Deal, Handel scrounge for local support Atlanta Journal Constitution Burke Day of Tybee Island and Savannah business leader Steve Green, Johnson’s campaign chairman, did not return calls made to seek comment. … and more

The Decatur Daily (subscription) “A Tybee state of mind”  – A visit takes you to Georgia’s low country. The island is about 25 minutes across marsh vistas from Savannah’s historic district, depending on traffic. …

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A Tybee state of mind – The Decatur Daily (subscription)

Summer is upon us, the beaches are open, and once again it’s prime wedding season on Tybee. The island offers accessible resources for brides looking to host memorable celebrations, and in fact is fast becoming a top wedding destination in the south.

This time of year one of the most desirable spots for ceremonies, of course is right on the beach, and Anastasia Stevenson, who was voted Savannah’s “Best Wedding Planner” in 2009 is one of those providing such services and making happy brides’ dreams come true!

Stevenson, who holds a Chatham County business license as “Event’s with Style” that incorporates Tybee Island, has hosted countless successful wedding events in Savannah, Pooler, and of course, on Tybee Island.

She says she’s very excited about the growing local interest in promoting weddings on Tybee reinforced by the City’s recent focus making it easier for destination brides to plan weddings here.  Along with beach side ceremonies, Stevenson specializes in events of all sizes using various island venues and basically contracts with those who provide special services – flowers, photography, catering – and puts packages together.

“We just hosted a wedding reception on the grounds at the Tybee lighthouse,” she explains. “The event was a huge success and offered a unique and memorable experience for the wedding family and their guests.”

For more information on “Events with Style,” contact Anastasia Stevenson:

Call 912-596-4147, or visit prettysavannahweddings.com.
E-mail info@prettysavannahweddings.com
Events with Style, P.O. Box 60520, Savannah, Ga 31420

By Vicky Buck & Lindsay Fruchtl

June Update

The month of May has been great for Tybee’s tourism!  As we celebrate graduations and the end of school, the REAL beginning of summer for Tybee is here!  The “Beach Bum Parade” had its usual water gun wet soaking festivities to continue in the annual tradition!  The EVP Volleyball Tournament brought down lots of folks the next day for some great volleyball playing and the EVP hopes to return next year and have this as an annual event! May was busy with “Georgia On My Mind Days” at the I-95 welcome center where Tybee had a table and lots of interested folks looking for the BEACH!  We’ve already started with promoting “Pirate Fest” in October!

The Georgia Visitor Information Centers, known as the (VIC’s), were honored with an international marketing award for their tourism partnership promotion program.  Tybee has been full of international travel writers and media from all over the world this spring! The Savannah Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and the Georgia Coast Travel Association will sponsor a group tour and travel planner familiarization tour (FAM) in July and Tybee will host the welcome reception and dinner.  This will be a very exciting time to showcase our island!

Lindsay and Vicky attended a Tourism Leadership Council legislative reception at the Mulberry Inn in May to thank the legislatures for their hard work on tourism at the very long legislative session.  In 2009, the tourism industry generated $850.6 million in revenue for the state of Georgia!  Tourism is the second largest industry in the state which provides almost 250,000 tourism related jobs and $6.9 billion in resident wages, with the Georgia Coast Region being one of the main contributors. To check out tourism in our region and the entire state of Georgia visit ExploreGeorgia.org.  “Tourism is an economic engine that Georgia can count on.”

Besides the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Tourism Department, we also have a very strong force in the Tourism Development Alliance of Georgia which is chaired by Savannah native and Tybee lover, Sean McGinnis, publisher of the Georgia Travel Guide and Atlanta Magazine.  “TDAG helps to support appropriate funding of tourism dollars in local communities and give a further understanding of destination marketing.  Tourism is the most important industry in Georgia and the state has the number 8 tourism economy in the country”.

The Savannah International Trade and Convention Center celebrated its tenth anniversary in grand style and Vicky was lucky enough to win a signature bottle of their anniversary wine!  Savannah also had their annual “Taste of Downtown” in Reynolds Square on May 20th and there was quite a showing of Tybee folk!  The food was wonderful and it was a great networking opportunity to promote “Beach Bums” and “EVP Volleyball” which was that weekend!

Work is just about wrapped up on the Tybee Vacation Planner!  We are really excited about this great fulfillment piece which will be an added addition to our marketing and sales efforts.  Even though we have just about finished with the vacation planner, remember that your chamber membership gets you great exposure in the Savannah Visitor Centers, but website presence on savannahchamber.com, visitsavannah.com, and of course tybeevisit.com.

Make it a great and safe Tybee day…
“Keep Tybee Tidy!”

Vicky Buck | Sales and Operations Coordinator
vbuck@tybeevisit.com

Lindsay Fruchtl | Marketing Coordinator
lindsay@tybeevisit.com

Office: 912-786-5444

LIGHTHOUSE PIZZA  “Light on Fast, Friendly Service!”

When owner Rich Hammons opened Lighthouse Pizza down on Tybrisa back in 2007, he set out to create a whole new venue.  Although previous tenants had operated several restaurants on the premises, including a pizza parlor, the last occupant had not paid much attention to appearance of building, so the first order of business was to redo the facilities.  A series of improvements over three years has resulted in the cool, beach-themed dining room, covered Beer Garden patio and a kitchen equipped to handle the very busiest days on Tybee.

Lighthouse focuses on two priorities: first, to make the best pizza (and calzones), using what Hammons describes as authentic “Tybee Dough,” made fresh in the store daily, and offering the largest selection of quality toppings, including more than 30 cheeses, sauces and toppings; and second, to stock the best selection of beer – more than 160 offerings, including craft, imports and domestics, as well as wine and malt beverages (coolers). Of course, fast and friendly service just comes with the territory according to Hammons!

The menu includes baby back ribs, smoked in the store, pulled pork BBQ, chicken wings, sandwiches and salads, and Hammons continually updates it with new offerings…  Recently he added signature pizzas and calzones, including meatball (both), chicken alfredo pizza and philly cheesesteak calzone.  Also the establishment offers fresh made,in-house apple crisp pizza, blueberry cheesecake calzone and cinnamon sticks for desserts.

Another update – additionally for summer, Lighthouse Pizza has started serving breakfast from 7:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m.  Some of their breakfast sandwiches include fresh baked biscuits, croissants and burritos, filled with egg and cheese, with options for bacon, sausage or ham. They also offer biscuits and gravy, French toast, and fresh fruit bowls, and an assortment of delicious coffees and teas. Soon, Hammons plans to bring in a new line of Italian pastas and pizzas, which will be concocted with the finest ingredients imported from Italy.

If you’re looking for a great meal in a relaxingly cool, and inviting spot near the beach this summer, Lighthouse Pizza should be at the your list. Groups also welcome. They offer dine-in, take-out, as well as free delivery anywhere on Tybee.

Great eats, folks!!!!

Hours of Operation: 7 Days a Week

7:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. for breakfast
Noon – 11:00 p.m. (open late) for original hot pizzas, calzones, desserts and the best selection and variety of beer on the island.

Lighthouse Pizza
15 Tybrisa Street
Tybee Island, GA
912-786-9874
lighthousepizza.net

GPB Tybee Island Expects Busy 4th GPB On Georgia's coast, that means more people coming from elsewhere to rent hotel rooms and vacation homes. Amy Gaster of Tybee Island's Tourism Council says, …

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Tybee Island Expects Busy 4th – GPB

Tybee’s Own Tytan Ad Group Racks Up Industry Awards!
by Adam J. Pestka

Tytan Advertising Group has been awarded seventeen Telly Awards for their work with visual broadcast, film and web media.  Ranging from local television commercials for Fiddler’s Seafood and Durham DMD to their branding campaigns for NE Smith Claxton and Excelsia.

Creative director, Scott Jacobs is thrilled with the outcome of the awards ceremony.  “We took home seventeen awards this year, which is more than any other Georgia based company.  Everyone at Tytan is truly proud and honored to have received all of these prestigious awards.  Our goal is to create effective advertising and promotion that moves all of our clients forward.”

The Telly Awards are presented to companies in local, regional and national television commercials and programs as well as media created for the web as well as video and film productions.  Since 1978 the Telly awards have been supporting the visual arts community by promoting, inspiring and supporting creativity.  This year’s Tellies received over 13,000 entries, from all 50 states and 5 continents.

To learn more about the Telly Awards please visit www.tellyawards.com.

Tytan Ad Group is an EMMY-Award winning advertising, marketing and design group that specializes in non-traditional, customized marketing solutions.

To learn more about Tytan visit www.tytanadgroup.com or call 912-786-9006.

By Vicky Buck & Lindsay Fruchtl

May Update!

Hello Tybee, and hello to summer!

Usually our season doesn’t start until Memorial Day, but this year has been the exception. From everyone we’ve been speaking with and judging from our increased Visitor’s Center numbers it appears the season began as early as Easter weekend. This is great news for Tybee and we’re looking forward to a fantastic summer!

To recap April, Tybee was full of activity! All events including the Tybee Seafood Festival, Tybee Wine Festival, Turtle Trot, Patrick’s Big Finish and SCAD Sand Arts Festival went off very smoothly. We’d like to extend a special thank you to our Tybee Island Police Department for keeping our visitors and residents safe and sound through all of these events. Keep up the good work!

If you haven’t picked up the May/June AAA Going Places Magazine please do so. The June Tybee Tour of Homes and Beach Bum weekend are both featured in the latest edition. This is very exciting as their readership is high and many subscribers rely on this publication to help make vacation decisions. The latest accolade Tybee has received is “Top 10 Vacation Rental Hot Spots for 2010 by Tripadvisor”. This is so fabulous! As we all know Tripadvisor holds a lot of weight in the travel industry and this speaks highly of Tybee. Please be sure to include this one in your marketing materials.

We’ve been busy coordinating with Tybeefest for the Labor Day Beach Bash on September 5th. We will be having live beach music and fireworks again for this year’s bash so please start promoting to our guests and visitors. Last year was so nostalgic with the Swingin’ Medallions and fireworks in the background and this year promises to be just as great or better!

If you haven’t visited our website lately we strongly encourage you to do so. We continue to make the site more user friendly, have incorporated many of our Tybee Island Vacation Photo Contest photos and are updating content so we can better inform visitors about things to do and see on the island. Remember, to have a listing on TybeeVisit.com you must be a member in good standing of The Savannah Chamber of Commerce. If you’re interested in finding out more about chamber membership, please contact us.

Thanks to Tybee Vacation Rentals and Mermaid Cottages for participating in The Last Song sweepstakes that the Tourism Council is partnering with the State of Georgia UK office on. It’s coming along beautifully and if you’re interested in donating any prizes for this or other upcoming promotions please get in touch with Lindsay. There are always sweepstakes and promotions we’re working on that can give your businesses good exposure without a large cash investment.

On a State of GA note, the GDEcD Tourism Division at the State normally conducts a marketing grant process specifically related to tourism. This year due to budget cuts they have cut out this grant, but have come up with a plan that we believe is a great compromise. The GDEcD will allocate $25,000 to each Travel Region for advertising in print and online advertising using their “Georgia check list” ads. For every $1.00 a region agrees to contribute to this co-op, GDEcD would allocate an additional $2.00 with a cap of $25,000 raised by a region an additional $50,000 matched by the state. Potentially this would raise a total of $100,000 for a region in advertising creation and placements (the initial $25,000 state contribution + $25,000 raised by the region matched by an additional $50,000 from the state). Sounds promising and we look forward to working with the Georgia Coast Travel Association and GDEcD on this project. That’s all for now.

Make it a great Tybee day!

Vicky Buck | Sales and Operations Coordinator
vbuck@tybeevisit.com

Lindsay Fruchtl | Marketing Coordinator
lindsay@tybeevisit.com

Pirate Pedicab
“Put your Booty in a Pedicab”

Mission Statement: “We’re looking to provide transportation with a unique perspective of Tybee at an island pace.”

One of the newest small businesses on Tybee just opened in March – Pirate Pedicab, the brainstorm of Kyle Pratt (call sign Slow Poke Rodriguez) and his partner Grayson Powell (call sign Speedy Gonzalez) brings a totally laid-back approach to island transportation home to Tybee.   Kyle Pratt, a native of Iowa, was raised on Jekyll Island, but has lived on Tybee for the past 2 ½ years. He’s the former owner of Barbara Jean’s Restaurant on Wilmington Island. He also says he’s a Cubs Fan, a Pisces (not a Capricorn) and has an infatuation with the Disney character, “Jessica Rabbit.” (Kyle says, “She’s not bad, she’s just drawn that way!”)

Grayson Powell was born and raised on St. Simons Island, and has lived on Tybee for 6 months. He says he likes sand, is a hopeless romantic with an inability to commit, and always wears a sweater, even in the summer.

Pratt and Powell came up with the idea of starting a peddling business on Tybee, after riding in pedicabs elsewhere. Pratt says both he and Grayson grew up working in bike rentals on Jekyll and thought that experience and knowledge would help them excel in the endeavor. “The biggest difference between us and the other transportation companies (i.e. Crab Cab and Tybee Cruisers),” says Pratt, “It allows the rider the ability to sit back and do nothing. The pace is an island one, and the only thing our passengers have to do is sit back and take it all in.”

Pirate Pedicab’s offers basic transport around the island – their cross island ride follows the bike route down 2nd Avenue, and then down Van Horne, and they also feature island “pedicab cruises.” In a typical dinner cruise they drop the guests off, and have them call 10 minutes before they’re ready to leave.  For sunset cruises they stay with the guests and drive them down a series of back roads – (Lewis to 6th, 12th to Venetian and then down Chatham, with the occasional stop at A.J’s Restaurant for a beverage.)

“We’re currently working on an anchor tour, (supposedly there are 20 on the island), and we’re racing each other to find them all and put them on a map for the tour – I’m winning!” adds Pratt.

On weekends, the guys usually get several calls from Savannah – day trippers who have gotten a shuttle from town and don’t have time to see all the sights by foot. They usually pick up from the lighthouse and deliver to the pier or vice versa.  Both drivers are knowledgeable, and much like the horse-drawn buggies that carry visitors on tours of the squares in Savannah, they enjoy interacting with clients to offer local insights that may otherwise go unnoticed.

They opened mid-March, and now have 4 bikes operating and plan to have 6 total by June.  They hope to give each passenger an experience they’ll tell their friends about, and also help alleviate parking problems on Tybee.  They also offer beach deliveries for vacation rentals in an effort to create more parking for day trippers and are getting referrals from local vacation rental companies.  Each cab carries 2 adults, they’re on call on weekend and they pick up and deliver all over Tybee.  The charge is very reasonable – $4 per zone, and if you change over to one of the other eight Tybee zones, it’s an additional $2.

Currently Pirate Pedicab offers the following packages:  Beach Delivery, Dinner Cruise, Bar Roll, and Sunset Cruise!

Next time you need a lift around town, call Kyle and Grason at 912.346.2335 – tell them we sent you.

Location: Miller Avenue behind High Tide Surf Shop on Tybee Island.
Hours of Operation: 10am to 10pm Sun. – Thurs., 10am to 2am – Fri. and Sat.

By Vicky Buck & Lindsay Fruchtl

The month of April not only puts us in full springtime mode as local businesses and residents prepare for the busy summer season, but it’s also a big month for events here on Tybee. One of the island’s mottos is, “There’s Always Something Happening on Tybee Island!” …and it’s definitely true!  Having so many events year round gives our visitors something to look forward to and enjoy while they’re here on Tybee.

It also gives us the opportunity to entice these visitors to come back to Tybee for other events throughout the year. If you haven’t picked up one of our 2010 Tybee Island Calendar of Events cards please come by the visitor’s center and get a few. It’s a nice quick glance at this year’s events and will help you to educate our visitors about happenings during 2010 so they can plan their next vacation to Tybee.

This month there really is an event to meet everyone’s interests and tastes. We kicked off the month with the Tybee Beach Run on April 3rd sponsored in part by Fleet Feet of Savannah and Mercer University. All proceeds will go to off-set costs associated with a July Medical Mission to Honduras to help Hospital Bautista that members of the Savannah area Christian Medical Association are planning.

The following weekend brings the much anticipated 1st 37th Annual Tybee Island Seafood Festival and Carnival featuring a seafood review on Saturday April 10th. The Friends of the Tybee Post Theater host the 2010 Tybee Island Wine Festival on April 17th at the Lighthouse Grounds and the Tybee Island Marine Science center kicks off the Coastal Georgia sea turtle nesting season with the 6th Annual Turtle Trot. Whether you’re an athlete, foodie or wine connoisseurs April on Tybee is the place to be!

March brought Vicky to Nashville, TN for the Southeast Tourism Society’s spring meeting where a lot of great information was exchanged.  There were a lot of great seminars from print and web advertising to sustainable tourism and eco-tourism.  Going “Green” is still high on everyone’s list and “voluntourism” has become very popular.  Visitors have found voluntourism very rewarding being able to help with a certain community project while on vacation.

March also featured the “Community Showcase at Hunter Army Airfield” where the Tybee Island Tourism Council had a booth and visited with hundreds of soldiers and their families to showcase the beach, restaurants, shops, and attractions.  The tourism council was also represented by George Anne Inglis of our Tybee Island Visitor’s Center at Savannah Days at the I-95 Welcome Center which was March the 12th.  It was a great opportunity to tell folks about our upcoming events and also our Irish Heritage Parade which was the following day.

We are continuing our work on the 2010-2011 Tybee Island Vacation Planner and are excited about the progress being made. It is not too late to get your business into the vacation planner, but do remember that you must be a member in good standing with the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce. Should you need the appropriate forms and listing information please contact us as soon as possible.

Make it a great Tybee day!

Vicky Buck | Sales and Operations Coordinator
vbuck@tybeevisit.com

Lindsay Fruchtl | Marketing Coordinator
lindsay@tybeevisit.com

Office: 912-786-5444