Florida’s Perdido Key Rewards Late-Summer Visitors with $100 Gift Cards

Perdido Key on Florida’s northwest Gulf Coast is rewarding late-summer travelers with a $100 American Express gift card for every night’s accommodation booked in the community by September 30, with up to $300 in gift cards available per family.

Like other Gulf Coast coastal communities, Perdido Key took a financial hit with the BP Deepwater Horizon rig oil disaster, but the town says its beaches have been clean for some time.

The Perdido Key Area Chamber of Commerce’s ‘You Play, We’ll Pay’ promotion is expected to run until September 30 and is funded by a BP grant designed to help rejuvenate the tourism industry along Florida’s Gulf Coast.

Through the program, visitors will receive a $100 American Express gift card for each night booked at a Perdido Key condominium, resort or RV park until the program ends on September 30, up to $300 in gift cards. Cards may be used anywhere American Express is accepted.

Father and daughter enjoy the pristine beaches of Perdido Key in Florida, a narrow, 16-mile island which is nearly white-sand beach

Visitors staying on Perdido Key can pick up their gift cards at the Perdido Key Visitor Center when they present proof of their paid booking, a copy of the program’s registration form and a valid photo ID. Gift cards will be available for as long as supplies last.

Full details of the program and registration form are available online at www.VisitPerdido.com.

Earlier this month, President Obama issued a statement saying, “As a result of the cleanup effort, beaches all along the Gulf Coast are clean, they are safe, and they are open for business.”

“We hope that by providing this incredible incentive we’ll be able to show America the beauty and treasure of our Gulf Coast community while simultaneously helping the economically paralyzed businesses in Perdido Key,” says Alison Davenport, vice president of the Perdido Key Area Chamber of Commerce.

Perdido Key is located in the northwest panhandle of Florida between Pensacola in Florida and Orange Beach in Alabama. No more than a few hundred yards wide in most places, the Key is some 16 miles long, with almost 60 per cent located in federal and state parks.

The literal translation of Perdido Key means “Lost Key”. It was so named by Spanish explorers who found it in 1693. Until then, it was a well-kept secret of gulf coast Native Americans, Perdido Key’s first inhabitants.

With an average temperature of 75 degrees and 343 days of sunshine, Perdido Key is a retreat that blends together both year-round outdoor activities and its own laid-back lifestyle. For more information visit www.VisitPerdido.com or call 850.492.4660.