(CNN) -- Officials in Panama City, Florida, have beaten construction delays, permit problems and the ever-present threat of hurricanes to arrive at this day: a new airport that will open the region to the world and bring in planeloads of tourism dollars. But as regular air service begins Sunday, authorities never thought they'd have to contend with a new threat: an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that continues to gush thousands of gallons of crude every day. "We've been getting calls ever since the oil spill occurred," said Dan Rowe of the Panama City Visitors' Bureau. "You know, wondering about their vacation plans."
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Florida Gov. Charlie Crist wants BP to pay $35 million for tourism ads
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BP says it will continue using Corexit dispersant to clean up Gulf spill
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Corexit has been rated more toxic, less effective than other EPA-approved products
Charlie Crist asked oil company BP, which owns the damaged well at the heart of the slick, to pay for a $35 million advertising blitz to reassure tourists that @placeholder beaches remain untarnished by the spill.