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5/12/08 National Tourism Week in St. Petersburg
Miss Florida, Kylie Williams, welcomed elected officials, representatives from hotels,
restaurants, tourist destinations, to the Renaissance Vinoy Resort in St. Petersburg to kick-off and celebrate National Tourism Week, May 10-18, 2008.
During the introduction of Mayor Rick Baker, she announced she has chosen St. Petersburg as her home, due to the area’s hospitality and lifestyle amenities.
Mayor Baker
expressed the positive benefits realized by St. Petersburg and accredited
tourism as a value added industry for the city. There are over 13.8 million
tourists annually providing jobs for more than 85,800 residents, and making
a $7 billion impact in direct and indirect visitor
expenditures—tourism works for America and Pinellas County.
D.T. Minich,
Executive Director of the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area Convention and
Visitor’s Bureau gave an overview of three new initiatives. This
summer, a new advertising campaign is ramping up in Orlando – to
promote our area as a destination for the central Florida market. Radio
advertising during drive time, billboards, and toll plaza advertising are
all part of the mix.
A summer
mirco-website will be launched next week and will provide up-to-the-minute
information on events, festivals, and deals in the area. Hotels and
restaurants are encouraged to provide news of events or special offers to
the CVB for promotion on the site.
Also, a new
beach access map is in production. This will show the 26-mile beach line of
Pinellas with details on public access, parking and other great
information. This will be distributed to points of interest.
The CVB
which is branded as “Visit St. Petersburg/Clearwater” is the
county-wide management and marketing organization responsible for
developing and promoting the region as a leisure, convention, conference,
sports, and film production destination.
The
luncheon’s keynote presenter, Frank Supovitz, Senior VP of Events,
National Football League, discussed the economic and marketing impact a
Super Bowl event provides to a community, intermingled with sports info and
trivia. Super Bowl XLIII will be held February 1, 2009 in the bay
area with significant business opportunities available. For example, did
you know that 1.5 million TVs are sold the week before Super Bowl?
Interested in becoming a local vendor for Super Bowl XLIII, please visit
its site online.
Visit www.floridasbeach.com for more information
on the CVB and National Tourism Week.
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