By Alabama Public Radio
Montgomery, AL – The state tourism department says hurricane evacuees from Florida provided a significant boost in last year's tourism numbers. The Bureau of Travel and Tourism reports seven-point-three billion dollars were spent last year in the state. That's an eight percent increase from the previous year, and it's a new record. Florida residents who escaped three hurricanes last year generated 240 million dollars in extra tourism revenue for Alabama. That represents one-fourth of the state's eight percent rise in tourism spending. Nearly two billion dollars of the state's tourism revenue comes from Baldwin County's beach economy.