Panama City Beach CVB is Getting a New Web Site

I find it interesting that the Panama City Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau is soliciting for a new web site vendor. They apparently are seeking to replace VisitPanamaCityBeach.com with something new. Currently, I beleive, Y Partnership is the vendor handling the site development and hosting.

Unfortunately I don’t have much more detail than that at this time, but at 9:30 I’ll be attending a meeting that should tell more about what is going on.

Here is the form that they are sending out.

Update:

I was at the meeting, but unfortunately it wasn’t much more than a discussion on the RFQ that is linked above.

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2008 Bay County Tourist Development Council Strategic Plan

Today at 2pm at the Bay Point Marriott is a public workshop discussing the 2008 Bay County Tourist Development Council and Panama City Beach CVB Strategic Plan.

Below is a link to the rough draft outline.

Some of the key initiatives include:

Protect our key asset, the beach
- Seek additional funding from state and federal sources
- Develop additional beach maintenance, grooming, recycling and trash removal
- Work to enhance the overall beach experience
Develop Panama City Beach in a year-round tourist destination
- Look into an enhanced Sports Complex and convention center
- Entice sports promoters to hold sporting events here
- Work with Audubon Society to develop eco-tourism opportunities in Bay County
- Attract new family friendly entertainment venues that operate year-round
- Embrace a strong special events philosophy to assist existing events, foster new events, and attract additional events to the community

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Destinations around the country searching for tourists

“What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” has been swapped for “do Vegas right now.” According to the New York Times, the slogan was swapped for something that had a stronger call to action.

It is no secret that the cost of living is going up in real time. With gas prices here quickly approaching 4 bucks a gallon, the cost to travel is also quickly becoming a huge deciding factor on where people are going, if they are going at all.

In the New York Times article, Urgency Replaces Subtlety in Summer’s Struggle for Visitors, the second destination mentioned as making a change in their advertising direction was Panama City Beach. Peter Yesawich was quoted, “There is a palpable nervousness on the part of everybody in the industry.” “We’ve seen some of these conditions individually,” Mr. Yesawich said, referring to problems like high fuel prices and reduced capacity on airlines, “but never all of them at once.”

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Panama City Beach TDC CVB Strategic Planning Process Outline

I was able to get my hands on the Bay County Tourist Development Council Panama City Beach CVB Strategic Planning Process Outline. It spells out where we are wanting to take Panama City Beach over the next couple of years and how we are going to get there. Following are excerpts from the document with the option to download the whole document at the end.

In January, the Bay County TDC initiated a strategic planning process to help chart the course for the Panama City Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau in coming years.

Building off of the initial work conducted, the CVB developed four key initiatives and potential funding strategy to serve as the framework for discussion as the initiatives are explored and articulated in advance of the final plan. This document includes the initiatives, as well as the notes from the retreat.

In June, a final strategic plan will be presented to the TDC for adoption.

Key Initiatives:

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Dr. Peter Yesawich of Ypartnership to present at Gulf Coast

A public presentation by Dr. Peter Yesawich, chairman and CEO of Ypartnership will be held at Gulf Coast Community College on Monday in the East Student Union Building.

The topic of discussion will be emerging travel habits and preferences and their implications for marketing for Panama City Beach. The program is sponsored by the Bay County Tourist Development Council and the Panama City Beach Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and I encourage you to attend. I will be there if I can.

Details:

Monday 1/21/2008 from 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm

Gulf Coast Community College
Continuing Education Center
East Student Union Building, 2nd Floor

For more information, call 850-233-5070.