by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
The City’s Tourist Development Council unanimously agreed to award a $10,000 grant Thursday to The Great Race 2004.
Project organizers, who were not a present at the meeting, said the money will be used to help promote the event statewide.
“ We’re very appreciative of the TDC for their support on this,” said Chris Sutton.
Sutton, a project manager with the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, has been overseeing much of the race’s preliminary budget concerns since it was announced earlier this year that the 4,000–mile race would start in Jacksonville. It’s not a “race” in teams of speed – rather, it’s an assembly of vintage cars which will make a cross-country run wihin speed limits.
“We have always worked well with the TDC and, with this money, we hope to make them proud by making this event a success,” he said.
Per the terms of the agreement, Sutton said the TDC wanted assurance the event would generate regional interest and, more importantly, “heads in beds.”
“ It’s hard to say because this is a first-time event locally, but we’ve actually gotten a signed contract with the Adam’s Mark for 666 rooms, but we’re hoping that’s actually more of a conservative estimate,” he said. “In all likelihood we expect upwards of 900 rooms to be booked, though we don’t have a contract.”
And with the necessary funding in place, Sutton said statewide marketing efforts should begin by the end of April.
“We anticipate somewhere around 30 days is when we’ll really start promoting it outside of Jacksonville,” he said. “We’ll probably have literature in place at different events across the state, place ads in different car club magazines and also perform some direct mailings to auto clubs in Florida and Southern Georgia.”
Sutton said a list of contacts generated by the Great Race advisory board will also be made available.
Local promotion, including television and radio spots, will begin airing in late May or early June.
“ Later this year when the race starts in Jacksonville, we expect a lot of car buzz from all over the state, which is very exciting,” he said. “Given the amount of time we have until then, we’re confident we can make the event a success in Jacksonville.”