All I Want For Christmas Is…Holiday Visitors!
By Clayton Wallace, Condo Owner Magazine, January 7, 2013
Although visitors flocked to the beaches of Northwest Florida and South Alabama in record numbers during this year’s summer vacation season, tourism professionals are not content to wait until next spring to bring them back and entice new visitors. They are hard at work promoting events during the holiday season to draw visitors to the beaches.
While anyone who owns a condo is aware of the myriad of festivals that take place up and down the coast during the spring and fall “shoulder seasons,” attracting winter holiday visitors is something relatively new to the area. “If you like festivals, come on down to Pensacola,” said Visit Pensacola Vice President of Tourism Terry Scruggs. “During the shoulder seasons, we have a festival about once every two weeks.”
However, Scruggs said Pensacola is trying something different this year when it comes to the winter holiday season. “Pensacola has a lot of great things going on this year during the holiday season. New this year is the Winter Fest at the new Maritime Park in downtown Pensacola. This is set up as a two-month festival with outdoor ice skating rinks and toboggan trails among other things.” He said the festival is just another reason for holiday travelers to visit the city’s downtown area and not just stay in the beachfront areas where most of the city’s accommodations are located.
New to Alabama’s gulf coast this year is the Coastal Christmas initiative, the brainchild of the Tourism and Special Events Committee of the Alabama Gulf Coast Area Chamber of Commerce. Talty O’Connor, president and CEO of Covey Communications Corp., the publisher of Condo Owner magazine, is the chairman of the committee. He told a gathering of chamber members in October that his committee was tasked with the responsibility of creating something new to increase tourism during the winter season.
“After much discussion, we came up with the idea for a Coastal Christmas,” he said. His committee urged area businesses to come up with ideas and promotions that when taken as a whole would make the area attractive for visitors that ordinarily wouldn’t think about coming to the beach during the holiday season.
He said the response has been tremendous, and there are dozens of activities and events that are on the calendar between Nov. 23 and Jan. 1. Some of the events include an outdoor ice skating rink open daily at The Wharf shopping and entertainment complex in Orange Beach, the Nautical Night of Lights Christmas boat parade, several Christmas music concerts, two road races at the Flora Bama, and two polar bear “dips” on Jan. 1—one in Gulf Shores and another on the Florida/Alabama line.
Not to be left out, Panama City Beach has many activities planned during the holiday season as well. “We are very excited to be hosting the inaugural Panama City Beach Biggest Loser Run/Walk and Half Marathon on Dec. 30, which will also include a health and wellness expo at Edgewater Beach & Golf Resort,” said Dan Rowe, Panama City Beach CVB president and CEO. “Dan and Jackie Evans were contestants on NBC’s hit show The Biggest Loser and will lead this non-intimidating experience that puts New Year’s resolutions to action. I have seen the mapped out course, with much of it along the gulf, and I challenge any runner/walker to find a more inspiring and picturesque race course.”
Rowe said the races tie in nicely with the 5th Annual Beach Ball Drop at Pier Park on New Year’s Eve. “It will feature a countdown celebration where an 800-pound glowing beach ball descends at the stroke of midnight,” he said. “We’ll also once again have multi-generational offerings earlier in the evening with fireworks and a family ball drop, consisting of 10,000 inflatable beach balls dropped from the sky.”
Rowe said many properties including Edgewater Beach & Golf Resort, Bay ‰
Point Wyndham Resort and Coastal Services properties like Moondrifter, Largo Mar and Top of the Gulf are offering packages for the festivities.
The lone area that will not have special events during the holiday season is South Walton. “This destination historically puts the majority of effort in peak season and the supporting shoulder season as that is when the best returns on investment are possible. Holiday marketing has never been as substantial as those seasons,” said Jon Ervin, Beaches of South Walton marketing and communications director. “Here, we are a combination of less than other places and great quality. We have less holiday stress that appeals to many that want to cherish their time.”
Ervin said the area has its own personality and demand. “There are so many shops, storefronts and businesses that treat you like family, it is a pleasure year round,” he said.
So, whether visitors are up for ice skating, toboggan rides and boat parades—or just want to spend quality time away from it all, somewhere along the beaches of Northwest Florida or Coastal Alabama, tourism officials want your business during this holiday season.
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