Now that the Vandenberg finally has arrived in Key West, most local businesses are embracing the ship as an economic savior that's going to generate much-needed revenue for the region.

The timing of the ship's arrival couldn't be better. The Florida Keys are getting ready to head into the slower summer months, when occupancy plunges and most hotels and restaurants sit somewhat deserted until Fantasy Fest in October. But summer also is peak diving season, giving diving enthusiasts all the more reason to come and dive the Vandenberg.

"My own personal belief is that for a year and a half, I think we will see a significant economic impact from the ship based on three things," said Harold Wheeler, director of the Monroe County Tourist Development Council. "No. 1, the curiosity is overwhelming right now for the dive industry to dive it. No. 2, it is so large it's going to take three to five different dives to complete the whole circle of covering the ship. And No. 3, I think most of that diving will take place spring through early fall when we really need the business the most."

Diving already is estimated to generate close to $75 million a year for the Keys economy, according to a study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Marine Sanctuary Program. This includes the money spent on hotels, restaurants and attractions in addition to diving, as well as what locals spend on diving, dive equipment, certification, etc.

The same study predicts an additional $8 million a year could be generated by an increase in visitors related directly to the Vandenberg if the ship draws a 10 percent increase in divers, said Bob Leeworthy, NOAA's chief economist who compiled the study.

Leeworthy used data collected before and after the sinking of the USS Spiegel Grove in Key Largo in 2002.

"There was a net increase of a little over 9 percent in total business, total use, and that translated to increases in the community for local businesses," Leeworthy said.

Capt. Spencer Slate of Atlantis Dive Center in Key Largo, who was a major organizer in bringing the Spiegel Grove to the Upper Keys, said the ship experienced 70,000 dives in its first year on the ocean floor.

"We ran more than 1,500 people to it in the first and second year, which accounts to over $100,000 to us, plus what people spend in the shop here," he said in a 2005 article in The Citizen.

According to Slate, estimates from the Tourist Development Council and local chamber of commerce put the initial tourist expenditure at more than $13 million a year.

He said the Spiegel Grove saved many businesses in the Upper Keys during a recession in 2002, and he believes the Vandenberg will do the same thing for the Lower Keys and Key West now.

Leeworthy said he thinks the Vandenberg will draw even more interest than the Spiegel Grove, which is why he considers the $8 million it could generate a year to be a conservative estimate. At that level, the Vandenberg also would create an additional $448,000 a year in tax revenue for the state.

Phones are ringing

Several local dive shops surveyed said they have had a lot of calls about the Vandenberg and many advance bookings.

"We have advance bookings at this time for June and July. It's certainly helping out bookings," said Robin Lockwood, owner of Subtropic Dive Center in Key West. "Once the ship goes down, we're expecting that to go up even more. We're hoping that the Vandenberg will revitalize the diving industry in the Lower Keys."

Lockwood said it's not just visitors who want to get in on the Vandenberg action. Locals are just as interested.

"We're getting a lot of locals bringing in old gear to get checked out and updated," he said. "I'm somewhat surprised in the amount of interest in the sinking itself. It is looking like it's very popular."

As a member of the Key West District Advisory Committee to the county tourism council, Lockwood also is encouraged by the thought of how much money divers will spend in Key West during the course of their trip.

"The majority of money when people come to Key West for diving is not spent on the diving," he said.

He believes the Vandenberg will benefit other areas of the Keys as well.

"We're now hoping everyone who dives Key Largo will dive here, and everyone who dives here will dive Key Largo," he said. "So we're hoping the Vandenberg will help out all the Keys for that reason."

CeCe Roycraft, a member of the tourism council's Dive Umbrella, said officials are in the process of developing a "Wreck Trek" program to encourage people to dive wrecks throughout the Keys, including the Spiegel Grove; the Bib and Duane, former Coast Guard cutters sunk off Key Largo; the Adolphus Busch, a 210-foot freighter sunk near Big Pine Key in 1998; Thunderbolt, a 180-foot former research ship sunk near Mile Marker 20 in 1986; and the Cayman Salvage Master, sunk off Key West in 1985.

"We've actually developed a passport, called a Wreck Trek passport," Roycraft said. "The left-hand side page will have a picture of the wreck and its specifics, and on the right side will be a log sheet. Each dive shop will give them a special incentive to make the dive with them if they present the passport."

Roycraft co-owns Dive Key West on North Roosevelt Boulevard. As Lockwood, she has encountered a number of people who want to make advance bookings to dive the Vandenberg. Some have even made reservations on dates that there is no guarantee the ship will be sunk yet.

"We have people on our e-mail list waiting for information on exactly when it's going to go down," Roycraft said. "There's a huge amount of interest not only domestically, but internationally as well.

"It should be a great boon for Key West this summer. I cannot think of a better time with the economy in a slump. It's going to be a really good shot in the arm."

Positive fallout

The sinking of large ships as artificial reefs certainly has been a boon for other tourism areas.

A whole fleet of dive shops and charter boat companies sprang up in Pensacola when the USS Oriskany, a former Navy aircraft carrier, was sunk about 24 miles off the coast in May 2006.

"I started the business because of the Oriskany," said Capt. Douglass Hammock of the H2O Below charter boat. "Over the course of the summer, we'll run on average around 100 trips a week."

Hammock said Pensacola had no real diving industry before the Oriskany was sunk, and he believes Key West will fare even better than Pensacola considering its well-established diving industry and plethora of other sites to dive.

"It's definitely going to boost your business," he said.

Jim Phillips, owner of MBT Dive and Surf in Pensacola, echoed those sentiments.

"The Oriskany, it helped out the dive shops somewhat, but the biggest impact was obviously with the charter boats. The local hotels and restaurants have pulled in a pretty good amount of business as well," he said. "It's been a tremendous benefit. Y'all are fixin' to cash in. It's going to be a good thing for you down there."

A study from the Haas Center for Business Research and Economic Development at the University of West Florida showed that a year after the sinking, the Oriskany had generated about $2.2 million for Escambia and Baldwin counties. There were more than 4,200 chartered trips to the site in that same 12-month period.

While a third of the divers were day-trippers, about 18 percent of visitors stayed for one night, 28 percent stayed for two nights, and 21 percent stayed for three nights.

The study also found that divers spent on average $432 during the course of the trip, including diving, accommodations, restaurants and bars, shopping, groceries and other entertainment. However, the total hotel expenditure in and around Pensacola was only $90 -- a number that is sure to be much higher in the Keys.

"I'm hoping the effect [of the Vandenberg] is going to be the same as it was in the Panhandle when the Oriskany went down," Roycraft said. "Their business went off the charts. Many of them had to go out and get more boats. I'm not looking for that, but I'm certainly looking forward to a banner summer."

amswary@keysnews.com