Posts tagged tourism
Flagler College Receives Tourism Grant from VISIT FLORIDA
Aug 27th
“The purpose of these grants is to help non-profit entities and local governments stretch their tourism marketing dollars in an effort to expand cultural, heritage, rural and nature tourism activities in Florida,” said Chris Thompson, President and CEO for Visit Florida.
“We were pleased that Visit Florida and Enterprise Florida selected us from among a large number of grant applicants, during their most competitive grant cycle to date,” said Holly Hill, Assistant Director of College Relations. “These funds will be used for Flagler’s 2013 Community Lecture Series and will help us better position and market St. Augustine as a desirable destination.”
The 2013 Flagler College Community Lecture Series will be titled “The Hotel Ponce de Leon Deconstructed: Building the Future for Modern America.” The series is part of the 125th anniversary celebration of the Hotel Ponce de Leon.
Visit Florida, a private/public partnership, is Enterprise Florida’s day-to-day operating corporation for tourism.
Flagler College is an independent, four-year, comprehensive baccalaureate college located in St. Augustine, Fla. The college offers 24 majors, 29 minors and two pre-professional programs, the largest majors being business, education and communication. Small by intent, Flagler College has an enrollment of about 2,500 students, as well as a satellite campus at Tallahassee Community College in Tallahassee, Fla. U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review regularly feature Flagler as a college that offers quality education at a relatively low cost; tuition is $23,690, including room and board. A relatively young institution (founded in 1968), Flagler College is also noted for the historic beauty of its campus. The main building is Ponce de Leon Hall, built in 1887 as a luxury resort by Henry Flagler, who co-founded the Standard Oil Company with John D. Rockefeller. For more on Flagler College, visit www.flagler.edu.
Source: Flagler College
Event Will Celebrate Tourism on Florida’s Historic Coast by St. Augustine Channel 1
May 20th
Located midway between Daytona Beach and Jacksonville, Florida’s Historic Coast features historic St. Augustine, the outstanding golf and seaside elegance of Ponte Vedra and 42 miles of pristine Atlantic beaches – the same beaches that greeted Ponce de Leon in 1513 when he discovered and named La Florida.
“Tourism is truly the lifeblood of Florida’s Historic Coast,” said Richard Goldman, executive director of the Visitors and Convention Bureau. “Not only does the industry provide more than 11,000 jobs in St. Johns County, the 3.4 million overnight visitors who came here last year spent more than $660 million during their stay on Florida’s Historic Coast. Best of all, this essential economic activity is provided at no cost to local taxpayers. All of our tourism marketing activities are funded through the tourist development tax paid by visitors for overnight lodging. Last year, visitors paid $6.6 million in these ‘bed taxes’ – funds that were used to encourage millions of potential visitors to come here this year, help fund special events and to make improvements to beach and recreation facilities we all enjoy.”
This year’s review of local tourism will have lots of good news for the industry. Nearly every indicator shows impressive increases in the number of visitors and their spending while here. Clearly, the tourism industry has returned to the levels enjoyed prior to the economic downturn that began in 2008. In fact, recent data indicate tourism activity is nearing or exceeding monthly records.
As part of the event, the Visitors and Convention Bureau will review some of their major successes in placing Florida’s Historic Coast on the list of “must-sees” for millions of Americans. Much of this success has resulted from the Bureau’s contract and close working relationship with the Ypartnership advertising agency of Orlando which recently merged with MMG to form MMGY Global and stake their claim as the world’s unquestioned leaders in tourism marketing.
Once again, the centerpiece of the event will be a presentation by tourism visionary Peter Yesawich whose insights into tourism trends are followed closely by travel professionals worldwide. Formerly the chairman of Ypartnership and now the vice chairman of MMGY Global, Peter’s perspective on travel trends and changing consumer behavior, coupled with his intimate knowledge of Florida’s Historic Coast as a tourist destination will provide compelling information that can be successfully applied throughout the local tourism industry.
The State of the Tourism Industry event will also include the presentation of the coveted Tourism Employee of the Year Awards. The finalists represent the very best tourism employees on Florida’s Historic Coast and were selected on the basis of their exemplary service.
The event will take place at the Renaissance Resort at World Golf Village, I-95 exit 323 in St. Augustine. Doors will open at 9 a.m. for coffee and pastries and the program will begin promptly at 9:30 a.m. and end by 11:30 a.m. The public is invited to attend. Admission is $10. To secure a reservation for what is expected be an extremely well-attended event, call Carey Cramer at 829.1711 or email ccramer@floridashistoriccoast.com
Source: Jay Humphreys, Communications Director, St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches Visitors & Convention Bureau
New TV channel called St Augustine Channel 1
Mar 31st
St Augustine Channel 1 is operated locally with all local reporting from the city, county, school district, and tourism board. The combination TV channel and newspaper with only local news operates 24 hours a day on the Internet only.
Some of the categories covered on St Augustine Channel 1 are News, Weather, Sports, Food, Movies, and Music. A big part is city news, police news, education, events, tourism, weather, arts and entertainment. and more.
You can subscribe to St Augustine Channel 1 by RSS or FeedBurner.
Look here for new stories and videos posted daily.
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