Alabama's tourism industry continues to race ahead, leaving the 2010 BP oil spill disaster and the Great Recession in the rear-view mirror.

For the sixth year in a row, Alabama set a new record in annual tourism expenditures for 2016, and for the number of visitors coming to the state.

More than 25.8 million people visited last year, up 2.5 percent over the 25.2 million people who came in 2015.

And travelers spent more than $13.3 billion, an increase of 5.4 percent over the 2015 figures.

For the past 14 years, from 2003 to 2016, tourism expenditures in Alabama have increased a whopping 96 percent, according to data from the Alabama Tourism Department.

The numbers are compiled annually by Keivan Deravi, an economist in the School of Business at Auburn University Montgomery.

Lee Sentell

"The great news is that all areas of the state experienced growth for a variety of reasons," said Lee Sentell, the state's tourism director. "The fact that the economy was stronger last year in the Midwest and Southeast contributed to the increase. People just seem to have been more relaxed and wanted to reward the family with a vacation to the South."

Baldwin's boom

Much of the growth is linked to five counties - Baldwin, Jefferson, Madison, Mobile and Montgomery. They account for 68 percent of the total number of visitors.

Baldwin County, home to Alabama's sugar-white sand beaches, leads in the way - by far - in tourism activity. The 6.3 million visitors to Baldwin County represented a 3.3 percent bounce from 2015, and is nearly one-fourth of all the tourists who visit Alabama each year.

"People love the beach when its blue skies and sunshine," said Herb Malone, president/CEO of Gulf Shores & Orange Beach, the tourism arm of coastal Alabama. "But besides the growth over the summer, we have grown in our shoulder seasons, particularly our fall and early winter. ... It's a lot of dynamics at work coming together."

In booming Baldwin, which is also Alabama's fastest-growing county in population since the 2010 U.S. Census, Malone and others anticipate further spikes in tourism with an influx in sporting-related events in Foley, Gulf Shores and Fairhope as well as the summer opening of the OWA amusement park in Foley.

Said Sentell: "OWA is going to be a game changer for the Gulf Coast."

Added Malone: "It will add greatly to the offerings we have for traveling guests. It will introduce a new element we haven't had in the past."

Baldwin and neighboring Mobile County combined represented more than 40 percent of the visitors to Alabama in 2016.

Mobile County saw a 5.5 percent increase in visitors in 2016.

"Those numbers don't surprise me," said David Clark, president/CEO of Visit Mobile, who has been involved in the coastal Alabama hospitality sector for 30 years. "It comes back to great leadership among coastal Alabama and the city of Mobile. It comes down to stakeholder investments over the last 10 to 15 years. It truly takes a village to attract that many visitors and continue to win."

Jefferson's dip

Of the five largest tourism counties, only Jefferson County reported a dip in visitors in 2016 compared to 2015. In fact, Jefferson County - which came in at No. 2 in the number of visitors in 2015 - fell behind Mobile County in 2016.

But there were some anomalies in the data. Jefferson -- Alabama's most populous county and home to the city of Birmingham -- saw a 2.9 bump in travel-related spending and recorded $262,323 more in state lodging tax receipts, representing an increase of 2.9 percent from 2015.

Jefferson County's decline was reported in hotel occupancy rates. According to the data, the county's average occupancy rate was 62.6 percent in 2016, down from 63.6 percent in 2015.

Baldwin, Mobile, Madison and Montgomery counties reported hotel occupancy rate increases in 2016.

John Oros, president & CEO with the Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the statistical dips can be attributed to a last year's slowdown in weekday corporate travel. He said that can also be linked to the uncertainties surrounding the 2016 presidential election.

"Last year was an unusual election year and no one knew what would happen on the impact of the economy," said Oros. "It can typically cause corporations to slightly reduce their travel until things become more clear politically."

Oros said that despite the small dips, 2016 was a "positive for the tourism industry and travel in general throughout the United States."

And 2017 has started off on a positive note for Jefferson County, Oros said.

"The hotel occupancy numbers are up about 1 percent and we may be back to the 2015 numbers in Birmingham and Jefferson County," he said. "It's been a good first quarter with sporting events and tournaments taking place. We think demand for hotels ... will be extremely strong."

Beaches soar

Other Southern states and locales that promote their beaches also enjoyed a lucrative tourism year.

Hilton Head Island, S.C., near Charleston, saw a 6.1 percent increase in its hotel and resort occupancy rate, to 64 percent.

In Mississippi, that state's three Gulf Coast counties attracted 6.2 million visitors last year, up 8 percent over 2015. The Mississippi Gulf Coast, punctuated with the casino industry, recorded an 8 percent increase in non-casino revenues in 2016, according to Visit Mississippi Gulf Coast.

The three Mississippi counties - Hancock, Harrison and Jackson - employed 30,000 people in the leisure and hospitality sector, representing an increase by more than 2,400 jobs since 2012.

Baldwin County, according the Alabama Tourism Department's analysis, employs more than 49,600 people in director and indirect travel-related industries.

Baldwin County accounts for 27.7 percent of Alabama's overall travel-related employment. Jefferson County is second at 15.3 percent, and Mobile is third at 9.2 percent.