Feature Story

Come for the Weather
Stay for the “Business” Climate
By Gretchen Cain
Published: June / July 2008

This issue of BABM focuses on tourism and travel. Just as stately palm trees and sandy beaches go together, tourism and travel complement each other equally well and those industries are largely what drive Florida’s economy. According to www.VisitFlorida.org, a web site replete with statistics:

• 82.4 million people visited Florida in 2007. That's more than the population of New York, California and Texas combined.

• Taxable spending in tourism totaled $65 billion in 2006. If you place 65 billion dollar bills end-to-end, they would circle the world 247 times.

• 991,300 people were directly employed in travel-related jobs in 2007. That’s 7 jobs for every 2006 Florida high school graduate.

The average length of stay for domestic visitors was five nights in 2007. That’s five chances for a sunset at one of Florida’s pristine beaches, lakes or rivers.

Florida’s amenities are vast and diverse in order to attract and meet the needs of its tourists, who could be grouped as families on vacation, seasonal residents, spring-breakers, newlyweds on their honeymoon, people on weekend getaways, business people attending conventions, business people looking for relocation opportunities, or any combination thereof.

Today’s traveling salesperson is also a tourist.

Walt Steinheimer, a 1979 graduate of Rutgers University, NJ, in Accounting and Computer Science, and a business consultant for the Institute of Independent Business (IBI), still remembers the very first time he crossed the state line from Georgia into Florida in 1983. “The nickname, Sunshine State, lived up to its billing. The sky, having been overcast in Georgia, cleared up and the day became bathed in brilliant Florida sunshine.”

Steinheimer moved to Nigeria in 2003 as a financial consultant and eventually shifted into the travel and hospitality business. He owned a travel agency and personal support logistics business before leaving Nigeria to resettle in Seminole, FL in 2007. Steinheimer is looking forward to attending the upcoming IBI annual convention in Orlando and attends numerous meetings from Sarasota to Inverness.

According to Steinheimer, business people are twice as motivated as other visitors to choose Florida as their destination. They have the same rest and relaxation reasons as other tourists:

• The weather - year-round sunshine, mild winters

• Family-friendly, world-class attractions - Disney World, Sea World, Kennedy Space Center, Busch Gardens, just to name a few

• Miles of beaches - more than 1,200 miles of sandy beaches

• Great airport facilities

• Beautiful highways

• Numerous shopping options

Additionally, business people appreciate:

• Great conference facilities

• Frequent flight schedules from major international air hubs

• Golf courses - more than 1,250

• Plenty of hotel space - more than 370,000 rooms with competitive rates. Where San Francisco and New York City strive for convention business, Florida's competitive rates give us a leg up on drawing convention business here. Las Vegas offers similarly competitive rates, but Florida is more attractive for conventions that are inclined to holding an event in a more family-friendly environment.

• Lure of world-class attractions (as listed above) - provides the businessperson the option of bringing his/her family along, since they have plenty of entertainment available while business is conducted (either in conference or on the golf course).

• Great restaurants for eating and meetings!

Ingrid Schroeder Levy, CEO of Braztex International in Tampa, agrees. “As members of a trading company with businesses all over the world, every time we travel overseas to check on a new venture, visit a client or just get away is a new opportunity for us to see trends and how our business can benefit from them,” said Schroeder Levy. She described how establishing Braztex International, a subsidiary of her family-owned Brazilian company in the United States, was a similar experience.

“After spending another lovely family vacation in Clearwater Beach, it just dawned on me that an exclusive, dashing and glamorous beachwear line would perfectly match the most upscale, fashion-oriented American women. With our textiles manufacturing facilities in Brazil ready to take on the new challenge, we developed our whole swimwear and resort line from scratch and after less than a year, Bossa al Mare is already offering its affordable luxury couture swimsuits in the most affluent specialty boutiques in the United States,” said Schroeder Levy.

“We understood that, from a business perspective, establishing a presence here in the U.S. close to our clients was a must, and setting up our sales office and distribution center here in the Tampa Bay area was a natural choice. We have a great market to explore right here - the business atmosphere is perfect, taxes are not too overwhelming, the harbor and the international airport offer the necessary facilities for efficient logistics, not to mention the beautiful weather, area attractions and the friendly people. Our experience here has been so great we have been consulting for Brazilian companies seeking businesses in the U.S. and their perspectives look just as good,” she said.

Mixing Business With Pleasure

At least 50% of tourists return to Florida for a second visit, bringing family and friends with them, especially if they have had a “5 star” visit. In 2006, Pinellas County statistics categorized visitors as 92.2 % being on vacation; 13.1% seeing friends or relatives; 14.6% traveling for business and 10% attending conferences and meetings, according to www.KlagesGroup.com.

Kevin Lothridge, CEO of the National Forensic Science Technology Center (NFSTC) said he isn’t surprised at the breakdown of business-related visitors and understands the importance of mixing business with pleasure. The NFSTC, a 501(c)3 corporation headquartered in Largo, has several conferences a year in the Tampa Bay area attended by domestic and international travelers.

“We use a variety of hotels,” said Lothridge. “When planning these events we try to include a venue such as a museum, park or other attraction to showcase the local area.

The Tourism Industry

Since we use federal funding to provide the travel, lodging and per diem for all the attendees of these meetings, many bring a spouse or significant other along with them to enjoy our wonderful area. The NFSTC has worked with many international partners and they always look forward to coming to the Tampa Bay area. Our partners tell us that the combination of weather, technical resources and reasonable cost make this a good place to do business,” said Lothridge.

Companies generally peruse the Internet or work with travel agencies to determine the best place for their convention. Internet sites and travel agencies in turn rely on the Florida Department of Tourism and county entities, such as the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB). In Pinellas County, the bureau promotes the region as a convention, conference, leisure, sports and film production destination, all significant lures for business people (www.floridasbeach.com).

According to D.T. Minich, the newly-appointed Executive Director of the CVB, a new web site is under construction (www.PinellasCVB.com) that will be tailored to service the needs of the tourism industry, with up-to-date statistics and economic information. Recently, Rosemarie Payne, Director of Leisure Travel for the CVB, worked with a prestigious group of travel professionals from Germany. “We were delighted to have the opportunity to create an itinerary, along with our counterparts in Orlando, to allow these travel agents to experience the best of Florida. Our goal is to have them return to Germany excited and enthusiastic about promoting our fantastic attractions, accommodations and award-winning beaches,” she said.

Still another means for a business to learn about visiting and even moving to the Tampa Bay area is the Pinellas County Department of Economic Development (PCED). Amanda Artingstall, CEO of Child Awareness USA, related her very positive relocation experience with Jennifer Olsen, PCED Business Development Manager. Artingstall said West Virginia offered more enticing business incentives than Florida, but the “Mountain State” didn’t rate as highly in the “fun spent in the sun” category. As businessman Walt Steinheimer referred to earlier, Artingstall was enchanted with the warm sunshine Florida offered, a stark contrast to the wet, gloomy weather of her native Manchester, England.

“One visit to Florida was all it took. We fell in love with the Florida lifestyle. It was wonderful to spend time outside, instead of indoors, huddled around the television. Jennifer showed us the area, even found us an apartment in a gated community. With her advice and assistance we brought the family, company and employees here,” said Artingstall.

D.T. Minich, of the Pinellas CVB, is happy that business people are among the throng of Florida tourists, whether they visit once, or so frequently that they become residents. “It is very good for the area and economic development,” he said.

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