I have a friend who loves Halloween, it’s his favorite holiday. He has a big yard and every year it was decorated to look like a graveyard with tombstones and ghosts hanging from the trees and spooky music with scary sounds cued to go off when someone started up the driveway, every year it got better, except for the last two. He scaled back, using less cobwebs in a can, and his speakers sounded blown. The economy of the last few years has taken a hit, that’s for sure but this year things are looking up and retailers are counting on Halloween to be the start of spending for this year’s holiday season.

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First there was the BP-Deepwater Horizon disaster and the impact to Florida beaches, now we’re hearing fear being trumped up by the media of Dengue Fever. As if the Florida Travel industry needs anymore bad news.

What is Dengue Fever?

Dengue fever is spread by mosquitoes and is starting to show up in South Florida. According to MedlinePlus:

Dengue fever begins with a sudden high fever, often as high as 104 - 105 degrees Fahrenheit. A flat, red rash may appear over most of the body 2 - 5 days after the fever starts. A second rash, which looks like the measles, appears later in the disease. Infected people may have increased skin sensitivity and are very uncomfortable. Other symptoms include; headache, fatigue, joint aches, muscle aches, nausea, swollen lymph nodes and vomiting.

The Florida Keys and Key West have been ground zero of the dengue fever outbreak. Business, health and tourism officials are already getting phone calls about the threat.

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Central Florida - Tourism professionals are anxiously waiting to see how 2009 will be for the Florida tourism industry. The industry has been rocked by financial markets as would be travelers hold on tighter to their cash.
 
The Florida Keys which had a difficult summer with higher fuel costs, hope that lower pump prices will make for a better New Year. Annual Florida Keys Events like Fantasy Fest draw worldwide visitors to the Conch Republic.

In Tampa, hoteliers, merchants and others are hoping Super Bowl XLII is, in fact, super. Football fans are happy people and tend to be good spenders.

Further north, in Daytona Beach, the Daytona Speedweek Schedule draws one of the largest crowds of race fans in the nation. By late February Daytona Bikeweek 2009 will attract the remarkably affluent biker crowd to soak up the sun and drive on the beach.
 
Tourism professionals will cross their fingers and hope the dire predictions don’t come true and that 2009 will be a pleasant surprise.

Tavares, FL — Ruggie Wealth Management was honored in the June 29-July 5 edition of the Orlando Business Journal (OBJ), a popular Central Florida publication with a large readership circulation. The firm was ranked sixth in OBJ’s “The List” of Central Florida’s Largest Financial Planning Firms and tagged as “proactive wealth management”.

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