The cities of Orange Beach and Gulf shores Al are proposing a ban on smoking in public areas including bars. Have other tourist locations done this and did it alter tourists travel destinations?
Fairhope passed a less stringent law that did not include bars effective 1 Nov

People still seem to travel to California.

Are you asking specifically about other Alabama cities?

On my recent flight home to SF--upon landing, the FA announced, "Welcome to San Francisco where the local time is 9:25. Please refrain from smoking until. . .you leave the State of California." got some chuckles--

Some coastal towns in New Jersey have banned smoking on their beaches. It certainly hasn't stopped the tourists from coming.

The entire city of NY has had very stringent non-smoking rules in effect for a few years, and contrary to what many pundits predicted, business is up at restaurants, bars, etc, as is overall tourism.

Having lost my beloved sister to lung cancer as a result of smoking two packs a day for many years, I would be happy if smoking bans everywhere would help save lives from this painful death.

In many states, including New York and Massachusetts, communities passed antismoking laws years ago and when the sky did not fall, the bans were adopted statewide. Tourist destinations such as the cities and resorts in those states report improved business. Apparently many nonsmokers had been avoiding bars etc.

Everyplace the non-smoking laws have been instituted they have resulted in long-term increases in business in restuaruants and bars.

And I don;t notice NYC being exactly empty of tourists in the last few years.

Honolulu had such sucess with their partial bans offices, restaurants, common areas in many buildigns)that on Nov 16 they are expanding it to bars, and something like 20 feet from building entrances. Hanauma Bay is no smoking as well.

My home city, Austin TX, is often called the "Live Music Captiol of the World." The citywide smoking ban hasn't changed that.

Doesn't NYC have a smoking ban? I bet tourism isn't slowing down there either.

just to add to lcuy's post: Certain places will have designated smoking areas. Aloha Tower Marketplace caters heavily to Japanese tourists so we need to provide an area (away from the main areas of course) where they can smoke.

No smoking in New York for the past few years.

People love the law and can't imagine life without it now.

Tourism has increased steadily.

Add Ohio to the list. We just passed Issue 5 and the law goes into effect in January.

Congrats Ohio! We in KY to the south of you are slow....but we just passed it in Louisville KY effective July 1. Can't wait!

Nevada also passed a smoking ban, but it doesn't apply to casino floors and bars that don't serve food. I'm not sure about hotel rooms, though.

Re: Jersey beaches and Hanauma Bay, good! There's nothing more disgusting than finding cigarette butts on the beach, and I never understood the point of enjoying a lovely view and fresh air by lighting up.

Driving to work this morning, in Ohio, I passed the bowling alley a block from my home; they had a big sign in the front of their establishment that said, "Huge ashtray sale, $1.00 each" I laughed for two blocks, I was by myself and thought that other drivers must think I'm nuts.

Florida has had a no-smoking law in effect indoors for two years now and as everyone knows, Disney ain't exactly going bankrupt! We get more than our fair share of tourists, especially since our normal high in mid November is 84 degrees.

Philadelphia got on the no-smoking bandwagon recently, and it doesn't seem to have had much effect on business.

BTW, I don't smoke and I clearly understand the ravages it brings, but I oppose some of the bans just as a matter of personal freedom. If a bar or restaurant owner decides to allow smoking in his own place, that should be his decision. Though I confess to being a little conflicted about the consequences for people who work in bars and restaurants.

AND I would support fines for people who leave butts on the beach and other public areas. That doesn't mean I'd support a ban on smoking.

j ... your "owner's decision" assertion is "dead" wrong on two fronts ...

first, if the owner decides not to offer paid leave or to pay below minimum wage or not to comply with OSHA safety standards, is that too okay? Why not? Employees can work someplace else! Right?

second, smoking bans are not about the owners or customers ... they're about the employees who work there 8-12 hours a day ... it's called workplace safety, and the USA has been passing workplace safety laws since the 19th century ...

I sort of knew my response would be trolling for trouble, but I'll try to reply.

First, you make a circular argument about the owner breaking the law. It's not breaking the law until there's a law. The argument isn't about following the law; the argument is about whether there should be a law.

Second, I did say I was conflicted about the employees. But in fact, people do have a choice about where they work. If a restaurant owner wants to hurt himself by ruling out good applicants who won't work in smoking environments, that's his problem. However, I agree that people should be fully informed of the risks of working in a smoking workplace.

Also, understand that I have no problem with places that voluntarily ban smoking. I don't believe smokers have a 'right' to smoke where they want.