USA TODAY International Edition
Oil spill takes toll on tourism
Galveston has sticky mess on its hands,
GALVESTON, TEXAS Homes have been rebuilt, new restaurants and hotels have sprouted and visitors have returned in droves to this beachfront city following the destruction of Hurricane Ike 5 1⁄2 years ago.
Now Galveston faces a fresh and stickier challenge: the oil spill in Galveston Bay.
Tourism leaders and business owners across town were already feeling the sting of the spill, which occurred Saturday when a fuel tanker and cargo ship collided, dumping 168,000 gallons of bunker fuel oil into the bay and threatening to stave off the city’s lively tourism industry.
Coast Guard officials on Tuesday reopened a portion of the Houston Ship Channel to barge traffic, as a sizable portion of the spill appeared to be drifting off to sea. But TV images of the oil lapping up on some Galveston beaches was starting to take its toll.
At Get Hooked Fishing Charters, owner Melody Short fielded 28 cancellations in two days and refunded more than $ 12,000 in canceled trips. The spill came at the start of the busy season for them, she said.
After struggling to rebuild the business following Ike, this latest incident is agonizing.
“It’s very frustrating,” Short said. “We’re going to have to start all over in wanting people to
“We’re going to have to start all over in wanting people to come back to Galveston.” Melody Short, owner of Get Hooked Fishing Charters
come back to Galveston.”
Hurricane Ike in 2008 caused 17 deaths in Galveston County, damaged 85% of the island’s homes, flooded its hospital and temporarily crippled the tourism industry. It was one of the costliest storms in Texas history, causing $ 20 billion in damages.
But the city rebuilt better, drawing new investments and entertainment venues, such as Pleasure Pier, a $ 30 million project featuring restaurants, shops and a roller coaster.
There are another $ 2 billion worth of investments in the works, from new hospitals to an expansion of Galveston College, said Jeff Sjostrom, president of the Galveston Economic Development Partnership.
In 2012, Galveston drew 6 million visitors who spent around $ 650 million in direct purchases, he said. That momentum is not likely to stall due to the spill, considering its relatively small size and the effectiveness of the oil recovery effort, Sjostrom said.
“It’s an incident we’re dealing with, but it’s not something that’s going to stop the tourism industry in Galveston in any shape, way or form,” he said.
On Monday night at the Strand, a historic stretch of shops and eateries downtown that was flooded during Ike and since rebuilt, a handful of customers sang karaoke and nursed beers at the Crow’s Southwestern Cantina. Next door at Brew’s Brothers, about a dozen clients dined on cheeseburgers and drank craft beers. A bronze plaque tacked to a wooden beam inside the restaurant immortalizes the crest of Ike’s floodwaters — about 8 feet off the ground.
Johnny Smecca, who owns seven restaurants in Galveston, said he expects to see some cancellations due to the spill. But the city will endure, much as it did after the 1900 hurricane, which killed 6,000 residents and wiped out much of the city, he said.
Galveston’s longtime business owners and families will work diligently to see the city through its latest crisis, he said.
“It begins with some really deep roots,” Smecca said. “You have a really strong base of residents that have been here a very long time.”