Posts tagged National Geographic
Numbers Show Upswing in Visitation to Florida’s Historic Coast
Oct 23rd
The latest tourism numbers show Florida’s Historic Coast has registered an impressive gain in visitors for both the month of September and for the just-ended fiscal year. In fact, visitation to the area was far ahead of the average for the State of Florida as a whole.
“The data confirm the success of the work we’ve done to insure the continued growth of tourism on Florida’s Historic Coast,” said Richard Goldman, executive director of the St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra and the Beaches Visitors and Convention Bureau
. “Our marketing efforts over the past year, combined with great events, attractions and outstanding accommodations, have resulted in positive, measurable results – results we hope will continue into the future.”
Goldman said that for the fiscal year (October 1, 2011 – September 30, 2012), occupancy of Florida’s Historic Coast accommodations was up 4.2 percent over the previous year – significantly higher than the 3.3 per cent increase registered for the entire state during the same period. For September, occupancy here was up 6.7 percent over September 2011. The average daily rate for accommodations increased 4.6 percent for the year – just slightly ahead of the 4.3 percent increase recorded statewide. The increase in revenue per available room was particularly impressive – up 9 percent for the year, well ahead of the 7.7 percent increase registered for the Sunshine State. Especially encouraging was the 9.8 percent increase is room revenue for September and an overall 9 percent increase for the entire year.
The upcoming Nights of Lights, selected last year by National Geographic as one of the Top Ten holiday light displays in the world, should further stimulate visitation to the area. The Nights of Lights, combined with 500th Anniversary of Florida events, including an impressive Picasso exhibit opening in February in St. Augustine, will hopefully insure the tourism future of Florida’s Historic Coast will be as bright as the nearly three million lights that will twinkle in St. Augustine’s historic district from November 17 through January 31.
Located midway between Daytona Beach and Jacksonville, Florida’s Historic Coast features historic St. Augustine, the outstanding golf and seaside elegance of Ponte Vedra, 42 miles of pristine Atlantic beaches – the same beaches that greeted Ponce de Leon on his historic 1513 discovery of the land he named La Florida.
For more information on events, activities, holiday getaways and vacation opportunities in St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches, go to the Visitors and Convention Bureau website at www.FloridasHistoricCoast.com.
Source: Visitors and Convention Bureau
Forbes Names St. Augustine One of 10 Prettiest Towns in America
Apr 4th
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (April 4) – Forbes magazine, one of the world’s leading sources of business news and financial information, has named St. Augustine as one of the ten prettiest towns in America. The exclusive list names the ten towns selected for Forbes by experts at National Geographic, the Travel Channel and Fodor’s. The selections were made on the basis of natural beauty, a unique identity, or a combination of the two.
Here’s how Forbes described St. Augustine:
Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers, St. Augustine is the oldest city in the United States occupied by Europeans (take that, Jamestown!), and it remained in Spanish hands until it was traded to the British for Havana. But the town has retained much of its Spanish past in some of its homes and larger architecture. “Castillo de San Marcos, the formidable 17th-century structure built by the Spanish to defend La Florida, is the country’s oldest fort, and boasts impressive turrets, a moat, and even a double-drawbridge,” says Arabella Bowen, executive editorial director for Fodor’s Travel. “The town’s picturesque historic district is full of old-world atmosphere, historic homes, and easily explored on foot.”
The other towns on the America’s “prettiest” list are: Newport, Rhode Island; Taos, New Mexico; Old San Juan, Puerto Rico; Columbus, Indiana; Gatlinburg, Tennessee; Key West, Florida; Longview, Washington; San Luis Obispo, California; and Tarrytown, New York.
To see the Forbes article, click here.
This is the third major distinction received recently by St. Augustine. In December, National Geographic selected the city as one of the ten best places in the world to see holiday lights. In January, TripAdvisor chose St. Augustine as one of the 15 vacation “hot spots” for 2012.
Located midway between Daytona Beach and Jacksonville, Florida’s Historic Coast features historic St. Augustine, the outstanding golf and seaside elegance of Ponte Vedra, 42 miles of pristine Atlantic beaches – the same beaches that greeted Ponce de Leon in 1513 when he discovered and named La Florida – an area whose boundaries included what would later become the eastern United States. For more information on events, activities, holiday getaways and vacation opportunities in St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches, go to the Visitors and Convention Bureau website at www.FloridasHistoricCoast.com, become a fan on Facebook or call 1.800.653.2489.
Source: St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches, Visitors and Convention Bureau
