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The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association is asking BP for hotel vouchers and gas cards to help reduce the financial damages to the tourism industry. Many panhandle hotels have experienced a slight surge in business, but that’s because they are offering huge discounts and in return not making much money. Hoteliers want BP to offer the discounts. Carol Dover says gas cards would also help give traveler the extra nudge needed to visit Florida.

“We need to get the gas cards as an incentive so people can have their gas paid by BP to come down and stay in our hotels and eat in our restaurants. The voucher idea is, you know, many of our hotels are having to cut their room rates down just to get the incentive so people can come. So, you know we feel that that could be on the backs of BP. Let’s get a voucher. Let’s make BP pay for the voucher and let the hotel then get the full amount of the room rate. Let the consumer only pay half,” said Dover.

Dover took her suggestion to BP’s Vice President of Resources Darryl Willis today. Willis says he’ll see if anything can be done in time for the 4th of July holiday weekend.