PANAMA CITY — No bed tax money is budgeted in the coming fiscal year to market Spring Break on Panama City Beach, the executive director of the Bay County Tourist Development Council (TDC) said Tuesday.
“Right now, there is no money allocated,” Dan Rowe told Bay County commissioners.
As the bed-tax revenues budgeted to market Spring Break have declined gradually in recent years, tourism on Panama City Beach is doing quite well throughout the year, he said.
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Rowe said there has been a 93 percent increase in the tax revenues generated from hotel stays from visitors from fiscal year 2005 to fiscal year 2014. “So the beach has been doing very, very well over the last 10 years,” he said.
He said the TDC’s online marketing campaign emphasizes Panama City Beach is “a real fun beach.”
“It takes you to another landing page that has a lot of different images of Panama City Beach,” he said. “Some of them are user-generated. Our visitors took the photos. Others are photos we put up there to tell people all the things they can see and do on Panama City Beach.”
The TDC also has been advertising more fall festivals, and the effort is paying dividends, with fall bed-tax collections increasing 126 percent over 10 years, he said.
Rowe made the comments in an update to the Bay County Commission on the status of the digital marketing campaign to advertise Panama City Beach to visitors.
“Our investment in Spring Break marketing has gone down substantially,” he said.
He said he can’t speak for the TDC board, but it is his belief the only funds the board will approve to be spent for college Spring Break in the coming year will be to inform spring breakers of the steps law enforcement has recommended and the Panama City Beach Council is implementing to tone down the celebration.
“Our spending on Spring Break [promotion] has gone from just under $400,000 in 2005 to $100,000 last year,” he said. “In 2005, it was 12.6 percent of entire budget. Last year, it was 0.7 percent of the budget.”
Commissioners praised the TDC for spending less on promoting Spring Break and the increasing tourism numbers.
CountyCommissionChairman Guy Tunnell said a lot of people are probably not aware of the TDC’s changes in advertising strategy. “I think that is commendable,” he said.
Rowe said last year the TDC spent money promoting Spring Break on Google AdWords.
“So there was nothing salacious about even the money that we spent last year,” he said.
RESTORE project supported
In other action Tuesday, the County Commission approved a letter of support to Gov. Rick Scott recommending nomination of the Northwest Florida Estuaries Restoration project to the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council for funding from the council’s RESTORE Act funds.
The council is accepting nominations for projects to be funded through the second pot of the RESTORE Act funds. Nominations can be made only by members of the council — the governors of five Gulf Coast states and representatives of six federal agencies. About $150 million to $180 million is available statewide.
The project would allocate $2 million to each of the eight estuaries from Perdido Bay to the St. Marks River. The working group within each watershed would identify the most important projects to be funded through the initiative.
Commissioner Mike Thomas warned about possible added costs of these types of environmental programs that aren’t obvious when the projects are approved. He said oversight of the programs could “create a lasting debt on this county forever.”
Animal control changes
The commission also approved of revisions to the county’s animal control ordinance.
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The new wording prohibits pets from being “at large” and in public beaches and parks.
“No owner or caretaker of an animal shall willfully allow such animal into or upon any beach or public park,” the revised ordinance states. “This section shall not apply to any dog trained to aid a disabled person or any parks or beaches in which animals are specifically authorized.”
Commissioners decided not to go along with Bill Dozier’s suggestion that pet owners need to have their animals in public places restrained by leases instead of just verbal control. The ordinance change also defines adequate shelter for an animal as “access to a structure having a roof, walls and a floor, which is dry, clean and designed to provide access to shade and to protect the animal from the elements.”