A year after the worst oil spill in U.S. history, tourism is returning to the Gulf Coast. Yet some businesses that rely on tourists ... continue to struggle. And local tourism officials worry that memories of the spill, combined with rising gasoline prices and a still-shaky national economy, could forestall a return to boom times.
via www.usatoday.com
In other words, the factors affecting tourism demand on the gulf coast cover the elements of the standard recreation demand model:
(1) x = f(p,y,q)
where x is trips, p is the cost of trips (i.e., price), y is income and q is the quality of trips. Memories of the oil spill affects quality expectations, gas prices affect travel costs and the health of the national economy affects income expectations.
