( CNN ) -- The leading edge of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill was still several miles off the beaches of the Florida Panhandle on Thursday morning , but the slick was already hitting the area 's wallets . `` The phones just basically stopped ringing in the past couple of weeks for new bookings this summer , '' said Laura Lee , a spokeswoman for the Pensacola Bay Area Convention and Visitors Bureau . Florida 's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spotted oil sheen about six miles off Navarre Beach , east of Pensacola , on Thursday morning , according to the state Division of Emergency Management . Any oil that hits shore is likely to have been weathered into balls or mats of tar , or mixed with seawater in a pudding-like `` mousse , '' the agency reported . As of late Thursday morning , no oil or tar balls had washed up , said Buck Lee , executive director of the Santa Rosa Island Authority in Pensacola Beach . Lee , who is not related to Laura Lee , said the area had just had a `` super '' Memorial Day weekend -- but now , `` We 're just waiting anxiously to see what happens , '' he added . Laura Lee said a wave of hotel cancellations hit the island in late April , after the sinking of the offshore drill rig Deepwater Horizon uncapped an undersea oil well off Louisiana . Those tapered off soon afterward , she said -- `` But this week , there 's been another wave of cancellations , '' Laura Lee said . Hotels have responded to the threat by easing cancellation policies . `` Some had guarantees that they would get their money back if there was oil , '' she said . Families weigh Gulf Coast vacations . In addition , charter fishing -- another big business in the area -- has been hurt . Some skippers have gone to work for oil company BP , which has hired boats to help lay protective booms and skim oil off the surface of the Gulf . Tourism pumped about $ 1.2 billion into the Escambia County economy in 2009 , employing roughly 20,000 people and bringing about 3.5 million overnight visitors a year , according to tourism officials . Early July brings two of its biggest annual events -- the Independence Day holiday and the following weekend 's Pensacola Beach air show , which features the locally based Navy aerobatic team , the Blue Angels . Faced with those concerns , the locals are trying to harness the power of technology and social media to offset the threat . `` We 're encouraging our visitors who are currently here to post their vacation pictures on Facebook , and a lot of them have done that just so that visitors can see with their own eyes the oil has n't hit , '' Laura Lee said . And Buck Lee said the island authority hopes to put cameras on the beach and video streaming on the internet within about two weeks , `` so they can see for themselves whether there 's oil on the beach or not . '' `` And there may be , '' he said . `` But we 've got to get them the facts . ''
Tourism pumped about $ 1.2 billion into Pensacola , Florida-area economy last year . Oil spill still several miles offshore , but impact on tourism has already hit . Tourism official says `` another wave of cancellations '' this week . Hotels easing cancellation policies , asking current guests to post clean-beach photos on Internet .