South Florida Tourism Economy Continues to Recover.

Byline: Gregg Fields

May 26--For Dwayne and Donna Boucher, proprietors of the snug Manta Ray Inn in Hollywood, it could have been a lot worse.

After 9/11, they had no revenue at all for nearly three months. And when the season started, bookings stayed soft.

But as the winter winds whipped up North, travelers, particularly Canadians who could drive here, began to return. "They'd been going to Cuba, but once they've been there they don't go back," she says. "There's no shopping in Cuba; and you can move around here."

Her inn remained nearly full through the winter, but the summer, dependent on Europeans, is beginning to look challenging. "Where we're still suffering greatly is the European trade," she says. Airfares are up, service is down. "I'm very panicked about the summer."

And so it goes for much of the rest of the South Florida economy.

By most measures, the recovery is in full gear. Visitor counts are up, unemployment is down and a region that was a virtual economic ground zero after the Sept. 11 attacks has pulled itself back together relatively well.