Category: Tourism

Open House at the Chamber's New Tourist Information Center

Beaches Chamber To Hold Open House

Panama City Beach, Florida (May, 2008) – On Thursday, May 15th The Greater Panama City Beaches Chamber of Commerce will hold an Open House of the Chamber’s new Tourist Information Center for Chamber members and guests. Tours will be given throughout the day from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, and refreshments will be served. RSVP is not required.

Attributes of the new state of the art Tourist Information Center include a Virtual Floor, Interactive Kiosks, a History Wall and “The Best of PCB” program featuring all Panama City Beach has to offer. The lobby’s Coastal-Chic style showcases Panama City Beach’s businesses, accommodations, restaurants and attractions as well as community events and relocation information.

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The Summer White Sale has been released

I was unaware that this had been finalized, but I guess final numbers were supposed to be in by April 25th by all the retail partners participating in this program.

I came across this press release:

Savings Roll In: Panama City Beach Announces ‘Summer White Sale’ With Discounts From 50 Tourism Partners

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla., May 6 /PRNewswire/ — Surf is up, and prices are down in Panama City Beach, Fla.

This award-winning destination on the Gulf of Mexico launches its Summer White Sale today, offering great savings on everything you need for the perfect beach break. The White Sale joins more than 50 Beach accommodations, restaurants and attractions. They team up to present 75 different discount offers with a total value of more than $6,000. All offers are valid now — Aug. 31. More local businesses can join in for additional savings to roll in all spring and summer long

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Exaggerated College Spring Break Numbers in the Media

There is a problem with the College Spring Break economic impact figures that have been reported in the media this past season. I first noticed it when ABC affiliate, WMBB, aired a report on March 3rd. Reporter Mark Jenkins stated that “Tourist Development Council Commissioners are expecting an overall income of $100 million this month.” Based on my prior public records requests, I was already aware that the TDC/CVB had very little research to support their official 2007 estimate of $62 million in spending. Therefore, I was surprised to hear that they were now boosting their estimate by over 50%.

Then MSNBC on March 17th referenced the same $100 million in spending. In addition, MSNBC reported that PCB was expecting “about 350,000 students”. I already knew the TDC/CVB had no research to support their 2007 estimate of 250,000 students. And now they apparently were boosting this unsubstantiated estimate by 40%. Although MSNBC did not report who provided either of these estimates, I wrongly assumed that they had been provided by Andy Phillips, chairman of the TDC/CVB. My assumption was based on Phillips being the only PCB representative quoted in the article.

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A Written Warning to College Spring Breakers

Mark Canfora, in his effort to reduce the harm brought by college spring break has requested that a “Disclaimer and Warning” be placed in all hotel rooms, condos, convenience stores, etc. as long as college spring break is promoted by the TDC.

He wrote a letter to the Mayor of Panama City Beach requesting that this issue be officially legally assessed on the ability of the city to actually carry out this plan, the letter reads:

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Panama City Beach featured in AJC

“Panama City Beach rocks with new attractions, hotels, eateries”, the title reads. Atlanta, arguably PCB’s biggest fan, featured an article talking about all the new stuff that has come to our beach in the last year. In addition to all the new shops and restaurants that are now available at Pier Park, the FSU Flying High Circus will be coming to Frank Brown Park this summer. They’ve got a contract to do this for the next 10 years. Trapeze artists, clowns, jugglers and acrobatic daredevils will be performing 6 nights a week with many of the performers also being instructors at a summer camp hosted for children ages 7-12.

New General Manager at Edgewater Beach Resort

The Resort Collection of Panama City Beach, the largest rental management company in Panama City Beach, has announced the appointment of Tom Sparks as General Manager of the Edgewater Beach & Golf Resort. Sparks has a 17-year history with the Edgewater Beach & Golf Resort, having served most recently as Vice President of Association Operations. In that capacity, he worked with the Board of Directors of the various associations and his responsibilities included overseeing the maintenance of the physical properties, buildings and grounds.

Sparks is a long-standing member of the area’s hospitality industry. In 1981, he relocated from Fort Payne, Alabama to Panama City Beach where he and his family owned and operated a beach hotel property. He became active in the Bay County Hospitality Association (which later became The Greater Panama City Beach Chamber of Commerce), serving as President and on its Board of Directors. Sparks was a founding director of The Greater Panama City Beach Chamber of Commerce and has served as President of that organization as well. Along with other area hospitality leaders, he was instrumental in creating the present-day Tourist Development Council.

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New Tourist Information Center Opens in Panama City Beach

Press Release:

Panama City Beach, FL (March 2008) – The Greater Panama City Beaches Chamber of Commerce’s top priority for 2008 has been to relocate its offices to a larger facility which would double as a tourist and relocation information center. That goal was met on April 7, 2008, when the Chamber’s new Tourist Information Center opened at the Beckrich Centre, Panama City Beach’s newest, Class-A business center located in the heart of the Beckrich corridor. The spacious, state-of-the-art lobby is informative and historical, educational, entertaining and fun, and is the perfect resource for visitors coming to the area looking for accommodations, things to do, demographics, economic stats and community information. Directional DOT (Department of Transportation) signs are being placed all over Panama City Beach guiding visitors to the new location.

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4/18/08 CVB/TDC Marketing Committee Meeting – Smr 2008 Mrktng, Indian Summer Festival

9 of the 11 committee members were present. Absent were Debi Knight and Russ Smith.

President Dan Rowe and Peter Yesawich announced that Y Partnership has removed Barry Lott from the Summer Marketing Campaign assignment. Mr. Yesawich also apologize on behalf of the agency for the inappropriate derogatory name directed at audience member Charles Mason by Mr. Lott at last week’s Board meeting. It was not made clear whether Mr. Lott has been removed from all CVB business or just the current campaign.

Summer Marketing Campaign Changes

Mr. Yesawich presented the committee with the options available for the changes to the Summer Marketing Campaign approved by the Board at their last meeting. The program targets our traditional drive markets of Georgia, Alabama, and Nashville/Chattanooga for a 12 week period beginning May 4th and has three elements. The first is newspaper ads in 12 newspapers throughout Georgia (but not the AJC due to high-costs), the Nashville Tennessean, and 4 papers in Alabama.

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TDC/CVB Marketing Committee Actions 4/18/08

A complete recap will follow, but here are the actions taken by the TDC/CVB Marketing Committee at their meeting today.

Changes to Summer Marketing Campaign

The committee voted 7-2 to approve the theme “Summer White Sale” along with an accompanying estimated savings statement such as “Save up to $1000”. The exact amount of estimated savings to be included in the advertisements will be determined by staff and Y Partnership after the tourist-related businesses submit their discount offers. The motion also directed staff and Chairman Phillips to develop a co-op plan so that sufficient funds can be raised to upgrade the newspaper advertising to color.

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