As the Christmas decorations come down, Baldwin County’s beach communities are bracing for a very different kind of holiday rush: the annual return of snowbirds. Thousands of winter visitors, most from Midwestern states, begin filtering into Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and the Fort Morgan peninsula in January, filling condos that would otherwise sit empty during the off-season.
The scale of the seasonal migration is significant for the local economy. According to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism figures, the area drew roughly 283,500 visitors between November and February last year, and 22 percent of them, more than 62,000 people, came from Midwestern states. Alabama residents made up 38 percent of winter visitors, with another 32 percent traveling from elsewhere in the Southeast. Altogether, visitors spent more than $136 million during those four months, with the Midwest contingent alone accounting for over $30 million of that total.
Herb Malone, president and CEO of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism, has described the winter visitors as vital to the area’s economic health, since their spending helps local restaurants, shops and service businesses stay afloat through what would otherwise be the slowest months of the year. Beyond dollars spent on lodging and dining, many snowbirds also volunteer locally throughout their stay, adding an informal labor boost to area nonprofits and civic organizations.
Nearly a dozen state-based snowbird clubs, representing visitors from states including Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, have become fixtures of the winter social calendar on the Alabama Gulf Coast. Each year the clubs team up on a rotating slate of charity fundraisers that channel visitor generosity back into the community. The season traditionally opens in early February with a joint Brat Fest benefiting fire-rescue departments in Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and Fort Morgan. Later events include a Trivia Night hosted by the Missouri Club that benefits the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach public libraries, a Low Country Boil supporting the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo, and a Pancake Breakfast that raises money for the Gulf Shores Fire Rescue Association.
Tourism data compiled for the bureau shows Michigan sends the largest contingent of winter visitors, with more than 11,000 arrivals last year, followed by roughly 9,900 from Illinois, 9,000 from Indiana and 8,500 from Missouri. Club membership rolls generally track those numbers, with the Michigan Snowbird Club traditionally the largest of the groups active on the coast.
The clubs kick off their 2015 calendars in early January with welcome breakfasts, golf outings and social meetings at venues around Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, giving returning visitors a chance to reconnect before the winter season’s full slate of activities and fundraisers gets underway. For south Baldwin County’s tourism-dependent economy, the annual return of these visitors marks the difference between a quiet winter and a steady stream of business through early spring.