PBC top Spring Break destination, again

Panama City Beach got a bit of the national spotlight Thursday, earning a spot on MSNBC's list of nine popular Spring Break destinations.

The list ran on MSNBC's Web site in the travel section.

Bay County Tourist Development Executive Director Dan Rowe said he found out about Panama City Beach's placement on the list Thursday afternoon.

"Panama City Beach is one of those iconic Spring Break destinations. Every year, we continue to rank near the top in terms of places to go on Spring Break," Rowe said.

Other destinations on the list included Cancun, South Padre Island, Texas, and Jamaica.

In addition to its inclusion on the MSNBC list, Panama City Beach has also been featured this year in a Spring Break-related New York Times list.

Rowe said USA Today had also interviewed him for a story that should run in the near future.

Panama City Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau communications director Dana Lent said that she does not think this year's media interest in Panama City Beach, as it related to Spring Break, was any higher or lower than previous years.

Lent said she did notice that this year's stories about the destination seemed to be more linked to the state of the economy.

College students began trickling into Panama City Beach in late February for Spring Break.

Although he does not expect this year to be "record setting", Rowe said the next two weeks should be busy with dozens of colleges dismissing students for Spring Break.

He said that the arrival of families in April would likely help Panama City Beach's overall Spring Break numbers.

The MSNBC list can be found at www.msnbc.com.