Conexion December Web

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
www.conexionflorida.com
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!
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