The gulf beaches are beautiful and the local tourism industry is ready for visitors. On a recent visit to Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, and Biloxi, Mississippi, and Dauphin Island, Alabama, I was surprised at how beautiful the towns and beaches are after Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf oil spill.

Though it is sad to hear the past troubles the towns have endured, they are now beautiful, and ready for tourists to come back. There is still reconstruction, and all destinations are not at their best yet, but they are striving to make a good comeback. As a travel agent, I would highly recommend these location as a fantastic vacation destination.

Top ten reasons to recommend a gulf beach vacation:

1. The beaches are beautiful, soft white sand.
2. Since the oil spill and Hurricane Katrina, the beaches are deserted in many place, so there is a lot of space for privacy if that is what clients are looking for.
3. The people are friendly and welcoming.
4. The food, particularly the seafood, is tasty and safe to eat.
5. There are challenging golf courses to play.
6. Casino gambling is available in Biloxi and Gulfport.
7. Many choices for accommodations are available from basic hotels to condominiums or resort casino hotels.
8. For families looking for a great beach vacation, gulf towns are a great option.
9. Anyone looking for shrimp boat, deep sea or pier fishing opportunities.
10. Those looking for warm or cool gulf breezes, depending on the time of year.

As travel agents, have you seen a comeback for the gulf area?

As a travel agent, I was interested in seeing how the gulf coast is trying to make a comeback after the gulf oil spill last April and hurricane Katrina. So far, it looks like the beaches are really coming back and businesses are ready for visitors.

Driving through Bay St. Louis, I noticed much beach reconstruction. The town itself, looks amazing with quaint shops and restaurants, though there are still signs of reconstruction around the town.

The beaches along Gulfport and Biloxi look nice and ready for beach activities. However in April, I have not seen many people on the beach. There are many signs of homes completely gone or still being repaired from hurricanes, but the area is clean and well kept. Business owners advised me they have seen a steady increase in business growth recently.

Dauphine Island is a gorgeous and quaint beach and island community, just waiting for their visitors to come back. The white sand beaches are wide and offer a great beach vacation.

Many people around the coastal area claim that the media hurt their business with too much coverage, making it look like the entire coast was devastated, when some areas received minimal damage. Overall, in light of the damages incurred to these beach communities along the gulf, most of the areas seem to be ready for vacationers to fill their guest rooms and enjoy their beaches along the gulf.

Have you, as travel agents, experienced an increase of vacationers asking about the gulf area?

Travelers now have opportunities to speed up the TSA security screening process at the airport. Of course it comes at a price. These opportunities are good to know, as a travel agent, to inform clients, particularly ones who travel often.

For the most part, most of the airlines offer faster security screening for those with upgraded frequent flier status. There are other paid opportunities as well.

Some of these choices are:

• United Airlines offers a Pay for Premier check-in line, priority security line, and priority boarding from $9.00, at several airports around the country. This upgraded service must be purchased on-line or at the airport kiosk.
• Southwest has "Fly By" lanes at some of the airports they serve, with priority screening for Business Select customers, and Rapid Reward A-List customers.
• Frontier Airlines offers priority check-in, boarding, and security at select airports for passengers with a Classic Plus ticket, and Summit or Ascent member of their frequent flier program, Early Returns.
• American Airlines has priority security lines at several airports for elite members of AADvantage and first or business class passengers.
• The Clear program operates in DIA with a Clear card, where passengers are screened in advance with an iris scan and fingerprinting. The cost is $179 a year, but may well be worth suggesting to frequent travelers. They hope to expand to 12 more cities in the near future.

>p>More and more pay for priority screening opportunities are popping up across the county. The next question will be, is that fair that passengers can pay for a service that is mandatory for flying, while other fliers cannot afford to? Also, will it turn out that so many people pay for priority screening that those lines also become lengthy as well?

Have you, as travel agents, heard from clients about these priority screening opportunities?

The state of Mississippi will receive a $16 million grant from BP to promote tourism as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill from April 2010. Since tourism in Mississippi has been substantially upset from the oil spill, BP has given overall a promise of $34 million for tourism restoration.

The Mississippi Coast Regional Tourism Partnership will oversee spending and allocation of the money to promote and cleanup the Mississippi coast. A regional board of directors with tourism expertise, will also govern the partnership.

BP will also allocate another $30 million to the Northwest Florida Tourism Council to help their tourism rebound from the oil disaster. BP's executive vice president, Luke Keller, reports that $82 million has been received in Florida to promote tourism and test seafood.

For Louisiana, in addition to tourism money allocated, BP is providing $30 million over a three year period to the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Foundation for marketing Louisiana seafood. In December 2010, 290 restaurants participated in "America Night Out for Gulf Seafood," with choice seafood dishes and recipes to promote the gulf seafood industries.

As a travel professional, I will be interested in seeing and speaking to people around the gulf about their tourism comeback on an upcoming trip I will be taking.

How has the oil spill affected tourism in your area of the gulf? Or, have travelers requested travel into the gulf area recently?