SCCF addresses nature tourism at chamber luncheon
The SanCap Chamber held its business luncheon on March 19 at The Community House on Sanibel, featuring guest speakers from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF).
Island business owners in attendance learned how they can tap into the SCCF’s programs to engage guests in Sanibel and Captiva nature initiatives, working together to attract tourism.
“People are here on vacation, and we receive grant funds from the (Lee County) Tourism Development Council to work on a campaign that will help market specifically to visitors these great programs and opportunities,” SCCF’s Sanibel Sea School Director Shannon Rivard said. “Our goal is to draw more people to the islands to engage and learn and explore with us. And hopefully that means more people in your resorts, going to your businesses, coming to your restaurant.”
She enumerated programs that visitors can join, including daily Sanibel Sea School sessions and private customized classes, guided beach walks at local resorts, and voluntourism activities.
“Nature is the foundation of the island visitor experience,” Rivard said. “Visitors can quickly become a part of our team.”
“I think we invented nature tourism here on the islands, thanks to SCCF and our other strong conservation organizations,” chamber President and Chief Executive Officer John Lai said. “Their programs attract exactly the type of visitor we value most, those with an appreciation for our greatest treasures and a willingness to become involved in those defining initiatives.”
The SCCF’s Coastal Watch Director Kealy Pfau spoke on new voluntourism programs to engage visitors.
“It’s a really great thing when visitors can have experiences and the community benefits,” she said.
Pfau described the new gopher tortoise program to help the species’ recovery post-hurricanes. Other activities available for guest volunteers include trail clean-up, oyster bed restoration and mangrove restoration. The latter ranges from helping plant mangroves in the estuaries to adopting a mangrove to nurture and return for planting. She reported that guests from near and far have successfully raised mangrove seedlings to plant-able status.
“Overall, these are not passive experiences, these are active experiences — hands-on opportunities for our visitors to really understand how this community works,” Pfau said.
The luncheon was sponsored by the SCCF.