Good to Know: Making a Buck, But Sharing One, Too

By Desiree Parker Sunday, July 11, 2010

The Gulf oil spill is one of the worst man-made disasters our country has ever seen. It’s easy living so far away from ground zero to forget for a bit what’s going on. We go to the grocery store, go to work, get stuck in our own day-to-day stress, and the last thing we have time to think about is millions of gallons of oil sloshing around the oceans and onto pristine beaches, killing animals and marine life, threatening people’s health and devastating businesses up and down the region’s coastline.

Stuck in traffic along I64 last week (mostly surrounded by families with their minivans loaded down with beach gear), I thought to myself, what would happen if the spill had been near Virginia Beach? Or right outside the Chesapeake Bay? What would happen to those tourists our region depends on, and the fish we eat, and the critters along our shores we’re struggling already to keep safe?

What if the Historic Triangle faced a similar disaster, and the area lost its main economic driver, tourism? No one wants to go to a place covered in oil and toxic fumes. It’s easy to imagine that beyond health repercussions and devastated wildlife, the area’s economy could also be crippled.

Triangle hotels are struggling to fill rooms and haven’t been seeing the numbers they want for years, but they took some time out to think of a way to give a little bit of a hand to their counterparts in the Gulf region and pick up last-minute vacationers (to help put some heads in beds, as they like to say) at the same time.

The plan is to draw in travelers who have had to cancel their trips to gulf regions due to the spill. Anyone fitting the bill can call the Williamsburg Area Hotel Motel Association’s reservation line at 1-800-446-9244 or visit their website http://www.gowilliamsburg.com, provide their cancellation information from a planned trip to affected areas, and book rooms in the Triangle.

The WHMA members will give 10 percent of the booking revenue to the hotel where the customer planned to stay to “offset the hardship” for that business, and they’ll also donate an additional 10 percent to the National Wildlife Federation for their spill cleanup efforts.

“This collaborative program will give some financial aid to those lodgings that suffer loss of income owing to the tragic and devastating oil spill that continues offshore as well as support the good work of organizations like the National Wildlife Federation,” said Chris Canavos, president of the WHMA.

Local hotelier and WHMA board member Ron Kirkland agreed. “We feel heartened to be able to help our fellow hoteliers and wildlife relief efforts in the Gulf States,” he said.

Sounds like a creative way to try and pick up business while having some empathy for the tourism economy in the affected areas as well as an interest in helping fund cleanup and rescue efforts. That’s what it means to put yourself in someone else’s shoes.

Will it raise a lot of money for the Gulf area? Probably not. But if every business tried to figure out ways to give just a little of their hard-earned cash (and some local businesses have already, not just the WHMA members), more good would likely come of it. Like many other disasters we’ve seen over the years, this certainly won’t be a problem that’s easily (or quickly) fixed. Every little bit of help counts.

If you’d like to donate to the relief efforts in the Gulf region, you might want to start with the Gulf Coast Oil Spill Fund, which helps fishermen and other businesses affected by the disaster; the National Wildlife Federation, which aims to help the animals and sea creatures affected by the spill; or one of the charities listed here.

If you know of any other local businesses that are doing something to raise money to help areas affected by the Gulf spill, please leave the information below or email me at desiree@wydaily.com. We’re glad to share the news.