PANAMA CITY BEACH — The Bay County Tourist Development Council (TDC) hopes to lure visitors back to Panama City Beach this fall with events promising “laid-back beach fun.”
At a meeting Tuesday, the TDC approved a $1.6 million spending plan director Dan Rowe presented, with a focus on a continued effort to drive visitation in the off-season.
The big-ticket item came from $425,000 in additional funding for special events this fall, with two weekend music festivals as the centerpiece.
“One is a blues festival and another one is a ‘trop rock’ festival in September,” Rowe said. “We think both of those have a great opportunity to bring additional people to the beach, giving them another excuse to come after the peak travel season.”
Additional expenditures mapped out include a $750,000 plan for summer and fall broadcast advertising, $160,000 for enhancements to Aaron Bessant Park, $100,000 for additional sports marketing efforts, $75,000 for international sales and public relations, and $75,000 to develop an informational video about Bay County’s economy.
The board’s actions were a continuation of a discussion that began last month regarding how to spend nearly $2 million in non-budgeted revenue recently received from the Bay County Commission.
Board members requested staff pare expenditures proposed at the last meeting to allow more funds to be channeled into reserves to use for future capital improvement projects, specifically additional sports facilities.
Ultimately, the amended plan combined the additional dollars with the existing budget to allow the TDC to increase its total reserve value by $1.15 million this year.
The topic also sparked conversation about other destinations that have committed to developing sports facilities that could potentially compete with Panama City Beach.
“We can’t sit back,” said board member Andy Phillips, noting partnership negotiations last summer with the St. Joe Co. to develop additional facilities proved unsuccessful. “Hopefully St. Joe will work with us, but we can’t sit back and be at their mercy.”
Board member Mike Thomas said for the meantime the TDC should focus on maintaining the baseball facilities they have at Frank Brown Park.
“I don’t think we’ll fall in the amount of traffic we have if we keep the fields up,” Thomas said. “If somebody opens something up and maintains it better than we do, that’s our fault.”
With Panama City Beach strapped for funds to maintain the fields, the board moved to channel its $115,500 budget for facilities maintenance to aid the improvements and field upkeep at Frank Brown Park.
The board will continue its discussion on new sports facilities at its meeting next month.
In other business Tuesday:
-The TDC reported a 7.85 percent increase in bed tax collections in Panama City Beach for January over the previous year. The increase pushed the agency to a 6.6 percent increase year to date.
-Mexico Beach reported a 37 percent decrease in collections for January, which tourist development tax specialist Charlene Honnen said could be due to a reporting “glitch” that resulted in a 32 percent increase for the destination in December. Year to date, collections for Mexico Beach remain relatively flat.
-The board approved a roughly $60,000 contract with St. Andrew Bay Resource Management for sea turtle monitoring this year, which takes place May through October in Panama City Beach.
-The board approved additional sponsorship funding for the annual Emerald Coast Cruzin car show event in November as the event’s organizer requested. The TDC will contribute $150,000 to the event, with funds allotted to add a concert element to the car show.