Lee County VCB’s executive director speaks at chamber luncheon
The Sanibel and Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce held its monthly business luncheon on Oct. 9 at the Captiva Island Yacht Club, with Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau Executive Director Tamara Pigott as the guest speaker.
Pigott directs the VCB staff to market the county, leverages tourist tax fund expenditures and resources, and evaluates and develops all market segments. She opened her presentation with the results of the 2018 Island Hopper Songwriter Fest, which featured a convenient new mobile app and was advertised for the first time in the Tampa and Miami areas.
Pigott briefly addressed the OneLee campaign to encourage local shopping, but focused on red tide recovery plans. The VCB has received two grants to be used for advertising in the New York Times, the Southwest Florida region and through a specialized Google campaign. The water crisis action plan also includes a lineup of press conferences and paid media.
“It’s a big plan, but we are ready to go when given the green light. We just need a little cooperation from Mather Nature,” Pigott said.
She reported that tourist tax revenue is up by 6.8 percent for the fiscal year due to a strong fourth quarter in 2017. However, August revenue is reportedly down by 16.4 percent.
Luncheon sponsor Vector & Ink unveiled the chamber’s 2019 Visitor’s Guide cover, which features a photograph by Rob Hoovis, owner of Old Sparky Productions. Published by Vector & Ink, the guide will be available in late January at the Visitor’s Center. Over 120,000 copies are distributed each year.
“We are very proud of the Visitor’s Guide and congratulate Rob (Hoovis) on his winning photograph,” chamber President John Lai said. “It will be seen by thousands of people, who will pick it up and learn about our islands.”
Attendees were invited to attend the VCB’s annual sales and marketing meeting on Nov. 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Westin Cape Coral Resort in Cape Coral. It is being held in conjunction with the Tourist Development Council meeting, which will begin at 9 a.m.
The chamber’s next business luncheon is on Nov. 13 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at The Community House on Sanibel, with catering by the Sanibel Catering Co. Community Housing and Resources Executive Director Melissa Rice will be the guest speaker and Bailey’s General Store is the sponsor.