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Santa Barbara Fires Burning Tourism Hopes

May 11, 2009 at 8:46 AM | by | Comments (0)

After a suspenseful and tragic week in Santa Barbara as wildfires evacuated 30,000 people and destroyed over thirty homes, a Pacific mist is helping to turn the tides, but will the city recover in time for summer tourism?

Californis Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger—we'll never get used to writing that—declared a state of emergency for Santa Barbara on Thursday, sending residents fleeing to the city's hotels, among them the Four Seasons Biltmore (fire rates from $250-ugh) and numerous Motel 6.

Relocation won't save you from the intermittent power outages or terrible air quality, however, and as a result Santa Barbara survived the weekend as a ghost town with the beaches clean of volleyball players and joggers and the streets full of closed shops unsure of their ability to conduct business or attract customers during this time.

Simply the threat of fire has seen tourist hotspots such as the Museum of Natural History, Mission Santa Barbara and Presidio Chapel concert venue close, and in an ironic twist, the Santa Barbara Conference and Visitors Bureau had to cancel its annual tourism meeting "because most of the 300 guests were too busy catering to evacuees."

Perhaps the last place of interest to reopen will be the Santa Barbara Botanical Gardens, situated high up around the most critical region of the blaze where it lost a Craftsmen-style house in the flames, a structure with plans for historical landmark status.

The recent change in weather, which thankfully brought in cool Pacific air on Saturday, allowed people to begin returning to their homes in preparation for another work week, although one of reopening schools and businesses. Although this quick turnover from the fire bodes well for tourism through the rest of the summer, we're sad to say that the hotel retreats and slumber parties at Rob Lowe's house are finito.

Related Stories:
· Most Santa Barbara Fire Evacuations Being Lifted [AP]
· Wildfire Threatens Tourism in Santa Barbara [Peter Greenberg]
· Santa Barbara merchants run hot and cold during fire [LA Times]
· Tourism News Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Guardian UK]

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