Tourist season

GULF SHORES, Ala. — Alabama beach resorts posted record visitor spending on lodgings last year, bouncing back three years after Hurricane Ivan left widespread wreckage on the coast.
Tourism officials hope high gas prices and a slide in the national economy won't reverse those gains this year.
March heralds student spring break frolics and the kickoff of get-to-the-beach tourism.
Visitors driving to the Gulf Coast may notice that gasoline prices tend to bottom-out at the end of January, then start rising in March and peak on Memorial Day.