→‘The Cheapest Date in Town’
→One Size Fits All
→Passports Flying off the Shelf
→Looking for Fun on the Job
→New Tourism Caucus Co-chair
→Magazine Boosts Gulf Coast
→Carolina Bragging Rights
→New Orleans Aggressive PR
→What Places are Hot in the SE?
→Top 20 Golf Communities
INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
National Wildlife Refuges: ‘The Cheapest Date in Town’ The National Wildlife Refuge system is in a bind. Some observers label it a crisis.
It’s not pollution, commercial encroachment or invasive plant species. It’s money.
The system – 543 refuges spread through every state and attracting 40 million hikers, hunters, anglers, photographers and school children a year – has watched its budget drop each of the last three fiscal years.
There’s now a comprehensive pass for public lands managed by five federal agencies—the National Park Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Forest Service. More...
According to Gannett News Service (GNS), the budget’s high water mark was $391 million in 2004. Since then, it’s been less than that by $9 million to $15 million a year. More...
Passports Are Selling Like Hotcakes
Just 27 percent of Americans have a passport, but a whole lot more of us are going to need one.
As of Jan. 23, Americans air travelers returning from Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean needed passports, and all travelers by land and sea must meet this requirement by an unspecified deadline not later than June 1, 2009. More...
Look around at your co-workers. They know they have to work for a living, but what aspect of work is at the top of their dream list?
No, it’s not money or even more vacation time. It’s fun on the job.
That’s the conclusion of a Harris survey of 6,000 respondents, 84 percent of whom say they aren’t in their dream job. The Walt Disney Co. is going to solve that for at least a few of them through a promotion that offers five theme park “dream jobs” – but just for one day apiece. Read the complete story.
Porter Joins Farr as House Tourism Caucus Co-chair
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The House Tourism Caucus, a Congressional group that is building itself back into prominence after years of modest activity, has rounded out its leadership by naming Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., as co-chair.
He joins Rep. Sam Farr, D-Calif., who has co-chaired the caucus since 1999. A vibrant House Tourism Caucus is seen by many industry observers as key to raising tourism's stature on a federal level.
When the most recent AAA Five Diamond list was unveiled, you could hear the whoops and hollers from the Carolina Lowcounty, genteel though they were.
Charleston and the surrounding area claim three Five Diamond resorts, more top-rated properties than many entire states have. They are the Wentworth Mansion in town, The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island and The Woodlands Resort and Inn in Summerville.
http://www.charleston-for-business.com/ news_article.shtml?id=702AROUND THE SOUTHEAST
Southern Living Magazine Special Section Boosts Gulf Coast
Southern Living Magazine is ramping up a special section in its June issue that will be "a guide to all the good things you can find along the coast in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
The "Gulf Coast State of Mind" section will be at least 16 pages and will be "the culmination of a concerted editorial effort to celebrate this part of the South," said Victor Profis, the magazine's director of travel and tourism.
It will complement a broad campaign for the region hit by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. The Southeast Tourism Society is marshalling the campaign with a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Southern Living, America's eighth largest monthly consumer magazine (by readership), has a circulation of 2.8 million and a readership of almost 16 million.
