Sept 27: Man Vacations - the new niche?

At the September CVB marketing luncheon, Virginia Sheridan with M. Silver Associates, the PR firm of the CVB, mentioned during her portion of the presentation that “man vacations” were a new niche market. The first thing that came to mind was a group of college frat boys jumping in the car with beer and bathing suits and coming to South Florida for spring break. I knew that couldn’t be what she meant.

Now I’d heard of “girl” vacations – especially those to a spa or featuring shopping. In fact, there are even magazines dedicated to this type of travel. Two are called, appropriately, Girlfriend Getaways and Travel Girl (among others).

So it got me thinking. What exactly is the “mancation”? In fact, it has nothing to do with drunken escapades or bachelor parties or marketing to the gay market.
Turns out they are guy getaways – trips for heavy-duty male bonding. Made me think of the movie “City Slickers”.

Usually the “mancation” involves either watching sports, or participating in adventure travel, or doing some activity that allows some fun and quality time with the guys. Things that they think women wouldn’t enjoy.

So, south Florida, are you looking to reach this new market niche? Have you packaged your rooms with activities like fishing or diving? There are probably more creative solutions out there. What are you doing?

Sept 25: Are you a Floridian?

At what point do you stop saying, “Well, I was originally from _____”
Let’s face it, most of the people living and working here were born somewhere else and moved to Florida. I should tell you, however, that my husband is one of the few people “of a certain age” that I know to be born here. In fact, he was born at a field hospital in Opa-locka on an airbase – the same base from which Amelia Earhart departed on her last flight.

But back to my main point, do you consider yourself a Floridian? And really, at what point do you stop saying you were born in (fill in the town name), and moved here in (fill in the year) from (fill in the city name)? At what point do you start rooting for the local sports teams and not your “former” one?

The other part of this question is: “So, how did you come to move to Florida?”
And that’s when it really gets interesting… I’ve been asking this question the last few days. One person said she came here because she followed a guy she liked; One person said she ran away from home with her seven year old son; One person was working for a company and was transferred here; One person moved here to take care of his parents;

I grew up in Connecticut, but moved to Florida from Boston. I came to open a branch of my family’s business. What’s your story? Where did YOU move from? Do you consider yourself a Floridian, yet? And why did you come to Florida as opposed to another state?

Sept 22: Nicki and the Tourism Hall of Fame

Back in 2001, VISIT FLORIDA established The Tourism Hall of Fame Award. Usually, this award has been given to several long-deceased pioneers of our industry each year at the annual state governor’s conference. Recognizing those who’ve had a significant and positive impact on the tourism industry, the award was changed this year to go to one person who is currently active in the industry.

How wonderful it is that our own Nicki Grossman, president and CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB (and a great supporter of our HSMAI chapter), was the one person chosen to be inducted this year. As you know, Nicki’s impressive career includes holding the top position at the CVB since 1995 and seven years serving on the Florida commission on Tourism. And this year, she’s the Chair for VISIT FLORIDA.

Won’t you join me in offering congratulations to Nicki?

Sept 21: Going green - the hottest trend?

You can’t pick up a newspaper or trade publication or attend a conference without hearing about conserving our planet’s resources known as "going green". At the recent Governor’s conference on tourism in a newly established award, seven Florida hotels were recognized for their efforts in this area.
If you’ve traveled lately, you know that most hotels are doing the basics – changing to energy-efficient appliances and long-life light bulbs, putting water restrictors on faucets, may be even washing linens only when requested, or reminding guests to turn off the lights and TV when leaving their rooms.
So I wondered what we’re doing locally to "go green". Are our members doing just the basics or have they been more innovative? Do you think this is a passing trend or something we’re in on for the long haul? Love to hear from you…

Sept 19: Making the List

As you probably know, every year Travel &Leisure Magazine publishes its “World’s Best Awards.” The most recent version of this readers’ poll appeared in the August 2007 issue.

It is interesting to note that in the “Top 100 Hotels” list, according to my count, the United States received votes for twelve properties. Of these twelve, Hawaii had the most mentions with four hotels, followed by a tie of California and South Carolina (three hotels each). Florida was not represented at all.

One of the other lists “Top 100 Hotels: Continental U.S. and Canada” included eight hotels in Florida with a variety of locations: Santa Rosa Beach, Ponte Vedra Beach, Naples, Amelia Island, Orlando Grande Lakes, Key West, and Little Torch Key. No hotels were from our area in south Florida.

After being somewhat disappointed that we weren’t better represented, I turned the page to find a category called “15 to Watch.” These are hotels that the magazine’s editors “predict will make our list in the near future.” At Last!! The third hotel on the list is the St. Regis Resort in Fort Lauderdale.

So, since our chapter is holding our September luncheon at the St. Regis, you might want to make sure you are in attendance. Check out the competition and let us know what you think. Do you think the T&L editors are right?

Happy Anniversary to VISIT FLORIDA

It’s amazing to think that it has been just a short time that VISIT FLORIDA has existed. It was only a little over 10 years ago, that a decision was made to dismantle the Florida Department of Commerce (including the Division of Tourism).

Since 1996, VISIT FLORIDA has been the official tourism marketing corporation of the not-for-profit Florida Commission on Tourism. And if you’re being technical, the brand name VISIT FLORIDA was only started in 1997. Hey, how did those 10 years fly by so fast?

And have you met Beth Rice, our area’s Regional Development Representative for VISIT FLORIDA? Beth usually attends our HSMAI meetings, but you can contact her at brice@visitflorida.org

Table of 8: HSMAI Gala & Auction, June 2007

It was truly a gala evening at Gulfstream Park for our annual auction in June – and what a way it was to “step it up a notch” and represent our chapter to the South Florida community. Kudos to Phyllis Festinger and Stacie Faulds for all their efforts – and to everyone else on the board and to the members “behind the scenes” for their contributions, donations, and attendance.

The ambiance of the room was lovely…as we were greeted by the sounds of the band, staff serving large goblets of red and white wine, and the passing of hors d’ouevres. Everyone was busy talking and checking out the silent auction and Chinese auction items. We then moved into the dining room for a full sit down dinner.

It was so good, as ever, to see new faces as well as old friends. Offered congratulations to Haydee on her new job (PRA Destination Management); learned about David Fenimore’s (Turks and Caicos Islands Tourism) daughter going off to her first year of college in New Orleans; a quick hello to Ina Lee in deep conversation with Jack Jackson. Ina reminded me we’d known each other 27 years which is when she first came to Lauderdale. A warm greeting to Walter Banks (Lago Mar) who looks as young and is as charming as when I first met him in 1978 at the Fort Lauderdale Hotel Association. Spoke with Richard Gonzalez (American Coach Lines) about enjoying the recent Visit Florida seminar we both attended; got a chance to chat with John Webb (CVB) learning more about domestic tourism and the other areas he handles; heard how Larry Rodkin (Lawrence of Florida) met his wife; too many conversations to even scratch the surface.

In between courses, we were welcomed by HSMAI Southeast Florida prez Fernando Harb and learned more about the auction's beneficiary, Academy of Travel and Tourism. We were updated on developments to come at Gulfstream (those shops and restaurants look like a great venue), watched our tickets for prize drawings, and bid on the live auction items.

After dinner, it was off to the casino to immediately use our free $5 casino vouchers. Gulfstream had invited everyone for complimentary drinks downstairs so we paused with a quick minty mojito to wait out the rain. And a good time, was had by all….