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coastal-edge

Beach Comber
Jul 21, 2009
28
12
www.coastal-edge.com
A few more stories of economic impact. ... Gulf Shores

The positives at this point are economic (yeah it would bring a large amount of people into an area that may not appreciate the overflow, but...). I have not looked into the bed tax, but with this kind of attendance, it would seem like an additional bedtax could be a possibility. There are many other ways to pay though, so I'll post some examples as I find them.
The Alabama Sports Festival held at the end of June in Birmingham produced an estimated economic impact in excess of $16 million. The event attracted 6,000 athletes and 12,000 visitors to the city. Athletes used 29 Birmingham area sports venues to compete in basketball, archery, cycling, lacrosse, gymnastics, soccer, diving, wrestling and other sports competitions. The Alabama Sports Festival is the state?s largest multi-sport event with 20 different sports being represented and was a featured event of state tourism?s Year of Alabama Sports promotion. www.alagames.com


The Alabama Gulf Coast Sports Commission brought 28 unique sports events to the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area in 2008. These events brought in an additional 10,081 room nights and resulted in a total tourism impact of $3,004,227. ?The growth of this niche tourism market has had an obvious positive impact on our expanding shoulder season,? said Herb Malone, president/CEO of the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB). ?Last year was the first full year of the sports commission functioning as a department within the CVB, and I think the results show that this move was a great decision. Plus, our area is fortunate to have a large selection of top-notch facilities, thanks to the Cities of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.?

Showcasing these facilities along with the other destination amenities is a key component in the sports commission?s work. One of the commission?s highlights for 2008 was the AHSAA 4A-6A State Track Championships that brought 1,500 high school athletes from around the state to the Gulf Shores Sportsplex. ?This championship was one of our area?s most successful events for the year,? said Beth Gendler, director of sales for the CVB. ?The event generated over 1,200 room nights for the area, which ultimately resulted in a $377,000 tourism impact. With numbers like these, you can see why we are excited to host this event for the next three years.?

The sports commission is a partnership between the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Alabama Gulf Coast Area Chamber of Commerce and the cities of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach. For more information visit www.alabamabeachsports.com

This is just another sample market, I haven't factored in the projected area yet...
 
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wrobert

Beach Fanatic
Nov 21, 2007
4,134
575
61
DeFuniak Springs
www.defuniaksprings.com
A few more stories of economic impact. ... Gulf Shores
This is just another sample market, I haven't factored in the projected area yet...

So if we took what the average collections are now and then looked at the projected growth by getting people here in the off season, that should be more than enough to pay for the venue at the current tax rate without an additional increase.
 

coastal-edge

Beach Comber
Jul 21, 2009
28
12
www.coastal-edge.com
So if we took what the average collections are now and then looked at the projected growth by getting people here in the off season, that should be more than enough to pay for the venue at the current tax rate without an additional increase.

Wouldn't it be great if you could just turn that in for the RFP and everyone was happy?!
 

Jdarg

SoWal Expert
Feb 15, 2005
18,068
1,973
One word- vision.

Wouldn't it be amazing if more people around here had it.

Vision for the people actually living here,

Vision for the people trying to get more people to buy homes here.

Vision for the people who try to get more visitors to come here.
 

GoodWitch58

Beach Fanatic
Oct 10, 2005
4,816
1,921
One word- vision.

Wouldn't it be amazing if more people around here had it.

Vision for the people actually living here,

Vision for the people trying to get more people to buy homes here.

Vision for the people who try to get more visitors to come here.

Sure would. IMO that is one of the missing ingredients...

somewhere, though, there is a huge file with Vision 2020 on the front of it...many of us worked for weeks on that project back in 1999-2000--and as far as I know, nothing ever came of it.

Now, the powers that be in local government have cranked up yet another Vision project...and when I inquired about what happened to all the info from the other one, I was told that information "was no longer relevant"...

I guess I just don't see how a Vision developed for 2020, in 2000, can be completely out of date in 2009---:dunno:

Maybe someone can enlighten me...
 
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Busta Hustle

Beach Fanatic
Apr 11, 2007
434
34
people, people your vision is a reality today a Hammock Bay. 3000 acres ball fields tennis courts swimming pools nature trails fitness centers and some of the lowest housing cost and amenities fees in Florida.

Vision an electric bus loading children every afternoon from the southside education centers for the short trek across scenic 331 to a bay side park unequaled and provided by a visionary ahead of his time.

and no investment $$ needed for studies or building of or the day to day operation of the facilities on the part of an overtaxed citizenry.
 
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Mango

SoWal Insider
Apr 7, 2006
9,709
1,360
New York/ Santa Rosa Beach
My neighbor is involved in a baseball camp further north of us that houses children from all over the world, mainly China, because the facility is not located in a resort area. A multi Sports complex in a resort area will have no bounds and with the international airport nearing completion, with the right marketing, this could be a huge boon for the area. I can't tell you how seriously other countries take their youth sports. Couple that with sports tournaments and such inter-state and the cultural arts section... wow.
I hope whoever they decide to use for the feasibility study also examines the international aspect of this well.

Check out page 28 of the pdf link above. It has the different sports broken down by acreage. I tried to copy and paste it.
 

beachmouse

Beach Fanatic
Dec 5, 2004
3,504
741
Bluewater Bay, FL
One thing to remember with youth sports events is that it's not always kids + parents on the trip. It's frequently kids + chaperone that may or may not adequately supervise the young athletes. My parents' condo complex has had to kick out a team from one of the post-Christmas high school basketball tournaments for several years running because of inadequate supervision from the alleged responsible adults involved and the kids doing moderately dumb stuff unchecked.
 
This is such a good idea it is scary that it is being considered. Our area promotes family oriented tourism, so having sports activities for youth will bring in large numbers of families and participants. Adult sports bring in large crowds as well. If scheduled right the project could provide needed relief during non-peak months.:clap:
 

coastal-edge

Beach Comber
Jul 21, 2009
28
12
www.coastal-edge.com
The bottom line is...

Is it worthwhile to add an additional bedtax to pay for a long-term investment in the community?

What are the benefits?

Economically: The facility attracts nonresident visitors who spend money in the local community both inside and outside of the events and facilities they visit. This new outside money creates income and jobs for community residents (via economic impact), thus completing the cycle.


Good will... Yes, competetive sports are income producing, but another wonderful benefit is that they provide outreach possibilites for the local community. Is is also an alternative to the beach that may extend the stay of visitors during off-season months.

Desired result: When community residents, and seasonal "guests" provide the initial funds, the return on investment is in the form of new jobs and more household income that come from the greater economic impact of the project. This could provide another desperately needed funding source during the shoulder seasons.

The purpose of the economic-impact studies (in the posts above) is to measure the economic return to residents. This has been lightly illustrated in the few case studies by PCB and Gulf Shores

The return is farther reaching then just an indoor pool and some additional playing fields.

Additional "sharing" possibilities, and site/event attraction will come from: local college programs, highschool athletics, regional tournaments, international events.

The possibilities are wide and varied.



...Still researching, and will share a few more case studies as I find them.
 
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