Alabama’s beaches are one of the biggest attractions to tourists in the entire state.
Officials from Baldwin County say that over a third of Alabama’s tourism earnings came from their beaches at roughly 35% total share of state profit from tourism and travel related costs.
Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism President and CEO Beth Gendler told WKRG the huge numbers that Baldwin County tourism accounts for, saying that 6.5 million visitors came to the Gulf coast in 2023 and spent nearly $7 billion with the highest traffic coming during Fourth of July, Memorial Day, and Labor Day.
But that doesn’t mean things completely slow down in the winter by any means, as residents in cold weather areas come to Baldwin County to get reprieve from the punishing winters.
“We’re busy all winter long, we have a lot of visitors who come down from the north who don’t want to be in the snow,” Gendler said, adding that there is no true ‘offseason’ for the beaches in Baldwin County.
Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP and hear him every weekday morning from 6 to 9 a.m. on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5, available free online.
