by Mary-Kate Roan
Staff Writer
It was because of the economic situation that the nation is in that the Visit Jacksonville annual luncheon was transformed into a snack bar at the Florida Theater. But that didn’t dampen the spirits of the meeting.
“This is a great place to come together and visit,” said Mayor John Peyton, adding that he and his staff work very hard to make Jacksonville a place people want to visit. “Last year on July 4 the hotels in Jacksonville were full for the first time.”
“One of the great things about (being City Council president) is that I get to meet people,” said Ronnie Fussell. “Most people if you talk to them love this city.”
Fussell also added that if people have a good time in Jacksonville, they will return.
The meeting was held mainly for the traditional compass to be passed from Visit Jacksonville Chair Madeline Scales-Taylor to chair-elect Scott Stuckey. Scales-Taylor was given a painting by local artist Tiffany Rodriguez titled “No Child Left Behind.”
“Last year we had a new name, brand and direction that launched Visit Jacksonville,” said Scales-Taylor. “Some others down the road – like Orlando – have tried to emulate our success, but the power of the product will speak for itself.”
Scales-Taylor added that over the past year over 900 stories had been placed in publications discussing Jacksonville, which was an 89-percent increase over the past year.
“Over 111 million people were reached through the media,” said Scales-Taylor.
Scales-Taylor also added that at the end of 2010 the Prime Osborn Convention Center’s bonds will expire. She proposes that the bed tax dollars go to a new convention center.
Stuckey added that Visit Jacksonville understood the current economic situation and how it impacted daily lives. He added that Visit Jacksonville was working towards short and long term solutions to help the economy and tourism in Jacksonville.
“We’re offering incentives through the hotels,” said Stuckey, who is the general manager of the Omni Hotel. “We have the Escape to Jacksonville Campaign that targets tourists driving up to three hours to visit.”
Stuckey added that Carnival Cruise Line was invested in Jacksonville, having recently introduced the Carnival Fascination ship to its Jacksonville fleet.
Wayne Reed, president of The R.A.M. Professional Group, introduced the keynote speaker for the luncheon, Sean Snaith, director of the University of Central Florida Institute for Economic Competitiveness.
“The unknown is a terrible place,” said Snaith, likening that the uncertain times that the economy is facing are like the ones faced by explorers. “There are so many new things, so there’s a lot of talk about a recession and the Great Depression.”
Snaith believes that people shouldn’t listen to the talk about another depression coming around. However, he does believe that the economy is in a recession. Snaith doesn’t believe that the current economic state will evolve into another depression.
“The Great Depression was a recession made worse by bad policy decisions,” said Snaith, adding that current policy makers have more knowledge about the economy than their predecessors.
Snaith believes it will be a rough holiday season, but that the recession will last until at the earliest 2009.
“The Florida recovery won’t take root until late 2009 or early 2010,” said Snaith.
Snaith added that the current credit crunch was a problem because there is no trust.
“These days, you need a little more than a pulse and a pencil to get a mortgage,” said Snaith.
But people are still coming to Jacksonville.
“With all the people coming to Florida, Jacksonville should be a stop for them,” said Peyton.
Snaith added that he thinks Jacksonville will come out of the recession faster than other cities.
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