GULF SHORES, Ala. — With a big weekend planned on the Alabama gulf coast, there was a lot to be missed with Hurricane Gustav hovering.

Luckily Pleasure Island was spared, but not before raining out a major weekend for the tourism industry.

Mike Foster, Vice President of Marketing for the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau, said Friday, Saturday and parts of Sunday proved to be busy.

However he did say that with the worry of the hurricane coming close and a mandatory evacuation in effect, tourists packed up and went home early.

“We saw a drop off in business,” Foster said. “But that’s reality. The reality is we aren’t going to have as many people here with a storm out in the gulf.”

Some vacationers cancelled their rooms, but evacuees from Louisiana and Mississippi helped pick up the slack.

“Certainly we had cancellations, but the range of cancellations ran from starting at 85 percent down to 55 percent,” Foster said. “So there was no question that there were cancellations but, quite honestly, that’s good judgment because people should be cautious.”

He did say that by Monday afternoon, once the storm had passed, people were already out hunting for open restaurants.

While it is too soon to know the definite loss for the weekend, there was an obvious reduction in business.

Foster said that the CVB is working to keep business stirring in the fall, eliminating the service industry having to rely on one or two busy weekends to carry them through the off-season.

Campaigns are starting soon to encourage residents in surrounding areas to come to the gulf for a golf retreat or girl’s weekend getaway. Foster said he hopes this will alleviate stress for business owners.

Revenue manager for the city of Gulf Shores, Marcia Ward, said that because the weekend fell at the end of August and the beginning of September it would be ha rd to put the loss in specific numbers. On top of that, the business from Friday, Saturday and Sunday will fall within the 2007-2008 fiscal year, where Monday falls under the 2008-2009 fiscal year. Because of this split in the weekend, the loss wouldn’t affect the budget much.

Ward did say that she felt and had heard that business was obviously lax this Labor Day weekend.

“I‘ve heard rumors that it was down from 50 to 75 percent because of cancellations,” Ward said. “I wouldn’t doubt it.”

With business down, so are city taxes, but Ward said the loss from this weekend won’t be significant enough to make a noticeable loss. She said the city doesn’t rely on holiday weekends to support the city budget.

Ward said she foresees a boost in business in the next few weeks, with vacationers trying to make up for their missed beach trip.

“I think this next weekend will be a good weekend, probably better than it would have been had we had a good labor day,” Ward said. “I think will have one or two more good weekends in September.”