SHRIMP FEST BOOMS

Monday, October 15, 2007

GULF SHORES -- Sunlight glittered off the Gulf of Mexico as the fourth and final day of the 2007 National Shrimp Festival wrapped up Sunday with what organizers said may have been the best turnout in the event's history.

While the festival's namesake crustacean and other seafood served up along the boardwalk continued to draw thousands of consumers, other attractions also brought in visitors.

For Brenda Mayo of Gulfport, Miss., the fine arts booths were the main attraction at the 36th annual event.

"It's really the only reason I ever come here," she said. "I've had a condo here for six years, but this is what draws me to this."

Mayo said one particular artist that had drawn her to this year's event was woodcarver Earnest Hand.

Hand said he has been coming to the event in Gulf Shores for about six years. "It's been great," he said. "You have a nice crowd, everyone's been great and we do well here."

Hand said he carves figures from cypress driftwood found in the swamps near his home in Wewahitchka, Fla. Much of the wood was cut in the 19th century and left during logging operations more than 100 years ago.

"I look at different pieces and see different things in each one and that's what I do," he said. "Turtles, fish, people, all kinds of animals and reptiles."

At a nearby booth, Jeanette Vitello of Lake Charles, La., whose husband, Aaron, produces drawings and paintings of wildlife, said the festival started well and continued to be busy throughout the four-day event.

"The weather's been nice and the crowd has been great," she said. "Even on Thursday we had a good crowd."

Vitello said she photographs many of the ducks, pelicans and other wildlife painted by her husband. She said visits to the Shrimp Festival have provided some of the inspirations for his work. She pointed out a drawing of four pelicans that were photographed near Daphne during a previous visit.

A heron seen in Orange Beach also became the subject of one of his works.

Ron Arnold, who directs the fine arts booths for the festival, said the Shrimp Festival's reputation as an arts venue is growing.

"We're in the top 20 for the South in fine arts and crafts and 72 in the top 200 nationwide," he said. "We really have some outstanding artists this year."

Don McPherson, special events director of the Alabama Gulf Coast Area Chamber of Commerce, said he expected the 2007 festival to be the biggest in the event's history. He credited good weather and work by hundreds of residents who volunteer each year to assist in setting up and running the event with the turnout.

He said some vendors, such as the chamber souvenir stands, were selling out of items by Saturday afternoon.

Resort rentals robust
From the Mobile Press Register
Sunday, August 05, 2007

Today, Marie Curren is likely operating the elevators at the 72-unit Phoenix IV condominium in Gulf Shores.

Her real job is marketing manager for Brett-Robinson, but this is one of the busiest check-in days for the real estate company's 1,943 rental units. There are 1,000 families arriving at the firm's 16 condo complexes to spend the last week at the beach before schools start.

"What's interesting is that we have 890 back-to-backs," she said. That means a total of 890 units will have guests checking out at 11 a.m., and guests arriving to stay in those units at 3 p.m.

To keep the cleaning crews on schedule and sane, and make sure guests are happy, all of Brett-Robinson's managers are pitching in to make the day go smoothly.

"We have a 97 percent occupancy, and that's about as good as you can get," Curren said.

Though condo sales have been slow, the resort rental market has seen occupancy rates in the high 90s this summer, according to rental managers.

Taxable lodging rentals reached $57.1 million for spring 2007, a $1.3 million increase over 2004's $55.8 million during the same months, according to the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau's June report. The taxable lodging rentals in June were 30 percent higher than in the same month last year, and up 24 percent over June 2004, which was a record-setting year, said Herb Malone, president of the Gulf Coast CVB.

"That gives you an idea of what kind of summer we're having," he said. "We expect the July numbers to be even better. People are coming down in droves."

"If you can't sell it, rent it" has been a mantra for owners and Realtors since Hurricane Katrina hit two years ago. The for-sale condo inventory has averaged 3,000 units for more than a year. While renting won't pay the mortgage, it will offset some costs, agents say.

"People ask us about rental histories all the time, and we tell them the past is a good indicator of the future," said a Realtor of Gulf Shores. "But nobody has a guarantee."

How much rental income a condo unit will generate depends on several factors. The first two are location -- or is the unit directly on the beach -- and how much it costs to rent for a week.

"Renters want as many bells and whistles they can get for as cheap as they can get it," he said.

The rental income projections are based on how much the unit costs, as well as the fees such as telephone, as sociation dues, property taxes, content insurance and management fees, he said.

Meyer sales team is "very conservative" with its rental income projections, according to Sarah Kuzma of Meyer in Gulf Shores, which manages more than 2,000 condos and some 300 beach houses on the Alabama coast and Perdido Key, Fla.

The rental estimates are based on 10 weeks of revenue in the summer, three weeks in the spring, two weeks in the fall and a month or more in the winter or snowbird season, according to Kuzma. The rental rates depend on the season, with peak summer time commanding the highest rates, agents say.

For example, a two-bedroom, two-bath Gulf-front unit at Island Royale in Gulf Shores rents for $1,590 a week during the summer, according to Meyer. The unit would bring in $25,160 a year in rental revenues as a conservative estimate, according to Kuzma.

Across the street from the beach, at the newly opened Crystal Tower, a two-bedroom, two-bath unit rents for $1,380 a week in the summer. The yearly rental revenues would be about $19,406, according to Kuzma. The new condo tower has an air conditioned walkway to the beach and a pool and gazebo on the sand.

Brett-Robinson's rental staff, like many of the large firms at the beach, work on a commission basis, according to Curren. "Our pledge is that we will generate you as much income as we can."

Rental activity will drop off in August and pick back up for the Labor Day weekend, which ends this year on Sept. 3, according to Curren. Still, the Thunder on the Gulf boat race Aug. 18 and 19 has most of the rooms along the race course booked, she said. The National Shrimp Festival in Gulf Shores in October will bring crowds to the Gulf, followed by the arrival of the snowbirds in January and February.

The snowbird season could drop from three-month stays to one month in the near future, Kuzma said. "The generation that will replace current travelers will not stay put for three months at a time," she said. "We think it will be one month, if there are a lot of activities."

There are 1,636 hotel rooms and 13,169 condo units available for lease in Gulf Shores, Fort Morgan and Orange Beach, according to the CVB. Another 147 hotel rooms and 398 condo units are expected to come on line by the end of the year, Malone said.