$350,000 of BP money was given to the Franklin County Tourist Development Council to help boost tourism along the Forgotten Coast.

The September Seafood Days campaign kicked off yesterday, but because it's been so successful, the TDC is having to switch its tactics just to keep up with the demand.

The promotion was designed to infuse potentially $250,000 back into
Franklin County's economy, by giving gift cards to anyone who books two nights or more in the county.

But now they're saying they'll go back before county commissioners asking to move some of the money allocated for promotion into buying more cards because they believe they might run out of cards before the month is over.

The phones have been ringing off the hook ever since Franklin County began promoting its September Seafood Days campaign.

"The response has been so great, we've almost allocated all of the gift cards for the months and it's just the beginning of September," says owner of Harbor Point Realty and Rentals, Paul Parker.

Those gift cards come out to a whopping $250,000 and the hope is that tourists will spend like Laurie Barrett.

"Oh it's an extra added bonus and we're going to go out to eat, either lunch or dinner and enjoy ourselves. We'll check out one of the lovely restaurants here in town," says tourist Laurie Barrett.

Although these coastal towns will see a short-lived increase in foot traffic during the upcoming holiday weekend after that, business tends to slow down.

"It couldn't have happened at a better time of the year when the season starts to slow down a bit. So the fact that this will bring extra income into all the restaurants and businesses in the town. It's wonderful," says manager at Artemis Gallery, Christine Knight.

It's going to give a lot of people the opportunity that they might not have had before to come out maybe mid month and get out and spend some money in Franklin County and go to the beach," says Steve Hatch, St. James Golf Pro.

Many say this is a win-win for everyone playing.

For more details, go to the Franklin County Tourist Development Council's Web-site: anaturalescape.com.

OR: http://www.anaturalescape.com/uploads/editor/file/SeafoodDaysGiftCardParticipation.pdf