Why Travel Matters to the Pensacola Bay Area
Media Contact:
Nicole Stacey
Visit Pensacola
(850) 434-2142
nstacey@visitpensacola.com
Pensacola, Fla. (Friday, May 20) – National Travel and Tourism Week is the annual salute to travel in America. This week, the Pensacola Bay Area community united to express the impact of travel and tourism and to celebrate its successes.
On Tuesday, Majority Opinion Research President Jeff Shusterman shared insights into recent research. Some of the successes highlighted in the report given include:
- More than 2.3 million visitors
- Nearly $840 million in visitor spending
- More than $23 million collected in county taxes
- More than $11 million in tourist development tax
- For every $1 invested, $111 is returned to Pensacola area businesses
- For every $1 invested, $3 is returned in taxes for Escambia County
“By focusing on the area’s quality of place, our community has shown the world our destinations greatest assets. These numbers are a direct reflection of a job well done by the Pensacola community, tourism partners, industry leaders, stakeholders and staff,” Visit Pensacola President Steve Hayes said.”
On Wednesday, the annual Hospitality Hero Awards were presented to front-line staff that go above and beyond to create the Pensacola experience. Award recipients included:
- Chris Barge, Bamboo Willies Beachside Bar
- Johnnie Franklin, Saenger Theatre
- Nicole Howard, Holiday Inn Express North New Warrington Road
- Sandra Sexton, Courtyard by Marriot Downtown Pensacola
- LeeRoy Ybarra, Go Retro
Other events among the week included a travel rally in Downtown Pensacola at the corner of Palafox and Main Streets, assembling Pensacola Experience bags for underserved middle school students in Escambia County during a Tourism Gives Back Day and the Hospitality Olympics; a collection of team events aimed to create friendly competition and camaraderie. Congratulations to this year’s champions, Pensacola Sports.
“This is an exciting time for our community and our industry to come together to celebrate our joint contributions and successes. We’re all so thankful to the community and our partners for taking the time and effort to donate, participate and celebrate with us this week,” Visit Pensacola Board Chairman Rob Overton said.
For more information on National Travel and Tourism Week 2019, visit www.visitpensacola.com/industry/events/hospitality-and-tourism-week-2019/.
About Visit Pensacola
Visit Pensacola is the destination management organization for Escambia County which includes Pensacola, Pensacola Beach and Perdido Key. With over 450 years of rich history and 18 miles of sugar-white sand beaches bordered by the emerald-green waters of the Gulf of Mexico, visitors from all over the world are lured to our pristine shores every year. Visit Pensacola supports the community vision of tourism by serving as the central body responsible for building tourism as an economic engine for our community through leadership, connection, collaboration and communication.