Small Town News

Rental revenue down, but weddings still big beach business

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The general economic downturn of the country continues to be felt in the hospitality industry. The South Walton Tourist Development Council's (TDC) treasurer, Mary Brown, reported revenue totals of $2.2 million dollars for July at the monthly meeting. July's figure represents an 8-percent decrease from previous years. The total collected in the year to date is $9.2 million.

John Heiser and Myra Williams of The Howard Group were at the meeting to report on a company doing some research in the area to test the feasibility of building a performing arts center in the region. "Spirit Productions Group is based in London. This is a worldwide production company who recently completely a project in Myrtle Beach. If they come into an area, they bear the cost of providing either an air dome or a large tent for a few years and determining whether or not the program was successful. They are proposing a show along the order of Cirque de Soleil. If the pilot program proved successful, they would construct a permanent building," Heiser said. "This would bring world-class entertainment to the area."

Heiser said Walton County is in competition with both Bay and Okaloosa Counties at this point, but feel Walton could very well be the hub to draw in people from both of those counties. If selected, the temporary structure would be housed on land in Grand Boulevard, where infrastructure such as parking is already in place. "They are looking for community support for the possible $2 - 3 million dollar investment in the area," he noted.

Heiser explained the structure used would seat as many as 1,500 people at a time and be in use only from May through the end of August. The remainder of the time it would available for local groups to use for events, although he had no data on how much such use might cost.

Williams said if Walton County were chosen, the opening show would coincide with the opening of the new Bay County airport. Both Williams and Heiser said the company will be making the location decision in the very near future and while they didn't ask for any specific help from the TDC, they sought collaborative help in trying to attract this type of venue to Walton County.

In other business the council voted to hire Lou Hammond and Associates as the new public relations company for the TDC. Council member and public relations committee member Mary Jo Tommas, who evaluated the request for proposals from two companies, said, "There was no comparison between the two companies in terms of experience, but the price was the same. With Hammond we have a one-year contract for $100,000 with an option to renew for three years."

The issue of "the contract was put to a motion and passed by all. At the last meeting, there was discussion about whether or not to continue a contract with The Howard Group for an information kiosk at Grand Boulevard. The Howard Group sought an increase in fees from $34,000 to $40,000 plus the services of one TDC employee one day a week. It was decided to get some hard data on the numbers of visitors to the kiosk before deciding.

Tracy Louthain presented the council members with information on the kiosk which was opened in July 2008. Through the end of last month, almost 13,000 people stopped by for information, only a few thousand less than stop by the visitor center located at the intersection of U.S. 98 and U.S. 331. The council members agreed the kiosk seemed to be providing visitors with information and all agreed to approve the contract for an additional year at the increased price and provide one employee for one day each week.

TDC executive director Sonny Mares had been asked to provide some information on the wedding, group sales and reunion business, which comes to the beach every year. "We have the perception that the wedding business is huge. The county only issues a permit for a beach wedding of 50 people or more at a public beach access. This year 250 permits have been granted. The wedding business people are looking for more support from the TDC marketing group and I feel like we need some hard-number research and we need to engage some type of survey company to give us the information on wedding and reunion business to decide if we want to shift marketing dollars to those group business areas," he said. He noted it would probably cost less than $25,000 for such a survey and suggested a request for proposals be made.

Council member Don Mc-Quade said, "I don't think we need specific research for this, but it should be part of the general data collected by the TDC. The wedding business at the Hilton was a $1.5 million dollar business this year. I think the $5 million wedding business in Walton County is a good estimate. I think it is a much bigger business than we think it is. A wedding is group business," he asserted.

In lieu of the regular meeting for October, the annual meeting will be held at the Sandestin Hilton at 11:30 a.m. on Oct. 15 and the November meeting will be held on Nov. 18 rather than Nov. 11.

Leah Stratmann may be reached via leahwrites@ gmail.com



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© 2009 The DeFuniak Springs Herald DeFuniak Springs, Florida. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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