PART 1 | Gulf Coast fights battle of perception after spill

Editor's Note: This is part one of a three-day Herald series on the cleanup.

Louisiana fishermen pray their livelihood will return, hoteliers in Alabama wait for the phones to ring, and New Orleans’ finest chefs cook up public relations strategies rather than po’-boys, all because oil has touched their shorelines.

And in Florida, residents, officials and merchants fear the world’s negative perception of the Gulf oil spill has damaged their economy and communities — from the Panhandle, where oil blotches are intermittent for 100 miles, through all the still-pristine beaches down to Key West.

The BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill has delivered two blows to the Gulf Coast: the actual presence of oil, and the perception that oil is everywhere. From Louisiana’s oil-polluted marshes to Florida’s sugary-white sands, each region must restore its battered image.

“The damage, it has been done,” said Mike Foster, vice president of marketing for the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau in Alabama. “This is both real damage and damage caused by perception. But we’re not soaking and dripping in oil.”

The nearer the oil, the more ecological damage, the more failing businesses and the more jobs lost. Towns hit hardest are those that, just five years ago, were decimated by Hurricane Katrina. The spill has dealt the fishing industry a devastating blow, oiling more than 600 miles of Gulf shoreline. And the economic damage to the tourism industry is projected at $22.7 billion over the next three years.

For some fishermen, the only choice now is to work for the company that destroyed their livelihood, cleaning up the mess. And in the tourism industry, perception is everything.

“If you’re a traveler sitting in Chicago spending the day watching CNN, frankly your impression might be that oil has covered the entire Gulf Coast,” said Geoff Freeman, senior vice president for the U.S. Travel Association. “I don’t think any community can think it won’t be treated differently by travelers because oil has or hasn’t washed ashore. They’re watching the news, but the complexity of the situation is not understood.”

The beach is hurting

Kristie Taylor was one of those tourists.

She knew her vacation this year to Gulf Shores, Ala., would be different. The Tuscaloosa resident spent many childhood summers at the same beach her parents had their honeymoon. Although she dreaded the oil pollution, she couldn’t stand the thought of skipping a summer there.

Still, she was overcome with sadness when she first stepped onto the beach and saw “puddles and pods” of oil.

“I felt like I was at a funeral,” said Taylor, 32. “It was just this looming feeling that something bad had happened. My 2-year-old daughter kept asking why she couldn’t go in the water. I just kept telling her the beach is hurt, but it’s going to feel better.”