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Waiters Race for the Gold from Travel Rally 2019, photo by Jim Jett
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Travel is something to celebrate
The countdown is on and we're busy putting the finishing touches on the Lee County Travel Rally & Community Celebration.
From 4 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 3, our tourism partners and the local community are included in the fun at Lakes Park in Fort Myers. The free event supports the U.S. Travel Association’s National Travel and Tourism Week, May 1-7.
Travel is something to celebrate
The Travel Rally champions tourism as a major engine that drives the local economy. It gives the VCB a chance to show our appreciation and support to the industry and its employees who have worked so hard during this incredibly busy 2022 season. It also highlights the vital importance of trained travel and hospitality professionals.
In Lee County, tourism employs one out of every five people. About 5 million visitors a year spend more than $3.7 billion while in the area. In addition, tourism in the Fort Myers area supported 69,174 local jobs in 2021, generating $1.8 billion in wages and salaries.
Local residents and tourism employees are invited to watch hilarious tourism races and visit the Kids’ Korner. Bring your families for lots of free fun including food, music and prize giveaways. Join us as we cheer on friendly competition between our hotels, attractions and restaurants as they engage in a waiter’s race, valet trail hike, make-that-bed race and bellman’s race. A travel fair showcases our local tourism businesses and a dunk tank to benefit United Way is sure to be popular. There are prizes and food. Check details at leecountytravelrally.com
Celebrating 1,000 Certified Guest Service Professionals
This year, there are more reasons than ever to celebrate. At least 1,000 more reasons, as the destination will be rolling out the red carpet to honor its Certified Guest Service Professionals (CGSP) as it reaches a major milestone of achieving more than 1,000 certifications.
All CGSP graduates are invited to attend (register at leecountytravelrally.com) as we honor their commitment to tourism in a special VIP Experience area with activities that include a special gift, sweet treats, photo booth, video testimonials from the honorees and more.
The Guests First program is indicative of the level of commitment this destination has made to providing excellence in customer service in our community. Without the top-notch customer service for which this destination has become known, our guests will not return.
We look forward to seeing everyone on May 3!
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Introducing our new Performance Dashboard
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The VCB's new Industry Insights Dashboard provides our partners with the latest Lee County-specific travel data. Partners can use this information to make informed marketing decisions, resource planning, revenue forecasting and more.
How to use the dashboard:
- The dashboard contains data points and trends, including monthly website visitation, county bed tax collection, airport arrivals, traveler origination, key STR hotel and vacation rental metrics, credit card spend and travel booking behavior.
- Data is updated monthly and includes trends with period over period comparisons.
- Users can select a specific month to evaluate.
- Sources include Visa Destinations Insights, KeyData, Sojern, Arrivalist and STR, along with regional data collections from the VCB and Southwest Florida International Airport.
- Moving forward, this eNewsletter will also include highlights and insights based on data within the Industry Insights Dashboard.
This month's insights:
- In January and February 2022, flights were being booked an average of 42 days in advance, which is in line with flight booking windows for this time period over the previous three years. During the last three months, hotels were booked further in advance than the previous three years with an average of 54 days.
- For February 2022 vacation rental arrivals, 29% of bookings occurred in the 90 days prior to arrival, suggesting vacation rental booking windows are longer than hotel and flight booking windows.
- We expect top out-of-state markets for the next month's arrivals to be Chicago, Minneapolis, Detroit, New York, Indianapolis and Philadelphia.
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Guests First registration begins May 13
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Registration for Guests First Customer Service Training Program will begin May 13 for the summer session.
Questions? Contact guestsfirst@leegov.com
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Songs from the Sand features Frank Myers
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The April 21 edition of Songs from the Sand featured Grammy winner Frank Myers ("I Swear"). Hosted by Miriam Dotson, VCB, the virtual concert series was recorded at Beacon Social Drinkery at the Luminary Hotel & Co. in downtown Fort Myers. Myers has written for Kenny Loggins, Tanya Tucker, Alabama and over 50 other artists. Songs from the Sand is a great way to preview performers who will be part of Island Hopper Songwriter Fest, Sept. 16-25.
Look for the next performance of Songs from the Sand June 16
Where to watch Songs from the Sand and Sofa:
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Try the Fort Myers Discovery Challenge today
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Rotating photos include:
- (Photo 1) March 1-3: Christian Meetings & Conventions Association Show, Tamara Parker, Marriott Sanibel Harbour Resort, and Candice Cocco, VCB, showcased the destination to over 80 faith-based meeting planners.
- (Photo 2) March 1-3: Independent Planner Education Conference, Betsy Bush, VCB, at networking event with over 200 independent meeting planners.
- (Photos 3-4) March 4-6: Travel & Adventure Show Boston, Tracy Snyder, Sundial Beach Resort & Spa, Francesca Donlan, VCB, and Shelley Crant, Florida Travel Marketing, promoted the destination to almost 8,000 potential leisure travelers.
- (Photo 5) March 21-25: Seattle travel agency sales calls, Holly Morris, FTM, gave destination presentations to 18 travel agencies in the greater Seattle area in conjunction with the new nonstop Alaska Airlines service from SEA to RSW.
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Public relations activities
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Rotating photos include:
- (Photos 1-2) April 15: Fenway Media/Sales Event, Boston, Josh Lambert, MMGY, and Jackie Parker, VCB. Boston Herald reporter Moira McCarthy Stanford and Sean Stanford.
- (Photos 3-4) April 23-24: Atlanta Travel & Adventure Show, Annie Banion, VCB, with Simon Lock and travel writer Penny Zibula (sixlegswilltravel.com). Shelley Crant, Florida Travel Marketing, and Annie Banion, VCB.
- (Photo 5) April 27: South Seas Spring Media Tour, Jackie Parker, VCB, on Cayo Costa with writers from Sarasota Magazine, Southern Distinction, WAG Magazine, Houston Style Magazine, Paper City Magazine and Simply Buckhead magazine.
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Out and about with Visitor Services Tourism Ambassadors
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Tourism Ambassadors continue to take familiarization trips throughout Lee County. This is a great opportunity for them to learn about the destination and help answer questions from visitors at Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW).
We want to thank our industry partners for hosting our Tourism Ambassadors!
Rotating photos include:
- (Photos 1-2) April 11 and 13: Edison and Ford Winter Estates
- (Photo 3) March 22: Minnesota Twins spring training game at Lee County Sports Complex/Hammond Stadium
- (Photo 4) March 30: Red Sox spring training game at JetBlue Park and Fenway South
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Luncheon celebrates Tourism Ambassadors
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Tourism Ambassadors were honored at the 32nd Annual Tourism Ambassador Appreciation Luncheon, April 6 at the Caloosa Sound Convention Center. In first photo, Tourism Ambassadors Cerstin Magaw, Fran Waldman, Ellen McGlinchey and Anne Cantafio. In second photo, Tourism Ambassadors Motoko Walz, Mr. Edison and Annamarie Gehm.
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Keep your guests in the loop with What To Do
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What To Do gives your guests a quick guide to weekly events in Lee County.
Be sure to display this flyer with our new QR code so everyone can have instant access, all the time.
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Expedia & Sojern Data Webinar May 9
The VCB is working hard to provide you with useful data and actionable insight to support your business. Please join us for this webinar at 10 a.m. Monday, May 9.
You will learn:
- Domestic travel intent trends, including insight into hotel and vacation rental bookings
- International traveler behaviors
- Competitive outlook to understand our visitors' consideration set
Expedia is an online travel shopping company for consumer and small business travel. Its websites include Expedia, Vrbo, Orbitz, Travelocity, Hotwire, trivago and others. Sojern is a leading digital marketing platform for travel marketers, which activates multi-channel marketing solutions to drive direct demand.
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22nd annual E Awards call for entries
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The upcoming E Awards is officially open for nominations and we want to hear about the outstanding customer service your staff provides to your guests.
E Awards
When: 8-10:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 8
Where: Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort & Spa, 5001 Coconut Road, Bonita Springs
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Hurricane Workshop set for June 10
The VCB will be kicking off the 2022 Hurricane Season with an in-person meeting from 9-11 a.m. Friday, June 10, at the Lee County Emergency Operations Center, 2665 Ortiz Ave., Fort Myers.
"Recovery - You Know How to Respond, Do You Know How to Recover from a Major Storm?" is the name of the workshop. There will be a live exercise with the Lee County Emergency Management Team.
This meeting will not be recorded. More details coming soon.
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2022 TDC meeting schedule
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Tourism Outlook Annual Meeting Nov. 10
The VCB's Tourism Outlook Annual Meeting will be Nov. 10 at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point in Bonita Springs. Join us as we kick off the 2022-23 tourism season and get a first look at our new sales and marketing plan. Registration will open closer to the event date.
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2201 Second Street, Suite 600
Fort Myers, Florida 33901
Toll Free 800.237.6444 | Local 239.338.3500
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