Brown said that visitors will see a lot of improvements this year, but it takes money to provide these improvements.

If someone doesn’t want to pay to park, Brown said there are plenty of other options.

“There is plenty of ample public parking that is not in the main beach parking area for people to utilize.”

Future beach concerts

In an effort to save the 2010 tourist season, Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, along with the Chamber of Commerce and the Convention and Visitors Bureau, hosted three, highly attended  beach concerts featuring musicians Jimmy Buffett, Bon Jovi, and Brad Paisley.

Many are asking if similar concerts are scheduled for 2011.

While city officials would like to see it happen, funding could be the issue in the coming months.

“We would love to see it, but trying to identify any available funding for it at this time is difficult,” said Brown.

According to Brown, some of the money that came to the State of Alabama tourism department from BP, made its way to the CVB who in turn funded the beach concerts.

Brown did say that The Hangout Music Festival is on once again for late spring and that a possible beach concert following Shrimpfest in the fall was not completely out of the question.

“The Hangout Music Festival will kind of begin our summer season, and last year it proved to have a fairly dramatic impact,” said Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft. “We have requested from BP some tourism marketing enhancement money to help us to grow back to where we were. There is a desire to have another fall concert like we did in 2010.”

Like Brown, Craft said the concert is subject to funding.

“Fortunately, it is far enough off to where we still have time to schedule a good artist if we are able to fund it.”

“I wouldn’t say no it is not going to happen, but I can’t say yes at this point either,” said Brown.