EDITORIALS: The Tourism Engine is Changing Gears: With Super Bowl XLI Coming Next Weekend, It’s a Good Time to Celebrate Some Big-Time Blocking and Tackling Being Done By Business Leaders in Monroe County.
By Florida Keys Keynoter, Marathon
Jan. 27–First, kudos to the Key Largo Chamber of Commerce for its aggressive pursuit of the Super Bowl as an economic opportunity for the Upper Keys business community.
In Wednesday’s Keynoter, we carried an article about this effort headed up by Jane Van Fleet, marketing director for the chamber. Van Fleet and Jackie Harder, president of the chamber, both champion the idea that Keys businesses need to do a better job marketing outside their own backyards.
The payoff from that includes more than just some extra hotel rooms being filled. The real goal is to attract new business and create opportunities, forging alliances with key tourism players on the mainland. As one Key Largo hotelier told our reporter: “People come for the game but decide they want to see what the Keys are all about.”
A similar theme is being repeated at the Greater Marathon Chamber of Commerce, which plays host next month to Delta Airlines and the return of regular jet air service at Florida Keys Marathon Airport.
Dignitaries waving signs will greet Delta passengers inaugurating daily jet service direct from Atlanta to Marathon. With Atlanta as a major air traffic hub, this opens a lot more markets for Keys business and leisure travel.
The Marathon chamber will post staff at the terminal to help arriving visitors get tourist information, assist with reservations or other services. Not too many in the hospitality industry still remember those long-ago days when visitor bureaus routinely did that sort of thing at airports and even train stations.
“This is a tremendous economic opportunity for Marathon and our chamber members, and we really need to make sure we take full advantage of it,” Audrey Moir, chamber executive director, told our reporter. “We have the chance to showcase ourselves to a whole new market of visitors.”
In Key West, the chamber’s working committees are focusing more attention than ever on economic development.
Most business leaders in Key West recognize the engine that drives commerce is changing and simple tune-ups are no longer enough.
The chamber’s Government Affairs Committee is morphing into an Economic Development Committee and redefining its mission.
As chambers throughout the Keys tackle changing market realities, it will become increasingly important for the business community to work closely with government.
The days of easy money are past. To ensure our collective future, we all need to roll up our sleeves and work hard to restore economic viability for the sake of both public and private stakeholders.
—–
Copyright (c) 2007, Florida Keys Keynoter, Marathon
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.