Let the summer begin: Memorial Day Weekend, planning for the Fourth of July and travel tipping!

Talkin' Tourism co-host Robin Hicks-Connor with Stuart Main
Street manager Thondra Lanese.

On a beautiful start of the Memorial Day Weekend, Talkin’ Tourism’s Gary Guertin and Robin Hicks-Connor were certainly in the mood to “let the summer begin”!  After chatting about the week’s past activities, including the "Ladies, Let’s Go Fishing Seminar!" that was held at Pirates Cove Resort and Marina and the recently completed Francis Langford Memorial Fishing Tournament, the travel-talk duo had a lively conversation with guest Thondra Lanese, the manager of Stuart Main Street.

The Fourth of July is right around the corner and the planning of this year’s celebration is well underway.  The more important topic was that Stuart Main Street is teaming with the Historic Stuart Downtown Business Association to create an even bigger event for 2013.  Downtown Stuart has certainly become a major waterfront destination over the years, offering residents and guest a wide assortment of dining options, waterfront entertainment, theater, shopping, art galleries, museums and more. This is so important to our year-round tourism initiatives. Great work Thondra!

Since it was Memorial Day Weekend, Gary and Robin wanted to ensure listeners celebrated responsibly and knew about the Tow and Go program, a partnership between AAA and Budweiser.  The tow trucks can only take two people home at time for this program, so if your group has more than two people who need assistance, have a "Plan B" because you will have to make other arrangements to get a group home safely.

With vacation season here, Gary challenged Robin and Thondra to a little quiz about proper tipping. In case you want to quiz your family and friends, here's the link to the quiz so that you can see how much your family and friends know about tipping.

Thanks for joining Talkin' Touism this week. See you next Friday!

Here's the link to this week's Talkin' Tourism Memorial Day Weekend Tribute audio file.

Silver Airways, fishing fun, and Memorial Day Weekend Travel forecasts from AAA

TCBA Executive Director Maddie Williams
with Talkin' Tourism producer and hos
Gary Guertin.

With the summer boating season at hand, there are a slew of fishing tournaments slated for the Treasure Coast (and Beyond).  Maddie Williams, the executive director of the Treasure Coast Builders Association (TCBA), joined Talkin' Tourism hosts Gary Guertin and Robin Hicks-Connors in the Sailfish Marina studio to give an update on the big TCBA Memorial Day Weekend Fishing Tournament coming up.  There have been a number of changes to this Treasure Coast fishing tradition and Maddie outlined them for our listeners.

Spreading our wings (so to speak) special guest call-in Matthew Holliday, VP of Sales and Marketing for newly formed Silver Airways based in Ft. Lauderdale, gave our listeners an update on new services to the Family Islands and, believe it or not, service to Freeport, Grand Bahama Island from Palm Beach, Florida!

For those looking for a great and cost effective way to travel to North Eleuthera, Bimini, Abaco, or George Town, Exuma you may want to check Silver Airways out. According to Matthew, the number of planes in the fleet will increase over the coming year with service to additional islands. (APPLAUSE!)

Lots of other fun and tropical conversation ensued afterwards, including some great statistics provided by AAA Auto Club South on predicted Memorial Weekend travel.  The economy may be challenged but lots of people will be taking trips over the holiday weekend…about 34 million of them!

Thanks for listening and tuning in each and every week. If you missed this week's show, here's the Silver Airways, Fishing Fun and Who's Traveling Memorial Day Weekend audio file for your listening pleasure!

"See you" next week!

It's Better in The Bahamas, Traveling with Kids, and Fishing Fun!

So, you want to travel to one of the Family Islands in The Bahamas. If traveling by air, there are many options—private charter, shared charter, regular airline, seaplane and more. This week special call-in guest Matthew Holliday, Vice-President of Marketing and sales of Silver Airways, will let listeners know more about "his" airline, Silver Airways (a newly formed company evolving from the old Gulfstream International Airlines based in Ft. Lauderdale) and the company's increased focus on the Family Islands.

Heck, anyone can fly to Nassau or Grand Bahama but what’s the best way to fly to Governor’s Harbour. Eleuthera, Treasure Cay, Abaco or Bimini?  Talkin’ Tourism has a lot of questions for Matthew, including what kind of planes does the company use, are there any specials and promotions happening right now that might fuel "island fever?" So whether you “fly to the boat”, fly to a "second home” or simply seek some quality time “on island,” you won't want to miss this segment.

Although summer will soon arrive, there are still flocks of visitors headed this way. Talkin' Tourism host Gary Guertin has acquired some great statistics from AAA Auto Club South about what to expect for summer travel. We promise you'll find the facts very interesting!

Do your summer plans involve traveling with young children? We'll have a few tips that'll help your journey be smooth sailing all the way.

There are still more summer fishing tournaments headed our way, and we'll have representatives from one of those---the Treasure Coast Builders Association Annual Memorial Weekend Fishing Tournament---in the studio to outline all the fun of this very popular Treasure Coast tradition.

And if that's not enough, there will be lots of other great info in this show, as well as a special offer the ladies in our audience may want to take advantage of, so listen in!

The fun begins at 10:05 a.m. tomorrow (Friday, May 18). Catch the show on radio at WPSL 1590 AM or on your favorite Internet browser at www.wpsltv.com.

What's Tourism Mean on the Treasure Coast?

Can you tell what Rozeta Mahboubi thinks about tourism?

Talkin’ Tourism was in the thick of the 4th Annual Treasure Coast Business Summit held at the Port St. Lucie Civic Center. The place was packed! With WPSL 1590AM owner Greg Wyatt serving as the engineer and co-host Robin Hicks-Connor back after a two week “break,” the show focused on Treasure Coast tourism.

Guests Rozeta Mahboubi, executive director of the Martin County Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Charlotte Bireley, the tourism manager for the St. Lucie County Tourism Development Council, gave listeners a great overview on the importance of tourism here on the Treasure Coast.

Talkin' Tourism hosts Gary Guertin and Robin Hicks-Connor
with tourism warriors Rozeta Mahboubi and Charlotte Bireley.

What made the show special was that the week of May 7 through May 13th was National Travel and Tourism Week. Both ladies shared what special activities and events took place in their respective county to commemorate tourism.

Rozeta was particularly pleased with the results of a new video created for the Martin County Convention and Vistors Bureau (see below).

Lots of great information was shared, including highlights from Robin’s recent visit to Epcot, changes at the Bimini Big Game Club, an update on Treasure Coast fishing tournaments, and lots more.

Thanks for tuning in. See you again on Friday, 10:05 a.m. on WPSL 1590AM or at www.wpsltv.com!

On the Road Again: Treasure Coast Business Summit

Talkin’ Tourism will be on the road Friday. We were invited to broadcast live from the 4th Annual Treasure Coast Business Summit, which is being conducted at the Port St. Lucie Civic Center.

This annual event brings together small and mid sized business, along with a host of great speakers and informative seminars.  As we know, tourism, the overall largest employer globally, plays a  very important role in the attraction of new businesses to a community or region. Talkin' Tourism show hosts Gary Guertin and Robin Hicks-Connors hope to grab interviews with attendees and some of the guest presenters. Speakers include former Florida Senate President Ken Pruitt, credit industry expert Douglas Muir, Greta Schultz, president of West Palm Beach based Schultz Business SELLutions, entrepreneur Michael Altshuler, TD Bank regional president Kevin Gillen, and TreasureCoast.com's vice president of technology Greg Bray.

To complete the business package, this week National Travel and Tourism Week has been being celebrated around the county.  Representing the Treasure Coast will be Rozeta Mahboubi, the executive director of the Martin County Convention and Visitors Bureau and Charlotte Bireley, the tourism manager for the St. Lucie County Tourism Development Council.

All the usual (and sometimes unusual) show features will be there as well, including upcoming activities, Bahamas updates and more so tune in tomorrow (Friday, May 11) at 10:05 am on WPSL 1590 am or the live stream at www.wpsltv.com.

See you in the morning!

Reefs, Blind Boat Challenges, Boat Races, Fight Like a Girl and Flying Turtles

A Tipsy Turtle! Image credit: www.itsy.com.

Talkin' Tourism Friends and Fans:

Over the last month and a half, Four Little Birds, LLC "has been as busy as a one-armed…..", well you get the drift.

With the acquisition  of the Treasure Coast edition of Coastal Angler Magazine in mid February, Four Little Birds, LLC has focused diligently on the improvement of the magazine.  As a result, we were a little behind in getting the pre-shows and post show wrap-ups posted to the blog.

So, with our apologies, here is a quick update on the most recent Talkin’ Tourism shows March 30th through May 4th  for your listening pleasure.

On the March 30th show, James Oppenborn, St. Lucie County Coastal Resources Supervisor, gave our listeners some great information on the continued deployment of nearshore and offshore reef habitat. It was truly fascinating to hear how quickly these resources create new sources of recreation for anglers and divers. Also, it was super to hear about all of the volunteer support they have for this special mission.

Moving along to the April 6th show, listeners were treated to a very special call in guest from Nassau, Bahamas.  Jerome Thompson, founder and president of Bahamas Disability Adventures, a passionate warrior for promoting awareness of the potential of persons with disabilities, shared details of an event planned for July 7th – The Blind Boat Challenge International. (We have since learned that the event has been postponed to a later date this Fall so watch for future details).  Other fun topics included info about “Bird” a new member of the Guertin flock, the Vero Beach Boat Show, Hook Kids on Fishing Seminars and new rules for accommodations regarding persons with disabilities.

The April 13th show was all about the return of the Stuart Sailfish Regatta, guests Sergio Nativi and Blair Pontek gave all of the info listeners needed to know about the return of powerboat racing in Martin County.

Moving along to April 20th, the Talkin' Tourism Team launched a new feature of the show. With the summer boating season around the corner, the Islands of the Bahamas are a natural destination, to promote the Treasure Coast/Bahamas connection, each week we have a Bahamian property as a call-in guest on the show. The April 20th show featured Mike Weber, general manager of the Bimini Big Game Club/Outpost Resort. Thank for all of the information Mike! We're certain lots of Treasure Coast residents and visitors will be headed to Bimini this summer!

The month of April flew by! On April 27th, it was time to have the Stuart Sailfish Club start promoting their upcoming Ladies Tournament--Fight Like a Girl, one of the longest running ladies tournaments around.  Char Griggs, executive director of the Stuart Sailfish Club and tournament committee member Jody Fogel, were more than happy to give us the history of the tournament and a view as to the role the Stuart Sailfish Club played in the early days of tourism promotion in Martin County.  Thanks ladies!

This show's Bahamas Update feature allowed us to feature Althea Johnson, reservations manager at the Underwater Explorers Society (UNEXSO) located on Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas. For those diving enthusiasts wanting great diving in gin clear water with a wide variety of dive sites and experiences, look no further.

And, finally last week, May 4th we had a special guest co-host:  Talkin’ Tourism co-producer and Coastal Angler Magazine Treasure Coast and Bahamas co-publisher Misti Guertin had a chance to spend time on the air with show host and husband “Radio Man”.  What is HEW?  Misti will tell you all about it and more. Lots of fishing tournaments headed our way so listen to the show and pick the events you’ll be fishing.

We also had a great conversation with Molly MacIntosh (Director of Sales) and Lynn Johnson (General Manager), from Green Turtle Club and Marina, located on Green Turtle Cay, Abaco Bahamas.  Abaco is  a Treasure Coast “magnet” this time of year so we hope that their information will get you excited about heading to Abaco. Need a great dockage deal? They've got it! And, "Do Turtles Fly?" But of course, and no, we weren't drinking rum or Tipsy Turtle concoctions. Check out the show to get all the insider information that will make Abaco one of your favorite summer destination spots this year!

So, now you are all caught up.  Lots of great shows and great guests.

Promise we will stay on track going forward. Look for the pre-show for this Friday’s show soon.