Do you think WACO Ramblers will don black turtlenecks and jam with some technosynth?:funn:
Airport, The Holy Grail?
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I consistently golf with a European group of 25-50 Brits/Scots, all of whom can afford any real estate in Florida, but chose Central Florida for it's amenities and easy access by international airport. Most of this well to do group have limited knowledge of the panhandle, and would no doubt enjoy the same venue we all cherish here. Time will certainly tell, but I believe the first wave will begin after the airport is finished and will swell by word of mouth.
Cil
Beach Fanatic
Yes. At the present time, many Americans have limited knowledge of the panhandle.
When we told our Colorado friends where we were moving, they had no understanding of the climate, terrain, etc. Florida is all Miami/Disney to them.
There is an airline, Flyglobespan, whose route is designed strictly for Brit (or other European) tourists.
It regularly flies Glasgow>Sanford/Orlando. This is how our kid got home from France last year; his ticket was dirt cheap, he was the only American on board.
I agree with Beachmouse that as it stands now, the panhandle is more for Euros who look to get off the beaten Spain/France/Greece package-deal path.
Time will indeed tell, but I am still shaking my head in amazement over the fact that two 30-something Belgians could find PSJ.
Bob, is the girl in the picture is trying to take a close up of her teeth to see if she has any spinach stuck in them?
Nah, I think she's an overseas tourist who was so excited about the cost of the camera that she threw away the box and instruction manual. It's very easy for knuckleheads to get ahead of themselves.
Bush will never see the Ivory Billed Woodpecker that way.
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I agree. My mother lived in the British Riviera for a while, and I have had other family live in Europe for extended times. They will come here.
This area does have a culture. It is distinctly Southern.
My experience has been they just eat up all things American. With the proper marketing and word of mouth, eventually they will find their way here and try this as opposed to Tenerife Spain, Barbados and the like.
Not saying they will come here in droves at the mere mention of a direct flight to PCB, but if there is one, eventually it will happen.
(and no Skunky, the WACO's will not have to dress like the Beatles.
)I would love to see a direct flight to the area from New York, but being a life long New Yorker, I can not see it attracting little more than spring breakers to PCB. New Yorkers are rather clanish in respect to where they congregate in Florida. I am not totally convinced it is just because those areas are easy to get to via Jet Blue.
But I do see Europeans as more open minded, and I can see the attraction to coming to this area for them.
GW is looking at his future.
I seem to remember that there have been multiple TDC-sponsored trips where they've brought Northeastern US and UK travel journalists and travel industry players down to the area. So the local TDCs have been trying to go beyond the South for business for a while now.
The thing you've got to remember when you're reaching out to potential visitors outside the South is to target spring and fall. Winter down here is unpredicatable and can be out and out cold, and here isn't somewhere you want to go that time of year if you're only talking a week's vacation. (The snowbirds are here long enough that the really lousy weather averages out with the warmer weeks) And summer, people already have long-established summer beach spots that are not likely to change. Someone in Chicago is still going to hit Saugatuck or Charlevoix because it's much closer, and frankly the summer weather along Lake Michigan is much, much nicer than summer weather in Florida.
But there's still excess capacity here during the spring break season, and even more during the lovely fall months. Maybe run some last minute specials programs during September since the weather is most likely to be iffy, and then really go after the Autumn Tides whatever for October and November because not everyone wants to spend their vacation on yet another leaf color tour.
The thing you've got to remember when you're reaching out to potential visitors outside the South is to target spring and fall. Winter down here is unpredicatable and can be out and out cold, and here isn't somewhere you want to go that time of year if you're only talking a week's vacation. (The snowbirds are here long enough that the really lousy weather averages out with the warmer weeks) And summer, people already have long-established summer beach spots that are not likely to change. Someone in Chicago is still going to hit Saugatuck or Charlevoix because it's much closer, and frankly the summer weather along Lake Michigan is much, much nicer than summer weather in Florida.
But there's still excess capacity here during the spring break season, and even more during the lovely fall months. Maybe run some last minute specials programs during September since the weather is most likely to be iffy, and then really go after the Autumn Tides whatever for October and November because not everyone wants to spend their vacation on yet another leaf color tour.