Two Great Destinations Take the Spotlight

From Cape Cod, Massachusetts to Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas, the Talkin’ Tourism team of host Gary Guertin and Robin Hicks-Connor shared lots of good information about two great destinations.

First up was Kristen Mitchell Hughes, Vice-President of Tourism Marketing for the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitors Bureau.  The conversation brought back some great memories for 'Radio Man' (Gary) after spending so many summers on Cape Cod in his “younger days”.  Robin had some fond memories of time spent in Chatham as well.  Do you know about Quahog Day coming up on June 20th?  Pretty amazing what tourism professionals will come up with.  Why does so much ice cream get consumed in new England?  Kristen had the answer.  From the Outer Beach, to Nantucket Sound to Cape Cod Bay, on the Cape there is a beach for everyone!

Next, we moved on to the Ocean Reef Yacht Club & Resort on Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas. General manager Kor Dormans shared the history of the resort and all of the great things to do while on Grand Bahama Island. Some of these included Garden of the Groves, SCUBA diving, great fishing, shopping, casinos and a whole lot more. The best part is that Grand Bahama Island is so close to the Treasure Coast.  Is there golf?  Absolutely!

Grand Bahama Island has lots to offer, not to mention the great roast conch at Tony Macaroni’s Conch Experience on Taino Beach to gourmet dining at the Flying Fish Restaurant. What are you waiting for? See you there soon!

It was a great show with lots of cool summer vacation information. As always, thanks for listening in!

Time for "fun in the sun" from Cape Cod to Grand Bahama!

Kor Dormans, the general manager of the Ocean Reef
Yacht Club & Resort will share  this week what's happening on
Grand Bahama and describe his south shore Grand Bahama
resort, accommodations and amenities.

Well now that Memorial Day has passed it's on to summer (which officially begins June 20 in the Northern Hemisphere) and time for fun in the sun!

Many South Floridians have their roots in the Northeast and many spent summer time on Cape Cod. To get a sense for the upcoming tourist season on “The Cape” Talkin’ Tourism will have the pleasure of speaking with Kristen Mitchell Hughes, the Vice President of Tourism Marketing of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce/Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The Cape is blessed with hundreds of miles of pristine beaches, great fishing, unique history and culture, and some of the best fried clam rolls and lobster salad rolls known to man (or woman).  Are there any great deals happening?  Talkin’ Tourism wants to know.

From the north we will also travel to Freeport, Grand Bahama Island to catch up with Kor Dormans, General Manager of the Ocean Reef Yacht Club & Resort, a great resort and marina facility. Kor will also share what special opportunities await the prospective visitor to Grand Bahama Island as well as things to do, places to go and people to meet.

The voting is done and Talkin’ Tourism will reveal which town in America was vote the Ultimate Fishing Town.  You may be surprised as to where the number one fishing town is located and how many votes they received. (No, Stuart, the "Sailfish Capital of the World" did not win).

Fishing tournament wrap-ups and what’s ahead in the coming weeks for angler,s as well as fun events and activities for locals and visitors alike, will round out the hour.

Join us Friday, June 1, at 10:05 a.m. on WPSL 1590 AM or on your computer at www.wpsltv.com.

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!