The plane, the plane! No, it's not Fantasy Island. It's the Stuart Airshow!

Stuart Air Show Military Acts Coordinator Dennis Crow
with Talkin' Tourism hosts Gary Guertin & Robin Hicks-Conners.

With one of the most popular events on the Treasure Coast hours away from opening, Talkin’ Tourism was right in the thick of the excitement of the Stuart Air Show pre-opening activities. While pre-show flight briefings kept pilots from appearing on the show as hoped, our guests did a great job of sharing some of the highlights and behind the scenes information with our listeners.

General aviation is a big part of the tourism scene. David Smith, general manager of Galaxy Aviation and our host for the show, provided some great insights as to the importance of this market niche. If you are not sure about what types of concierge services a fixed based operation (FBO) provides its customers, you will have a much better idea after you listen to the show. First class all the way!

Next up on the guest panel was George Stokus, airport manager for Martin County’s Witham Field. Relatively new to the post, George’s expertise is second to none. Coordinating all of the regulatory agencies that are involved in producing an air show is no small task. If you ever wondered what an airport manager does, this episode of Talkin' Tourism helped answer that question.

Getting to the key topic of the day was Dennis Crow. While officially the military acts coordinator, Dennis has been with the air show for 10 years and was a wealth of information. Putting on a multiple-day event of this magnitude requires a tremendous amount of coordination and Talkin' Tourism's show host Gary Guertin and Talkin' Tourism co-producer Misti Guertin actually enjoyed experiencing some of that at the Friday night pre-show event—The Dirty Flight Suit Party. Aerobatics, fireworks, music (the Amber Leigh Band), food, fun, excitement and lots of spectators sums it up!

The Stuart Air Show is now in the history books for another year. Congratulations to everyone who contributed to its success. Job well done!

Here's the audio file for this week's Talkin' Tourism Stuart Airshow episode and below are few video clips from Friday night's Dirty Flight Suit Party:

Golf by the hole and Poker-fly's (recap of April 24 Talkin' Tourism)

Over 150 golf courses on the Treasure Coast…who would have guessed.? Selling golf 'by the hole' is a new concept at PGA Village in Port St. Lucie, Florida. The world's best golf museum located on the Treasure Coast—believe it, it’s all true. Share a half hour with Bob Baldassari, General Manager of the PGA Village in Port St. Lucie.

One if by land, two if by sea…three if by air? No the 'British' aren’t coming but TOURISTS ARE! Jean Ballou, Customer Relations Manager at Galaxy Aviation, voted the 33rd best FBO in the USA and Canada, shares with listeners the dynamics of the general aviation business. Fly-ins, they're the aviation industry's version of boat rendezvous and very popular among aviation enthusiasts. How about a Rotary Pokerfly?

The April 24 show can be downloaded HERE. Enjoy and thanks for listening.

April 26: Aviation Tourism and Golf Tourism

Guests lined up for this week's show are Jean Ballou from Galaxy Aviation and Bob Baldassari from PGA Village in St. Lucie West.

Topics will include aviation tourism and it's economic impact upon the Treasure Coast. If you don't know what a 'fly-in' is, you'll know after Friday's show. David may also give more information on the two-day VNA Stuart Airshow, which attracts thousands to Stuart's Witham Field every November.

We'll also explore why the Treasure Coast is such a mecca for golfers.

Tune in Friday on your radio dial to 1590 AM at 10 a.m. and listen to the show as it airs live from the Captain's Lounge of Harborage Yacht Club & Marina.