Tourism Industry Events
October 28th, 2010
Perdido Key, FL – The program, originally launched Aug. 24, was an immediate hit with travelers. Originally proposed by the Perdido Key Chamber as “Keys to the Key,” the gift card program implemented by the Pensacola Tourism and Convention Bureau is a coordinated effort to bring tourism to the area. The early numbers reflected a tremendous response with all gift cards reserved in under a week. In an expeditious deluge, people from all over America made reservations and enjoyed a vacation in paradise. The program’s success resulted in one extension already. Now on the heels of the success of that extension, a second round of gift cards has been announced.
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August 15th, 2010
(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Panama City Beach, FL – During the First Family’s visit to Panama City Beach to meet with local business owners and officials and to encourage Americans to enjoy the Gulf Coast beaches, the President and Sasha go for a swim.
President Barack Obama and daughter Sasha swam at Alligator Point in Panama City Beach, FL on August 14, 2010. The President traveled to Panama City Beach with First Lady Michelle Obama and Sasha to meet with local business owners and officials and to encourage Americans to travel to the Panhandle and Gulf Coast beaches.
June 14th, 2010
Florida Keys – The Florida Keys & Key West tourism council launched a new Web and social media-based feature Monday designed to communicate an accurate status of Keys tourism offerings during the BP oil spill disaster.
Each weekend, videographers are to tape visitors enjoying water-related and other vacation offerings in the Florida Keys. The one-minute-long video is to be edited and posted to the official Keys tourism council’s website at www.fla-keys.com well as social media venues by about 4 p.m. on Mondays. The videos are to be date stamped with no archival footage used in their production.
The debut video is now webcasting as the tourism council’s Video of the Week, as well as in a special Gulf oil spill section at www.fla-keys.com/oilspill. It has also been uploaded to the tourism council’s You Tube channel.
With the BP Oil Spill disaster continuing, the oil spill affecting Florida beaches is worrying local tourism officials. “The Keys have received so much news coverage during the past month and many travel consumers mistakenly think our islands are suffering the same horrific and tragic impacts being seen on some northern Gulf coast shorelines,” said tourism council director Harold Wheeler. “We fortunately are not and need to make the travel consumer understand that.”
The tourism council is also adding live webcams throughout the region. The latest is a webcam installed at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park beach in Key West.
May 25th, 2010
Panama City, FL – Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (ECP), the first commercial international airport to be built in the US in past 15 years, began operations Sunday, May 23. Two airlines will offer travelers to Panama City Beach and other Panhandle beaches easy access. Southwest Airlines will have eight daily nonstop flights, serving Baltimore/Washington, Houston, Nashville and Orlando, and Delta Airlines will have 11 daily nonstop flights serving Atlanta and Memphis.
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May 19th, 2010
Key West, Florida Keys – U.S. Coast Guard Key West Sector Captain Pat DeQuattro confirmed Wednesday morning that tests on tar balls found Monday and Tuesday on Key West’s Fort Zachary Taylor State Park beach and other areas of the Lower Keys are not from the Transocean/BP oil spill in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
“The results of those tests conclusively show that the tar balls collected from Florida Keys beaches do not match the type of oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico,” according to a Coast Guard-issued news release. “The source of the tar balls remains unknown at this time.”
A sampling of tar balls discovered on beaches at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park and Smathers Beach in Key West, Big Pine Key, Fla., and Loggerhead Key in the Dry Tortugas National Park, Fla. were flown by a Coast Guard HU-25 Falcon jet based in Miami to New London, Conn., Tuesday for testing and analysis.
On Tuesday, much of the media reporting concluded that the tar balls were from the Gulf oil spill, despite the fact that the Coast Guard had not confirmed their source.
It is not unusual to find tar balls in Keys waters or on area beaches. The Keys are located along a busy commercial shipping route, with some 8,000 vessels passing by annually, and commercial vessels sometimes discharge bilge water that contains oil. Tar balls can drift into Keys waters from other areas, not just the northern Gulf region.
Meanwhile, as of late Tuesday satellite imagery indicated the bulk of the oil remains dozens of miles away from the Loop Current, but a tendril of light oil appears to have been transported within close proximity to the current. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is conducting aerial observations to ascertain whether the oil actually has entered the Loop Current.
In the time it would take for oil to travel to the vicinity of the Loop Current, it would be highly weathered and the natural processes of evaporation and dispersion would reduce the oil volume significantly, NOAA said.
The Florida Keys tourism council is updating its oil spill website page daily at www.fla-keys.com.
More info about how the oil spill is affecting Florida beaches.
August 19th, 2008
Key West, Florida Keys – Visitors began returning to the Florida Keys Tuesday after Keys officials lifted a precautionary visitor evacuation order that was initiated prior to the arrival of Tropical Storm Fay.
The return of visitors came a day earlier than officials originally projected because the region’s infrastructure was in even better shape than anticipated.
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July 20th, 2008
By Kirby Collins
What began with high gas prices has Moms everywhere in an uproar. “Staycations” as they’ve been called, are the answer to sky-high gas prices, where the family stays home and enjoys their surroundings.
But Moms everywhere are putting their foot down and taking no part in all the extra cooking and cleaning generated by family members sunning by the kiddy pool.
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May 27th, 2008
Key Largo, Florida Keys – A new $93-million Jewfish Creek Bridge, near the top of the Florida Keys Overseas Highway, opened Thursday helping enhance safety and scenic views for motorists.
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February 28th, 2008
Orlando, FL – Rising up in Orlando is a whimsical, one-of-a-kind water park only SeaWorld could create – Aquatica. Opening March 2008, Aquatica blends up close animal experiences, waters from serene to extreme, high-speed thrillsand wide, sandy beaches.
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January 26th, 2008
Orlando, FL – Disaster! A Major Motion Picture Ride…Starring You! opens at Universal Studios Florida. The new attraction features the first-ever use by a theme park of a high-tech virtual imagery technology called “Musion” and a special appearance by Hollywood actor Dwayne Johnson.
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January 19th, 2008
Winter Haven, FL – The new owners of Cypress Gardens have announced a significant operational change at the historic attraction. Owners say the move will create a more energized, fun-filled experience that will be applauded by Cypress Gardens’ current guest base and create strong appeal to both area residents and visitors to Central Florida.
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September 18th, 2007
Miami Beach, FL – Hotel Victor stole the show at the 14th Annual World Travel Awards held in New York City last night. The World Travel Awards are the most prestigious awards established for the global travel industry. The South Beach-based luxury boutique hotel was named Florida’s Leading Boutique Hotel for the second consecutive year. Also nominated in a category with eight hotels from across the country, Hotel Victor took home the coveted title of North America’s Leading Boutique Hotel to return home with two of the industry’s top honors.
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August 12th, 2007
Geo·tour·ism (n): tourism that sustains or
enhances the geographical character of a place -
its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and
the well-being of its residents.
By Kirby Collins
Geotourism sustains communities and allows them to keep their unique flavor and style. There’s less pressure to conform to national architectural trends that make every city look the same.
Geotourism gives visitors a chance to escape strip malls and the homogeneous feel they get from every other place they visit.
Geotourism is good business. Every place in Florida has its own character, our beaches all have different types of sand and our regions have distinctive looks. Business people can focus on their customer by being who they are, not who Mickey thinks they should be.
PlacesAroundFlorida.com supports Florida Geotourism
For more info, view National Geographic and Wikipedia.
May 31st, 2007
“The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” is set to debut at Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park of Orlando in the fall of 2009. The attraction will include Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the Forbidden Forest, and Hogmeade Village. Author J.K. Rowling has been working with the design team at Universal Studios to be certain that this park resembles her work.
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