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On the Town: That time of the year
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Name games?
The city is sponsoring a “Spring Jubilee” tomorrow. It will include a spring egg hunt and a visit by the Spring Bunny. Sound funny to you? Me too.
And here’s the big coincidence. This event, which I’m sure will be fun for kids of all ages, comes the day before Easter. Wow, what are the odds?
Gee if only it could be held March 23, it could be called an Easter Jubilee. But I understand that, as it is not actually on Easter Sunday, they chose to call it a “Spring Jubilee” instead.
But wait. It’s not being held on the first day of spring either. That’s March 20.
If being politically correct is the motive for calling an Easter-related event on Easter weekend a Spring Jubilee, then maybe they should go all the way with it and call the “Saturday evening, day between the first day of Spring, Good Friday and Easter Jubilee”, or “TFDOSGFAEJ festival.” It has a nice ring to it.
By whatever name, the event is from 10 a.m. to noon at Mackle Park. The Spring Egg Hunt is at 11:30 a.m. with about 12,000 Spring Eggs for the kids to find.
They’ll probably be died in traditional Spring Egg colors. And kids can have their photographs taken with the Spring Bunny.
If this name nonsense catches on, I wonder whether perhaps this year they’ll change the name of Christmas Island Style to, what? “December Holiday-Time Island Style?”
What about Thanksgiving? We could call it “Thanks-considering.”
Halloween has ghosts and goblins (ooooh, not PC at all) so maybe we should call it “Kids Go Around and Beg for Carbs” night. Or “Gimme Sugar or I’ll Spray Paint Your Garage Door Night.”
When we get to Arbor Day, we must consider accuracy about and sensitivity of our flora, so we’ll change the name from Arbor Day to “Salute the Trees but Not Palms Because They’re Not Actually Trees But Just Very Tall Members of the Grass Family-Day.”
Greeting cards for that day will have to be extra-large to squeeze in the name.
What do they want from us?
As we reach the official end of “season,” the Easter weekend, which is inordinately early this year, it might be of interest to look at the snowbirds and other visitors who come to share Southwest Florida’s charms with us in what is winter up north.
Statistics on tourism and visitation in Collier County offer these facts:
• Sixty percent of visitors are couples. Singles make up 38 percent.
• The average household income of seasonal visitors to the county is approximately $150,000.
• The average stay for visitors to Collier County from elsewhere in Florida is four days. Visitors from outside Florida stay here for seven days.
• An estimated 90 percent of visitors make their lodging reservations before they come.
• Approximately 89 percent of businesses in the county count on tourism in order to be successful.
• The county collects about $14.3 million in tourist taxes.
Gary Elliott, president of the Marco Island Chamber of Commerce, says there are about 2000 rental houses and condos on the island at any given time. Profiles of renters here show many sty two to three months and are likely to eat out two or three times a week.
“They’re likely to shop at retail stores and use local services,” Elliott says. “So these ‘long-term’ renters are in some ways better for the overall island economy than the short-term visitors who usually stay at hotels.”
Gary says in the busiest time, late February and March, the Marco chamber has 50-60 people a day drop in for information. That’s about 15,000 drop-ins during chamber office hours.
“The number one request is for a map. Second question usually is, ‘Where should we eat?’”
Why do people come here?
“I thought golf would be way up there,” says Elliott, “but it’s not. They say they come for the clean, safe beaches, the overall safety here, a great getaway place, that sort of thing.”
A good visitor promotion
This is a reminder that the Marco Island Chamber of Commerce is working with other business/tourism promotion groups on a special summer booster program.
Merchants are offered a chance to submit a “value added offer”, such as discount certificates. They’ll be publicized in traditional advertising and on the Internet. Visitors can pick up cards — 25,000 are being made — at visitors center when they book overnight stays in the county.
Business people who want to get in on the promotion should e-mail: debide@colliergov.net. It may be too later, but it’s worth a try.
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Don Farmer has been a full-time Marco Islander for ten years and a part-time resident for more than 30 years. He says full-time is better. Farmer welcomes your ideas for column items via e-mail at don@donfarmer.com.
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