by Caroline Gabsewics
Staff Writer
Since Visit Jacksonville’s annual meeting in November, the organization has been taking several steps in carrying out its vision for 2008.
At the annual meeting, members announced the group’s new name of Visit Jacksonville — replacing The Jacksonville & the Beaches Convention and Visitors Bureau.
On Jan. 1, Visit Jacksonville will launch the “Jacksonville: America’s Health Center” marketing campaign. And earlier this month, the organization created a new position to help bring conventions to Jacksonville during the hotel industry’s “slow months.”
Alex Michaels was brought on board to spearhead this new effort to bring conventions to Jacksonville between the months of July and December. As Visit Jacksonville’s special markets sales manager, Michaels will promote Jacksonville to the military, hobbyists, religious groups, and fraternal and education markets, said Lyndsay Rossman, Visit Jacksonville’s director of corporate communications.
Michaels has been in the hospitality business since college. Most recently, he was sales manager for the Daytona Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Daytona Beach Resort and Conference Center.
“The one thing that drew me here was the staff that they have established,” said Michaels. “I had met the sales team in the past, and just in the way they presented themselves, they really stand out. They were always happy and excited and there was a buzz out there about them.”
Michaels said he would communicate with the Jacksonville group often about business, but he never really thought about moving two hours up the coast to join Visit Jacksonville.
“An opportunity arose and they asked me if I would like to be a part of their sales team,” he said. “When they presented the job to me, I realized I had never been a part of something like this.
“It was exciting for me to come on board because they were really setting me up for success.”
Two weeks into his new job, Michaels has been traveling around Northeast Florida introducing himself to the management teams at all the area hotels. For right now, he is taking the time to learn more about the area and all it has to offer.
There was a study done by Visit Jacksonville about a year ago that showed what the area hotels were in need of. Results showed that in Jacksonville, hotels see a decrease in room occupancy between July and December.
“A lot of things can play into that,” he said. “It’s hurricane season, kids are going back to school, and then it’s the holidays. It seems like the first six months are very busy and then it tapers off in July.”
Michaels said if a meeting planner contacts him and wants to bring a group to Jacksonville in June, he will ask them to see if they can come in a month like September when it is less busy.
Rossman said Visit Jacksonville also wants to educate those meeting planners who have never even thought about bringing a group to Jacksonville.
“We want to show what Jacksonville has to offer,” she said.
Michaels added that a lot of people don’t know Jacksonville is here unless they see it.
“If people come to Jacksonville and see it they will be more willing to come here,” he said.
Rossman said after meeting planners visit Jacksonville, about 85 percent decide to bring their meeting here.
When Visit Jacksonville’s new Web site is launched, an entire page will be dedicated to meeting planners and will include “Hot Dates, Hot Rates.” It will show the hotels offering special rates on certain days in the months between July and December.
“What makes Jacksonville attractive is that we are a value-oriented destination,” said Rossman.
Michaels is also working on adding incentives for meeting planners to offer to their groups. The incentives are currently in the works, but Rossman said some examples include free or discounted meeting space, rooms, catering or audio/visual equipment.
“These are the little things that will set us apart,” she said.
This new position at Visit Jacksonville was a part of the organization’s vision for 2008, because it was something that their hotel partners asked for.
“I am excited for the opportunity to be here and be a part of this team,” said Michaels. “Right now, I am just educating myself and it is the perfect opportunity for me to do that during the hotels’ slow period.”