Sandestin sale being negotiated [Update: Sold to Becnel Family]

[teamc]

We've not quite connected on these short messages. Sandestin needs to market its connection to the beautiful beaches of South Walton. The new airport in Panama City is just a short drive from Sandestin. Sandestin is also close to the airport in Okaloosa County. You are nicely situated in the middle for success. With cruise possibilities being discussed with the new Panama City - Bay County airport, the opportunities will be fantastic.

If people desire to come to the best beaches on the Emerald Coast, and imho, in Florida for that matter, they will come to South Walton. People are interested in the environment and unique ecosystems. People want to relax. Walton County has about 26 miles of beaches, a number of these miles are state and county parks of premier and award winning quality that can deliver. Many more of these miles are fronted by first class resorts. Part of Sandestin's marketing problem might be that some still try and connect it to Destin instead of its true place with South Walton and Miramar Beach. Destin has nice people, some of its own unique features and some beach left, but, with all humbleness, our beaches in South Walton are better, we're more historical, and have unique features they don't. The Destin harbor is suffering from a number of issues and overbuilt developments, which I'm not going to belabor here. Sandestin in Miramar Beach has a great harbor on the Choctawhatchee Bay and can offer wonderful opportunities. Sandestin guests can go in a number of directions for that unique deep sea fishing experience. They can go to Destin in the next county over. They could go out from their own dock in Sandestin in Miramar Beach in South Walton. They could go to Panama City Beach. They could get with some locals and go out from the beach in South Walton or just get rigged up and a license and fish right from the shore.

South Walton has the Coastal Dune Lakes, a unique configuration of at least 15. This is globally rare and a draw. Kayak and bike rental businesses are doing well. The international, national and nearby driving vacationer will come here for this beautiful and unique experience. The different resorts and communities can then micro-market to price range and other amenities such as golf, shopping nearby, transportation assistance, culture and art, child programs, etc. A trained and professional staff will be essential.

The history of the area is also yet to be fully appreciated. The shoulder visitor is interested in short day trips to explore and learn about the area. Even at Disney World, you have Epcot and learning experiences that attracts some that aren't interested in riding all the wild attractions. People get sunburned, tired, or grandma needs a break and different attractions to visit.

Walton County is situated in the middle of the Emerald Coast -- from Pensacola to Appalachicola. For that international visitor that might be planning a trip to Florida, Walton County is nicely situated in the middle of the Emerald Coast. Day trips east or west could be easily planned, keeping resorts such as Sandestin or those along 30A as their beautiful beach home base.

If the traveler wants a fake Florida experience, then it is going to be hard to compete with Disney World. Where South Walton, Walton County and the Emerald Coast wins is by promoting its authentic treasures, great beaches, fishing, vast and many parks, culture, original art, eco-tourism, heritage and historical venues.

My point earlier, is that many outside marketing companies do not, at this time, fully appreciate our truly superior beaches, coastal dune lakes, parks, eco-tourism, heritage and historical venues.

Then, we need to get the service issues pulled up to first rate. Some issues of which wrobert pointed out.

Just trying to help. Some of these issues are addressed on other threads for different reasons by many people. People truly love 30A, South Walton and Walton County.

We have marketing people right here in this region that understand demographics and marketing research as well as someone from Atlanta, etc. Some of them probably lived in Atlanta, New York, etc. at some point. The local marketers bonus could be to really know what they are marketing so that the visitor will have a good, authentic experience and become a repeat visitor. Maybe they could form some partnerships. Just because someone lives out of the area now, doesn't make them smarter or better. IMHO, we not only have the best beaches and other unique venues that will attract visitors, we have some of the best people to do that right here. Got to go. Again, good luck, all the best, and I'm confident you'll be okay. These are just some thoughts off the top of my head.

you mentioned alot of great resources and natural attributes, the problem has never been that. the problem is that they've never been packaged, prepared and made easily accessible and marketed to tourists.

 

[wrobert]

precisely. apparently, that's considered "faulty" logic. however, for example, locals are constantly doing publicity and advertising that promotes sandestin as a 'family' resort. marketing means that there is an operational component of the brand that is being promoted. i don't deny that locals may perceive the resort as "family friendly". however, on a national and international level successful family resorts have child-friendly amenities (restaurants that don't require waits and can accomodate children, water parks, classes, daytime events-not a village full of drunkards and loud music), are all-inclusive, have concierge services specifically for families (gear, activity booking, even rent-a-dog! etc), have safety and staffing meant to create a secure stay for families (childcare, lifeguards). and..at the very least..a clean environment..read some online reviews of the resort by tourist families to get some idea of how people feel about that.

And I guess that is where this mixed use thing is causing such a problem. I was on the code board when we told Sandestin to shut down that carnival thing they had going. Because it was violating so many of the codes and land uses that Walton County had in place, and it appeared to be a safety issue. But if they are going to be family friendly they need stuff like that, but that stuff causes noise and was aggravating the full time retirees.

 

[teamc]

And I guess that is where this mixed use thing is causing such a problem. I was on the code board when we told Sandestin to shut down that carnival thing they had going. Because it was violating so many of the codes and land uses that Walton County had in place, and it appeared to be a safety issue. But if they are going to be family friendly they need stuff like that, but that stuff causes noise and was aggravating the full time retirees.

actually, the adhoc carnival rides and things they put up on the weekends are not "family friendly" fare at all. for the safety reasons you mention. while locally, people may not mind letting their kids use these rides, when competing for the tourist dollar on a national and international level, sandestin would do much better to invest in an architecturally sound and safety supervised waterpark or cordoning off the shallow portion of the shoreline for young swimmers and assigning lifeguards. their ice skating rink was another example of a slapped together "amenity". while the ice skating rink wasn't necessarily a bad idea, we saw MANY families turn away because the very loud music was not comfortable or safe for children's ears. these are some of the ways that an outsider who has some expertise in staying competitive in the industry might be more helpful. you'll note that after stange "retired" intrawest hired a manager of a resort that has gone downhill and offers little to no amenities for its guests who are now few and far between.

 

[DuneLaker]

Today's Sun 5-2-09, A2 states "The Bos Group (of Jacksonville) took over management ... in 1978 after it was acquired by Bohemen, a Netherlands corporation and Dutch Trust called Lakeland BV." Intrawest certainly wasn't local. Even Destin is in the next county, Okaloosa. Sandestin, of course, is not in Destin. It is in Miramar Beach in South Walton of Walton County. One step that could be taken to get a correct perception going would be to kindly inform everyone in Sandestin they should NOT use a Destin address. This would be a no cost marketing tool toward correct marketing. Guests that want to come to what Miramar Beach and South Walton has to offer, may be turned away by any Sandestin person or business that uses a Destin, Okaloosa County address in their marketing.

 

[teamc]

actually, the adhoc carnival rides and things they put up on the weekends are not "family friendly" fare at all. for the safety reasons you mention. while locally, people may not mind letting their kids use these rides, when competing for the tourist dollar on a national and international level, sandestin would do much better to invest in an architecturally sound and safety supervised waterpark or cordoning off the shallow portion of the shoreline for young swimmers and assigning lifeguards. their ice skating rink was another example of a slapped together "amenity". while the ice skating rink wasn't necessarily a bad idea, we saw MANY families turn away because the very loud music was not comfortable or safe for children's ears. these are some of the ways that an outsider who has some expertise in staying competitive in the industry might be more helpful. you'll note that after stange "retired" intrawest hired a manager of a resort that has gone downhill and offers little to no amenities for its guests who are now few and far between.

speaking of not family friendly. i'm sitting here hoping that keith howard's little middle aged frat boy extravaganza at grand boulevard closes down early, so the loud music (grand boulevard is over a mile away from my home) doesn't wake up my little girl for the third time. i guess a bunch of plastic tables and beer coolers full of corona is the kind of marketing that really says "luxury shopping" to some people.

 

[wrobert]

Sandestin they should NOT use a Destin address. This would be a no cost marketing tool toward correct marketing. Guests that want to come to what Miramar Beach and South Walton has to offer, may be turned away by any Sandestin person or business that uses a Destin, Okaloosa County address in their marketing.

You are kidding, right?

 

[ShallowsNole]

Sandestin's mailing address IS Miramar Beach. 32550. I hardly ever run across anyone who lives at or owns property in Sandestin that doesn't use Miramar Beach instead of Destin.

otoh, much of Miramar Beach doesn't like to use Miramar Beach. :roll: That's where we have issues.

 

[momof2kids]

I work at the outlet mall and people are surprised when they ask how far wal mart is from the mall and we say about 6-7 miles into Destin going West. They then respond with "I thought we were in Destin. Oh - that's right, we are in Sandestin". I sometimes correct them and let them know that Sandestin is a resort, not a town and they are in Miramar Beach. I also know a few people that live inside the gates of Sandestin that use either Destin or Sandestin as their mailing address, but with a 32550 zip code.

Some people that moved here prior to the new zip code moved to live in Destin. When the zip code was changed a good friend of mine complained and said that she moved here to live in Destin, not Miramar Beach and wanted to move withing the city limits! LOL!!!

I'm just thankful to have an affordable house in an area I love to live in close to everything I need.

 

[30ashopper]

I work at the outlet mall and people are surprised when they ask how far wal mart is from the mall and we say about 6-7 miles into Destin going West. They then respond with "I thought we were in Destin. Oh - that's right, we are in Sandestin". I sometimes correct them and let them know that Sandestin is a resort, not a town and they are in Miramar Beach. I also know a few people that live inside the gates of Sandestin that use either Destin or Sandestin as their mailing address, but with a 32550 zip code.

Some people that moved here prior to the new zip code moved to live in Destin. When the zip code was changed a good friend of mine complained and said that she moved here to live in Destin, not Miramar Beach and wanted to move withing the city limits! LOL!!!

I'm just thankful to have an affordable house in an area I love to live in close to everything I need.

I still have a few bills that come to Destin. It wasn't very long ago that sandestin residents used either Destin or Sandestin. The PO always delivered the mail regardless so it didn't make any difference. Personally I like having the Miramar Beach address - people always ask - "you live on the beach?" and I'm like, yep.

 

[teamc]

the 8 million subdivisions and town names and zip codes have little or no relevance to tourists looking to visit or vacation in the area. that's kind of where locals get it wrong. yes, i know it matters to you whether or not it's a st. joe's development or it's peter bos in destin or a subdivision in santa rosa, but frankly, visitors are not that esconced in local politics. they don't care. they just call it whatever they call it. the fact that the region can't create a unifying marketing concept for the region has little or nothing to do with the "ignorance" of tourists. it's just not relevant folks and i can't tell you how little visitors want to hear people's lectures about how destin is not 30a is not sandestin, let alone how alys beach is different from rosemary beach. they just want to know where the fun and the amenities are and you can leave the map drawing to the locals.

now..back to sandestin. their problems have NOTHING to do with a zip code. the fact that people don't know it's a resort says something right there.