Rolls aren’t being thrown inside Lambert’s Café. Napkins aren’t being flung at The Hangout. Visitors aren’t scrawling their names on duct tape at Tacky Jack’s. A Bushwacker hasn’t been made at the Flora-Bama for far too long.

Alabama’s most popular tourist haunt has turned into a chilling ghost town in rapid fashion. Roads often jammed with tourists are empty, and the towering condos lining Beach Boulevard are at a capacity of 20% or less.

At OWA, the entertainment and 23-ride amusement park complex that opened three years ago, a vast parking lot sits empty. A few walkers stroll around the scenic complex for daily exercise.

“It’s amazing to walk through it and see nothing,” said Steve Nash of Colorado Springs, Colorado.

“We feel like zombies should be coming around the corner at any minute,” added his wife, Nancy.

The economic crash related to the novel coronavirus pandemic has been especially devastating for the hospitality sector that fuels coastal Alabama’s economy. The virus put a sudden and jarring halt to the historic growth in visitors and spending that had occurred annually since the thick black sludge from the BP oil spill inundated the area’s beaches and kept tourists away.

Ten years have separated two disasters to Alabama’s Gulf Coast. But in the past two weeks, coastal officials and business representatives have been drawing a distinction between the events. The COVID-19 crisis, they say, is especially cruel because it’s far-reaching effects have slammed the door shut on this year’s spring tourism season and has created doubts about what was once a promising summer season.

“Every business will feel this pain,” said Lee Lawson, president & CEO of the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance. “Not just businesses along the Gulf.”

He added, “The difference is that (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and these emergency management groups that marshalled resources between Louisiana, Texas, and Florida, are now concerned with the entire county. The public health piece of this is an added layer.”

‘Dissimilar’ from oil spill

In this June 12, 2010, file photo, oil cleanup workers hired by BP clean oily deposits from the shore in Orange Beach, Ala. The spring of coronavirus feels a lot like the summer of oil to residents along the Gulf Coast. Bars and restaurants are empty in Florida because of an invisible threat nearly a decade after the BP oil spill ravaged the region from the ocean floor up, and condominium reservations have taken a nosedive in Alabama. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File)AP

In 2010, the restaurants and bars, go-cart tracks and water parks remained opened while the beaches were inundated by oil chasing the tourists away. Since Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced the beaches closed, almost all of those places opened 10 years ago, are now closed. The entertainment and shopping destinations – The Track in Gulf Shores, Tanger Outlets in Foley – are mostly shut down.

“This is dissimilar,” said Brant Frazier, a charter boat captain who owns and operates Fins & Family Fishing in Gulf Shores. “In 2010, you could go to the beach and tell something was wrong. Today, you can’t do that. The beaches are quiet. We don’t have visible signs. We had visible signs then.”

Tourism remains coastal Alabama’s No. 1 economic lifeblood, with more than 30,000 people, or 36% of the county’s workforce, employed in the retail and food sectors. Tourism supports 64,000 direct or indirect jobs in Baldwin County, leaving it particularly vulnerable to the pandemic. According to Lawson, the county is the most vulnerable in Alabama from the economic effects of the crisis.

“We are going to feel the brunt of this by the nature of our tourism and the retail and food accommodating jobs,” said Lawson.

When the Deepwater Horizon disaster occurred on April 20, 2010, the area was weathering the effects of the Great Recession with an unemployment rate above 12%. This time around, the closure of the beaches and strict social distancing enforcement ended record-setting growth and unemployment that reached an all-time low of 2.2% in October 2019.

According to Kay Maghan, spokeswoman with Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism, 2020 was shaping up to another boom year with early March at 70% occupancy. After the beaches closed, a rash of cancellations led to a collapse into the 30s.

Said Maghan, “By next week, we are showing it around 20% and staying like that through April.”

By contrast, the 2010 oil spill led to a “slight dip in occupancy,” she said. A summer slump occurred when occupancy rates dropped 30% -- from 67.2% to 37.6% -- between 2009 and 2010. But even then, visitors or residents could safely go inside a restaurant or department store.

“Compared to all that was open during the oil spill, this is a completely different scenario,” said Maghan.

Rental agents are concerned about the long-lasting effects the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic will have on this year’s tourism.

Rows of condos in Orange Beach, Alabama. (Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com).

“We’re not seeing any bookings for the summer coming in,” said Hunter Harrelson, who owns and operates Beachball Properties, a rental agency that manages approximately 109 properties in coastal Alabama. “It’s horrific. This is booking season right now when we the highest influx of renters coming in during the summer. Right now, we are not doing anything.”

Harrelson has been in the vacation rental business for the past 3-1/2 years. His parents own condominiums along the Gulf Coast, and he remembers visiting the area in 2010, while the oil spill was occurring.

“This is a completely different animal,” said Harrelson. “One part of me says that the oil spill wasn’t as bad because, at least, you had the freedom to come to the beach if you wanted to. If you wanted to eat a restaurant, you had that American right to come down here and risk the tar ball, so to speak.”

A snapshot of the region’s employment data shows that it could be a difficult road to recovery for Alabama’s Gulf Coast because employment remains heavily tilted toward retail and food services and accommodations.

* During the second quarter of 2008 – a high-water mark for employment in Baldwin County before the oil spill – 13% of the county’s employment was concentrated in food services and accommodations, while 17.6% was in retail trade. The other major sectors at the time were construction (10%), manufacturing (7%) and health care (9.4%).

* The worst time period in the past decade occurred right before the oil spill during the first quarter of 2010. At that time, the county’s 64,767-person workforce consisted of 18.5% retail workers, 13.4% food services – both slight bumps from the 2008 boom period. The remaining sectors saw health care workers increase to 11%, while construction (7.7%) and manufacturing (6%) experienced a decline.

* Almost exactly one year ago, during the second quarter of 2019, is the best recorded period for jobs in Baldwin County with 86,718 people employed. Compared to 2008 and 2010, the county’s percentages increased on the tourism-related jobs: 17.5% worked in food services and accommodations. The percentage of retail jobs decreased slightly to 16.8%, while health care shot up to 11.7%. Construction (6.8%) and manufacturing (5.2%) lagged behind.

Silver linings

Despite worries, coastal officials are looking for silver linings and are hopeful that once the pandemic subsides, tourists will want to escape their homes for the beaches.

“Unlike a tropical storm or the oil spill, our coast is clean and patiently waiting for the return of laughing children as they build sandcastles and to provide solitude to those who walk the shore line and sand between their toes,” said Michelle Hodges, president with Meyer Vacation Rentals.

The region’s reputation as a “drive-to” market, they say, will be beneficial for worried travelers concerned about flying in an airplane. Of the nearly 6.6 million people who visited the beaches in 2018, almost all of them drove to Orange Beach and Gulf Shores: A whopping 92% of visitors during the summers of 2018 and 2019 arrived by car. A meager 7% came by air, according to Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism data, and three-quarters of them traveled through the Pensacola International Airport, presumably renting a car for the hour-long drive to the west.

“We are not a fly destination,” said Maghan. “We are a drive to destination and hopefully our areas will come back quicker for visitors. We are a short car drive for part of the Southeast and an extended car ride for the Midwest.”

Wiley Blankenship, president & CEO with the Coastal Alabama Partnership said that coastal Alabama could be able to promote itself as a safe place to practice social distancing while COVID-19 still lingers as a potential threat following a spike in cases this spring.

“If you’re in a car with your family, those are people you’ve been quarantined with and so those are people you know you won’t get (coronavirus) from,” said Blankenship. “I think you’ll have people pouring into the beaches.”

He said that if the spike in the COVID-19 pandemic ends by the end of April or May, he could see the coastal Alabama tourism’s summer season get extended this year.

“People go to our beaches in that it’s almost like a tradition,” said Blankenship. “They’ve been going for generations to Orange Beach and Gulf Shores and people don’t want to miss their trip to go there. It might not be the month they originally planned.”

Harrelson said that he could see a quick bounce back for rental homes as well, but it’s all dependent on how long the pandemic stretches and social distancing requirements continue.

“We could roll into April 30 and (President Donald) Trump could say, ‘we need to push it back another 30 days,’” said Harrelson, referring to the social distancing measures that are in place for this month preventing businesses from opening and groups of people from congregating. “The further this rolls into the summer, and we’re dependent on summer money, it could be devastating for us.”

He added, “If they turn the faucet on by June 1, we could breakeven. But if we are rolling into mid-June and they don’t know what to do with this thing, it could be more detrimental than the oil spill could ever be.”

Looming concerns

Recovery could also be dependent on whether tourists want to return and risk the headaches of negotiating cancellation policies and trip insurance with rental agency and insurance companies. Some companies did not cover “fear of travel” under their policies while the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly led to the closures. A Facebook page called “Orange Beach/Gulf Shores Coronavirus Renter Victims” has 160 followers who continue to post their frustrations with their experiences. That page has since been removed.

“It’s ludicrous to hold people’s money like that,” said Harrelson, who said his cancelation policies are to ensure people are not upset with their experience, which could lead to a wrath of negative social media posts. “If you’re a small business, I can’t withstand 20 people talking badly about me much less than 2,000.”

But even if the tourists return, it’s unclear what businesses will remain closed and what will reopen, and how hourly-employment will be replenished.

Lawson said there might not be enough incentive to pull hourly workers back into the workforce due to rise of unemployment benefits and the checks that will arrive from the $2 trillion federal stimulus package.

Lawson also said it’s unclear how long it will take federal grant applications to be processed to help prop up small businesses.

“We hope it’s impactful and that it gets here in time to help these businesses make it,” he said.

Desmond Johnson, who operates a small eatery in Foley, Ala., points to his opening sign on Monday, March 30, 2020. The coronavirus crisis has led to a widespread economic crisis and concern for small businesses like restaurants throughout Coastal Alabama. (John Sharp/jsharp@al.com).

Desmond Johnson, owner of Desmond’s Taste of Jamaica in Foley, is one such business suffering with a drop off in business as his neighbors have closed. March is one of Johnson’s best months, he said. But earlier this week, Johnson said he didn’t have one customer calling in to place an order. The week before, he made $450 in meal sales, hardly enough to maintain a business for a long period of time.

“I still have to pay the light bills, the mortgage,” said Johnson, who opened his business in Foley 2-1/2 years ago. “Right now, I’m here by myself. I cannot afford to pay anyone. The bills keep piling up. It’s definitely not looking good. As the owner, I got to do what I go to do.”

‘On the back burner’

City governments, meanwhile, are assessing the damage that could affect public services such as police and fire, pot hole patching and general overall maintenance.

Gulf Shores city officials are discussing contingency plans to adapt to a potential 30% to 50% revenue loss for the year, which Mayor Robert Craft said would be equitable to the 2010 oil spill. The City Council, last month, voted to refinance some of the city’s long-term debt to take advantage of historically low interest rates and to free up cash flow for operational needs.

Craft said the beach closures were to focus on the No. 1 goal at the moment, “health and safety” of residents and visitors. He said that the city has built up enough reserves to manage three-quarters of a year even with no revenues coming in.

“I am less concerned about the city’s functional economy as I am about our businesses,” said Craft, who added that he’s analyzing “what we can do to help our businesses recover” while gaining more clarity about the stimulus packages approved in Congress.

Orange Beach City Administrator Ken Grimes believes the impact to the cities will not be dissimilar to a major hurricane evacuation, when tax revenues dry up because residents and tourists flee for safety and businesses close. He said it was too early to make revenue projections.

“Unlike storm evacuation and recovery, the rebuilding of the local economy will be totally dependent on tourists returning once things are clear,” said Grimes.

In Foley, the home of OWA and the Tanger Outlet shopping center and a budding sports tourism market, concerns are mounting over a lack of lodging revenues. All sports tournaments that were scheduled for March and April have been canceled.

“We are doing things like analyzing our capital expenditures and capital projects to determine which we can just put on the back burner for a while and which we want to move forward on,” said City Administrator Michael Thompson.

OWA is expecting a construction slow down, though not specifics were provided. The entertainment complex is anchored by trendy restaurants like Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen and an amusement park featuring the Rollin’ Thunder roller coaster. But an expansion is well underway to include an indoor water park and a 200-room resort hotel.

According to a statement, OWA is following “recommended guidelines set forth by health officials. Being respectful of this current environment, construction slow downs are certainly expected; especially since many of our partners are weathering this storm from various locations worldwide.”

The Groovy Goat, a sports bar near the complex’s entrance, is one of the few that are open for take-out orders. Typically, during the spring season, 60 to 70 people are working at the restaurant on a given day. Right now, only five managers are on staff.

“It’s not what Spring Break was supposed to be,” said Aaron Gregory, a Foley resident and the restaurant’s kitchen manager. “Even on a Monday at this time last year, the whole parking lot was full. I do wish we were in our busy season making good money, but it’s better for people to stay safe.”

This story was updated at 7:51 p.m. on April 2, 2020, to note that a Facebook group called “Orange Beach/Gulf Shores Coronavirus Renter Victims” has since been deleted.