Oct. 27--Okaloosa County might not receive the direct benefit of having Southwest Airlines come to Northwest Florida Regional Airport, but economic experts say just having the low-cost carrier in the region will bring a boost.

After months of the three area airports developing inducement packages to lure the Dallas-based air carrier, Southwest Airlines announced last week they will offer service to and from the new Panama City airport when it opens in May.

Rick Harper, director of the Haas Center for Business Research and Economic Development at the University of West Florida, said Southwest's presence at the new Panama City airport will pull some travelers from Northwest Florida Regional Airport, but the overall benefit to the area will be positive.

"It is not going to have a big effect on the final destination -- which beach they're going to stay at -- for travelers," Harper said. "What you will see is that travelers will now have more options for which airline they choose, and people who use the Southwest network will be more likely to pick Northwest Florida as a destination.

"I would expect to see overall tourism increase, particularly in Bay County and Walton County, and also in some extent to Okaloosa and Gulf counties," he added. "So the overall impact on the tourism industry for all of the counties in the market is going to be positive, and that's going to be in markets that are within an hour of the new airport. I would expect all of them to rise."

Southwest will open direct access to Northwest Florida from some of the carrier's most popular destinations. Although the airline has not announced which areas it will fly to and from once it opens service at the Northwest Florida-Panama City International Airport, Harper listed cities such as Chicago, Las Vegas and Denver as possibilities.

Harper said he expects the other air carriers in the region to adjust their prices once Southwest arrives so they will be more competitive.

"When passengers have more carriers to choose from, specifically when they have low-cost carriers to choose from, then the existing carriers, particularly Delta in our market, are going to have to match prices to keep their passenger base," Harper said. "I would expect to see some downward pressure on fares in airports that are within driving distance of the new Southwest operation."

Larry Sassano, president of the Okaloosa County Economic Development Council, said he would have preferred it if Southwest had chosen to operate out of Okaloosa County, but the airline will still have a positive effect here.

"They're going to service the whole market, the whole region," Sassano said. "It doesn't matter that they're in Panama City and not here. We're all going to see a positive impact from the fact that Southwest, the most successful, large commercial airliner in existence today, has chosen to come to this region, and that's the way I look at it.

"I think it's a win-win for everyone."

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