DESTIN, Fla. — Taina Sanchez is feeling the pinch of high gas prices in her job as a waitress at an open-air seafood restaurant overlooking Destin's picturesque harbor.

"The tourists are still coming, but they aren't tipping like last year," said Sanchez, 25, who works at the Lucky Snapper. "Last year I'd make $80 to $100 a day and this year it's $40. People are short on cash."

MIKE WILLIAMS/AJC (ENLARGE)

Hotel operators in such beach destinations as Panama City, Fla., wonder if families will decide they can't afford summer vacations. Some mom-and-pop operations are feeling the pinch.

MIKE WILLIAMS/AJC (ENLARGE)

Beach lovers enjoy the surf at Panama City Beach, Fla. Tourism officials are upbeat, but some hotels and businesses report drops in bookings as families decide to stay home.

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High gasoline prices and a sour economy are taking a toll on family budgets, and that means business owners in vacation destinations like Florida are sweating over whether the summering hordes will come their way this year.

The summer season is nowhere more important than Florida's Panhandle, where a stretch of sugar-white sand beaches from Pensacola to just south of Tallahassee draws huge numbers of visitors from across the Southeast, including Atlanta.

Tourism officials remain upbeat and say bookings are strong, but reports from individual businesses are spotty.

"We've never seen the amount of cancellations we're having this summer," said Diane Dickey, manager of the Sea Oats Motel in Destin. "Some of them tell us it's the high gas prices and they just can't afford to come. The spring was really slow, but now it's picking up. We're 90 percent full, so we're doing well."

Traditionally, the July Fourth holiday is one of the summer's biggest travel peaks, but this year auto club officials expect a 1.3 percent drop from last year in the number of people in the Southeast who will drive 50 miles or more from home.

"A lot of people are staying close to home because of gas prices," said Garrett Townsend, spokesman for the AAA Auto Club South in Atlanta. "Under normal circumstances with the Fourth falling on a Friday, it would be an opportunity for people to hit the road."

Gas prices in Georgia are roughly $1.12 higher than this time last year, AAA estimates, meaning driving the 300 miles to the Florida Panhandle beaches would cost about $16.80 more in gas. But that's each way, and doesn't take into account driving around while you're at the beach.

"Normally my family would take a long weekend and go to the beach for July Fourth, but we're staying home this year," Townsend said. "We'll still take our regular Florida vacation later in the summer, but gas prices are definitely a factor."

Tourism officials from Destin and Panama City Beach have responded to high gas prices with marketing campaigns highlighting discounts and freebies like gas cards in hopes of luring families worried about their pocketbooks.

"We're trying very hard to put out the word that we're close to home and offer great vacation value," said Dan Rowe, president of the Panama City Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau. "Through April, bed tax collections year-to-date are up 4.8 percent, so we're doing well. But gas prices are having an affect. Everybody is talking about them."

The numbers are similar in nearby Destin and Okaloosa County, said Darrel Jones, president of the Emerald Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"March was up, but April was down, probably because Easter fell early this year," he said. "People are looking at their budgets, but we think that helps us because we're close to cities like Atlanta, Birmingham and Nashville."

Vickie Warner, marketing director for ResortQuest, which manages 3,000 condo and hotel units in Northwest Florida, said bookings are actually 20 percent higher than last year.

"We're having a very good season," she said. "We're offering a $50 gas card if they stay three nights, $75 for four nights and $100 for seven nights or more. We know families have budget issues, so we're being very customer-friendly."

Smaller, mom-and-pop operations without deep pockets and big marketing budgets seem to be feeling the pinch, however.

"We're off about 30 percent," said Jerry Haynes, manager of the 20-room Aqua View Motel in Panama City Beach. "They're not booking as many days, and they are price-shopping real hard. Last year they'd come in and ask if we had rooms, and this summer they're asking what our prices are. Some of them drive away looking for something cheaper."

Cost-cutting by vacationers has benefited Tammy McCall of Cobb County, who owns a small house in the Laguna Beach area just west of Panama City.

"I'm slammed this summer," she said in a telephone interview from her beach house. "I think the reason I'm busy is that people are giving up the amenities of a condo."

Her two-bedroom house has no pool or fitness room, McCall said, but "it's just 20 steps to the beach."

Tammy Sullivan, office manager for the Village Inn in Destin, said it isn't just families that are being hurt by high gas prices.

"We have a lot of corporate customers who bring vendors and customers to go deep-sea fishing, and some of them aren't coming," she said. "We're down about 25 to 30 percent."

Charter boat operators are feeling the squeeze more than most because their own fuel costs have skyrocketed.

"Normally in January we're booked solid for the summer, but now it's day-to-day," said Diana McGowan, whose husband, Shawn, captains the fishing boat Maggi from the pier next to Capt. Anderson's Seafood restaurant in Panama City Beach. "It's fear. People are afraid to make a commitment."

McGowan said diesel prices have leapt by more than $1.50 a gallon over last summer, but her family can't raise their rates more than $5 or $10 a trip because competition with other boats is fierce. "We're down 30 to 40 percent," she said.

Cheryl Adams, who runs the Sea Dragon Pirate Cruise in Panama City Beach, has cut back the number of cruises to make sure each trip is packed.

"The beginning of the summer was really slow, but now it has picked up," she said. "The only thing I can relate it to is gas prices. Families are still coming, but they are staying fewer days and spending less on activities."

High gas prices have even prompted some customers at California Cycles, which rents scooters and electric carts in Panama City Beach, to ask how much it costs to fill a scooter tank.

"They only hold a gallon and a half and they get 90 miles to the gallon, but gas prices are a big topic on everybody's mind," said manager Linda Bolden.

"We're down about 30 percent over last year. But we are seeing more locals come in to buy our scooters and electric carts."

Staff writer Clint Williams contributed to this article.