World

H.S. Cancels UK Trip, Brits Fight Back

April 1, 2006 / 7:41 PM EST / AP

School officials in a Florida county said they were concerned about terrorism when they decided to keep a high school band from marching in a London parade, but now angry British officials are threatening to tell travelers that Fort Myers is no safe haven, either.

Local tourism officials fear the dispute could cost Lee County, where Fort Myers is located, millions in lost tourism dollars, and even Florida Governor Jeb Bush has commented on the dispute.

"Perhaps the superintendent is being overly cautious in this regard," Bush said Friday. "I wouldn't want to have kids in London that were going to come participate in some kind of festivity in Florida be told that it was unsafe."

Bush, who is a brother of President George W. Bush, said the schools chief probably should have looked at the U.S. Department of State's travel advisory before declaring London unsafe for Fort Myers High School's band to march in London's 2007 New Year's Day parade.

District administrators nixed the trip in early March, citing the threat of terrorism in Europe — especially the 2005 terrorist bombing of London's city buses and subway system, which killed 52 people.

On Friday, London parade officials gave The News-Press newspaper in Florida a copy of a statement that they plan to release to British media for publication there on Monday. The statement warns British travelers about Fort Myers' crime and homicide rates, Lee County's record number of traffic deaths in 2005 and that the "entire area is prone to catastrophic hurricanes."

D.T. Minich, executive director for the Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau, said the disagreement could seriously affect local tourism. In 2005, 40 percent of more than 199,000 European visitors to Lee County were from the United Kingdom, according to The News-Press.

"The school board's opinions certainly don't reflect the tourism industry's opinions. It's embarrassing," Minich said.

Superintendent James Browder said he's not changing his mind and the band should stay within the United States.