By Martin Owen
It’s the time of year for reflecting on the past 12 months and looking forward to the next. As I’m writing this over the Thanksgiving holiday, it’s also an opportunity to recognize all the things for which we need to be thankful. For those of us involved with tourism, that’s an awful lot!
On the whole 2018 has been a great year for tourism here on the northern Gulf Coast. Visitor numbers have been up and that has resulted in good levels of bed-tax collection, which can be used for future promotion and tourism related infrastructure projects. Employment is up and, in fact, we need more industry professionals than we’ve ever had before. The tourist seasons have also been extended, which is good for year-round employment.
Of course, the arrival of Hurricane Michael in October was a disaster for many parts of our area without any doubt. The devastation around Panama City, Mexico Beach, and the surrounding communities is heartbreaking. Thankfully the whole Northern Gulf Coast community has come together to support and assist those in most need. This applies not only to humanitarian needs, but the tourism authorities along the coast, together with Visit Florida, The Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association, and others are working to promote the region as a whole. The aim is to ensure that everyone knows that the area is open for business, and that even though some places are not yet ready, we will all work to bring them back, stronger than before, as soon as possible.Our region is dependent on tourism and we are all dependent on each other to make it all work.
As I write this, I’m sitting on the beach of St George Island in Franklin County, near Apalachicola. Along with neighbors slightly to the east, they were impacted hard by Michael. In just over a month since the storm, the areas have made a remarkable recovery. As the Franklin County CVB have said, everyone was bruised—and some badly—but they will come back stronger than before.
That’s the ‘thankful’ message we have to stress, both in looking back over the year in general and in relation to the storm. Our communities and our tourism industry are strong and resilient. To quote Jimmy Buffett, “Breathe in, breathe out… move on”.Which brings me to Christmas wishes and thoughts for next year…
Naturally, we all hope for 2019 to be a year without any ‘wind events’ or threats like Red Tide, which had a major effect on tourism in South West Florida. Of course, all of us need to be prepared to deal with these things. I guess it’s all part of living in paradise!
We should look forward to promoting our region as a friendly, safe, and beautiful place to vacation, not just in the mid-summer months, but throughout the year. Our Convention and Visitor’s Bureaus along the coast are all working on promoting to new markets around the country and even outside the USA. That’s good news for everyone.
Christmas and New Year holidays are a reminder of the huge number of visitors who come to the area at this time of year. Some come just for a few days, but others—The Snow Birds—stay for a few weeks. Only this morning I was speaking to a lady who comes here every year to escape colder weather up north. Her feeling was that she was a ‘local’ here, who lived some of the year elsewhere! I thought that was a nice way of thinking. It highlights how we, in hospitality and tourism, treat our visitors. We extend the gift of friendship and hospitality to the tourists considering them as guests not just an opportunity to make money. We welcome them to share our piece of paradise and treat them as valued parts of the community.
Interestingly, those winter visitors are changing how they vacation. They used to be content to stay in one place and relax, but now they are being more active. They visit different areas in their winter ‘migration’ and want to experience the wide variety of activities we have; everything—from kayaking and golf—to shopping and dining. The change in work practices means that while most snowbirds used to be retired folks, nowadays they can still be working or semi-retired. So, thanks to the Internet they are able to work from wherever they are. That makes them even more like temporary locals!
From a tourism viewpoint, let’s be thankful for the good parts of 2018 of which there were many. Let’s wish for a calm and peaceful Christmas and New Year period and let’s look forward to a wonderful 2019.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
