A Message From the New VCB Executive Director
December 17, 2009
It’s truly a pleasure for me to be here – especially at such an exciting and challenging time for tourism in St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches. Although I have only been in this new job for a couple of weeks, I have already found that the VCB Board, the VCB staff and the partners I have met all share my enthusiasm for working together to create an industry that meets or exceeds both the expectations of our visitors and the economic goals of our partners.
As you know, we’re undergoing some changes at the VCB. In addition to yours truly, we will have a new contract with the county, we will be working with a new advertising agency (details in the next issue of CURRENTS) and, by next week, we’ll be in a new location that will be far more convenient for our partners. In fact, I would like to invite each of you to visit us at our new office at 29 Old Mission Avenue in St. Augustine. I would love to meet you personally and to encourage you to be a frequent visitor. One of the most important things I have learned from my 30 years in the advertising and tourism industries is that without a good working relationship with partners, there can be no real success. I can’t emphasize enough the fact that while we are working with you, we are also working for you. So stop by our new office and say hello. I think you’ll find our enthusiasm to be encouraging and contagious!
All the best for the Holidays!
Richard Goldman
Executive Director
Your Support for Tourism Industry Needed at Workshop!
August 4, 2009
Charles Cox, VCB Board Chairman
As I’m sure you know, our county commissioners are considering a number of proposals for changes in the way Tourist Development Tax dollars are allocated. Because the tourism industry that brings these funds to the county consists primarily of VCB partners, it is imperative that you attend the upcoming workshop on this issue. Over the years, those of us in the tourism industry have worked diligently to insure that St. Johns County remains one of Florida’s outstanding travel destinations. Our record of success speaks for itself. The resulting Tourist Development Tax dollars have been essential for perpetuating the allure of St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches to a wide range of visitors – visitors who are so satisfied with their experience here that they return time and time again. The money they spend here is essential for maintaining the economic health of St. Johns County.
The Board of County Commissioners will soon make decisions that could have long-lasting impacts on the tourism industry. It is essential that our industry is well-represented in the debate surrounding these decisions. This is particularly important at this time when organizations loosely associated with tourism are seeking to influence how the tax dollars generated by our industry are distributed and how they are used.
Please join me at this important workshop:
Tuesday, August 11
9:00 a.m.
St. Johns County Auditorium
500 San Sebastian View
St. Augustine, Florida
I’ll see you there!
Jay Humphreys, VCB Communications Director
Ok, here’s your long-awaited opportunity to appear on a nationally-broadcast television show! Kristi Stovall, director of sales and marketing for the Casa Monica, has graciously invited VCB partners to serve as “extras” this evening for the final taping of Making Over America in St. Augustine. The final scene is the “Reveal” in which the results of Trinny and Susannah’s makeover of Marineland’s Terran Rosenberg will be, well, revealed. The program will be broadcast nationwide on the TLC network – probably in January or February. So…come to the pool deck of the Casa Monica this evening from 5:45-8 p.m. (Resort Casual dress – and there’s a cash bar.) The latest on the show in St. Augustine was on the front page of today’s Record:
http://staugustine.com/stories/071709/news_1755072.shtml
For more details on Making Over America, including clips from the British version, scroll down to the previous post.
Reality TV Coming to St. Augustine
June 30, 2009
Jay Humphreys, VCB Communications Director
The VCB’s Communications Department frequently provides assistance to television and film producers who find St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches has just the right locations and that “hard-to-define” quality known as “charm” that is so much in demand. We also help them with the less-than-glamorous task of getting film permits from a sometimes bewildering array of agencies – federal, state, county and city. Our purpose, of course, is to get film production companies to spend money here and to get the beauty of our destination seen by millions. Although we don’t currently have a blockbuster cinematic epic in the making here, we do have several “reality” TV shows coming to our area. Here are some previews:
MAKING OVER AMERICA (film date: mid-July)
Trinny and Susannah, the stars of the extremely popular BBC production What Not to Wear, will soon be arriving here to feature a local woman in the Americanized version of their show. Produced by ABC Media Group and broadcast on the TLC network, Making Over America follows the daily life of a hardworking woman with fashion “challenges” who needs help because of an upcoming event in her life. To better understand their subject’s needs, the British fashionistas immerse themselves in her life – they work at her job, explore her hometown and get involved in the local community. The VCB found eight women involved in tourism to audition for the televised makeover and the producers found just the woman they needed in St. Augustine. In addition to the enthusiasm of the women who auditioned for the show, the producer said they selected St. Augustine because it is the “quintessential American town”.
Here’s a commercial for the British version of the show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyVibiV-uUQ
and one of Trinny and Susannah’s famous Littlewood’s adverts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS5sRncPZhA&feature=related
DONNAADVENTURA (film date: August 30-31)
One of Italy’s most popular television programs, Donnaadventura takes a group of young women around the world in search of outdoor adventures. More than 50,000 women auditioned for the show –but only six were chosen. Each season, the women explore a different part of the world. This year, they are traveling from the Caribbean up the East Coast of the U.S. and Canada with a final stop in Nova Scotia. St. Augustine has been selected as a featured destination! The show highlights the attractions of each destination and even includes suggestions on restaurants and things to do. Each day, the women record their adventures and their impressions of the locale. Their comments are wildly popular both on the show and on their internet site. The VCB Communications Department is coordinating their visit and arranging the adventures – including nighttime kayaking, a race to the top of the Lighthouse and lots of other opportunities for showcasing the destination. This is a major international opportunity reaching millions of viewers. To see what Donnaadventura is all about, go to:
http://donnavventura.com/eng/video_evidenza.asp?id=1
MISS BETTY’S STORY OF AMERICA (film date October 2009 and March 2010)
This award-winning history series features Miss Betty, a colorful tour guide, who takes viewers for an unusual look at historical cities throughout the United States. Her show is a mixture of laughs and learning that gives viewers a greater understanding and appreciation of the nation’s history. The pilot for the series featured George Washington’s Home Town: Alexandria, Virginia. Work on the next 13 episodes in the series is now underway, including the story of St. Augustine. So far, the VCB Communications Department has answered questions, hosted the producers, found historians to help and suggested numerous feature stories for inclusion in what will undoubtedly become an extremely popular program. The producers have hired a local film crew to document major events over the next several months. In March, Miss Betty will be here for the final filming of the St. Augustine story. In addition to the TV program, the show will feature an interactive website, teacher guides and a wealth of information about our history. For more details, go to:
http://www.rectorrobertsproductions.com/Miss%20Betty/missbetty’sstory.html
Barbara Golden, Communications Manager
Last year, newspaper and magazine editorial coverage devoted to visiting St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches reached 163 million readers nationwide – FREE publicity that would have cost nearly $4 million to obtain in the form of advertising in these same publications. This year, we’re hoping for even more coverage. It’s easy to keep up-to-date on some of the latest online print coverage of our destination. Simply go to the Visitors and Convention Bureau’s media website by clicking on:
www.travelmediabistro.com/press_clippings/
If you have questions, please contact me at bgolden@Getaway4Florida.com or call 209.4425.
Charles Cox, VCB Board Chairman
Visitors Spent over $711 million in Our County Last Year…
St. Johns County is a great place to live, home to the Nation’s Oldest City, wonderful beaches and lush golf courses. It takes a great deal of money to maintain this quality of life we all enjoy. Re-nourishing and cleaning our beaches, building walkways over the dunes, parks and parking areas along the coast from Ponte Vedra Beach to Summer Haven, maintaining fishing piers and boat ramps, all paid for by people that visit our county and pay Tourist Development Tax funds, otherwise known as the “Bed Tax”.
This money also helps local charities and funds cultural programs. Many of the things we take for granted are paid for by our visitors. Without the tourism industry many of the things we enjoy would simply go away from lack of funding.
That’s almost $6,000 for every man, woman and child living in St. Johns County…
It goes way beyond the $5 million St. Johns County collects annually in bed taxes from our guests. The $711 million spent by them while they are here supports over 12,000 jobs for county residents, who in turn spend their money here supporting another 22,000 jobs according to a recent study performed by the University of Florida.
Last year, visitors paid $42.7 million in sales tax revenue. That’s money that doesn’t have to come from our residents…
Sales tax is one of the primary sources of revenue for state and local governments. In addition to the $711 million our guests spend here for goods and services, they paid another $42.7 million in sales taxes that are used for residential services and improvements that make living here even more enjoyable.
All destinations are competing for these dollars…
Many other Florida communities are faced with the same economies; they are choosing to spend more money to invite guests to their area. They realize the positive impact of strong tourism. Our visitors have many choices on where to spend their time and money. St. John’s County residents cannot afford to have a significant reduction in tourism. We need to better understand what makes St. Johns County such a wonderful place to live.
Charles Cox is the current chairman of the St. Johns County, Ponte Vedra and The Beaches Visitors & Convention Bureau. He has lived in St. Johns County for 13 years operating the San Sebastian Winery. He is vice president of Seavin, Inc., doing business as San Sebastian Winery, Lakeridge Winery & Vineyards and Prosperity Vineyards. He is a past board member of the St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce, past president of the Attractions Association, and a current member of the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum board of trustees.
