St. Augustine Record editorial on growth of civil rights tourism with Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor status from Department of the Interior and National Park Service

Sunday, May 19, 2013
Our view: Our home on many travel bucket lists
Florida’s Historic Coast got a double-dose of good news this past week. On Wednesday, we learned the Department of the Interior had given final approval to the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Management Plan. As reported in The Record, the 8-million-acre corridor stretches in a long arc from Wilmington, N.C., to St. Augustine and honors those in the African-American community who made their way to Florida with an ideal and a promise of freedom.
In an editorial published in 2009, we noted than many people share the vision of increasing African-American tourism in St. Johns County. We suggested being a stop on the Gullah Geechee corridor is a step in that direction. In August of last year we urged our readers to express support for the management plan to the Corridor Commission. Previously the plan had received the support of both the St. Johns County and the St. Augustine City commissions.
At the same time the good news about the Gullah Geechee Corridor was spreading, the 4th Annual State of the Tourism Industry summit was convening in the conference center at World Golf Village. It brought together about 200 leaders involved with tourism in St. Johns County, including those associated with attractions, lodging facilities and related enterprises.
Peter Yesawich, vice president of MMGY Global, gave a keynote presentation that provided a profile of the American traveler. MMGY Global touts itself at the world’s largest and most integrated travel marketing firm. Yesawich reported travelers are more confident than they have been in the last four years. He said 28 percent of travelers earning more than $50,000 annually, who plan to travel at least once, want to visit St. Augustine during the next two years. This was the same percentage received by larger destinations, such as West Palm Beach and Phoenix/Scottsdale.
But even more telling was another statistic that paints an interesting picture of travelers who hope to visit St. Augustine. People were asked if they would be interested in attending historical events when traveling. Fifty percent of those who would like to visit St. Augustine responded positively while only about a third of all people queried expressed the same interest.
Richard Goldman, executive director of the Visitors and Convention Bureau (VCB), told The Record they are seeing great traction for the work they have done in bringing the celebration of Florida’s 500th anniversary to the rest of the world. He noted the comparable value of publicity received during the past seven months was estimated at $168 million. For those who like to see a positive return on investment, this figure represents approximately 54 times the amount of the VCB’s annual budget.
Goldman said he was a little surprised and very pleased when he learned how many tourists know about Florida’s Historic Coast and want to visit here.
We could think of scores of reasons why folks would want to visit our area and with the adoption of the Gullah Geechee Management Plan, our list just grew by one.