JUNE 30, 2010 — Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association President and CEO Carol Dover today offered solutions to British Petroleum claims representative Darryl Willis to facilitate the more than 13,000 claimants who are working to provide BP with additional information in order to receive their filed claims.
“I would like to establish a hotels and restaurants claims office to provide one unified form and to make the claims process much easier for our hospitality industry members,” said Dover during Governor Crist’s Oil Spill Economic Recovery Task Force meeting held Wednesday at the University of West Florida in Pensacola. “With over 13,000 claimants having to provide additional documentation to BP in order to be paid for their massive economic losses, it seems to me that we can alleviate much of the bottleneck in paperwork.”
In addition, Dover revisited the idea with BP that they provide Florida with ten thousand gas card vouchers, each in the amount of $100 for local hoteliers to use as incentives for tourists to visit impacted areas.
“Hoteliers are already offering discounted room rates. The ability to incentivize a visitor’s stay with a gas card to pay for their travel to the state is a win-win for all parties involved,” said Dover. “BP is already paying Florida through grants and advertising dollars, this is yet another way to drive visitors to our great state.”