INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
Clingmans Dome in Tennessee
The National Parks: America’s Best Idea
American travelers are about to fall in love again, and they can thank filmmaker Ken Burns for the emotional high that will occur from Sept. 27-Oct. 2.
Those are the airdates of the latest Burns series, “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea,” on PBS.
For six nights, Burn explores America’s national parks in the intriguing fashion he applied to the Civil War, baseball, jazz and the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
He couldn’t cover the entire National Park Service system (there are 58 national parks, plus 333 national monuments and historic sites in its domain), but the overarching story of America’s treasures come through clearly in the ones he does focus on.
The very idea of America’s national parks is a radical one. The guiding light was to preserve the most special places in the nation, not for the rich, but for everyone.
Take the National Park quiz.
Senate pushes ‘Travel Promotion Act’ halfway home
The U.S. Senate has passed the “Travel Promotion Act” with something seen only infrequently these days—bipartisan support. The vote was 79 to 19, and attention now turns back to the House of Representatives.
Keeping TPA Alive
Nearly identical legislation passed the House in the last session but did not receive a Senate vote before adjournment. A new House companion bill, H.R. 2935, is co-sponsored by 68 members.
The legislation creates a public-private partnership, which would use no taxpayer money, to promote America internationally.
Oxford Economics estimates the partnership would create 40,000 U.S. jobs and drive $4 billion in new consumer spending. Overseas visitors spend an average of $4,500 per person, per trip in the United States.
The “Travel Promotion Act” is modeled after successful state-level programs. Funding would be through a matching program featuring up to $100 million in private sector contributions and a $10 fee on foreign travelers who do not pay $131 for a visa to enter the United States.
Spanning a VERY WIDE gap to promote two cities’ tourism
We read all the time about how tourism jurisdictions should cooperate with each other, but we often let just a few miles keep us separated.
Not so for London and New York. The two cities are launching a two-year joint tourism promotion agreement. They will provide each other with outdoor media advertising space, and their two tourism marketing agencies will share best practices as a way to maximize travel between the two destinations. The cities also will assist each other with at least one publicity event in each city.
are headed to New Orleans
SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer are headed to New Orleans because Nickelodeon, New Orleans and Southern Star Amusement Inc. are creating a new water and theme park that will showcase Nickelodeon’s child-friendly characters and programs.
It’s a redevelopment project of the 65-acre site that formerly was Jazzland/Six Flags and is Nickelodeon’s first outdoor theme park. Plans include new rides, including several water-based attractions, and renovation of existing attractions.
No local public funding is to be used to build the park. Construction is to start this fall, and you can look for SpongeBob and Dora on the far side of the turnstiles by the end of 2010, promoters say.
AROUND THE SOUTHEAST U.S.
It’s true . . . Alabama spas earn international acclaim
Relax in Alabama
If you played a word-association game about Alabama, answers you’d expect include “Talladega,” “football,” “barbeque” and “Gulf Shores.”
“Spa” and “internationally acclaimed spas” probably aren’t, but they should be. Of the 50 Marriott and JW Marriott hotel spas worldwide, the Top 10 list for guest satisfaction starts with the Grand Hotel Resort, Golf Club and Spa in Point Clear. Just down the list at #7 is the Marriott Shoals Hotel and Spa in Florence.
These two, plus three more in Alabama, are at resorts on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail and are developing a name for themselves as the RTJ Spa Trail. Another of them, the Spa at the Battle House in Mobile, gets high praise in the October issue of Shape magazine, which named it one of the “7 Must-Visit Spas” in the world.
SOUTHEAST TOURISM SOCIETY NEWS
+ STS President and CEO Bill Hardman received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue at the 2009 Governor’s Conference on Tourism.
