AAA Predicts More Labor Day Travel – GPB

GPB AAA Predicts More Labor Day Travel GPB Tourism officials say, Tybee Island is having one of its best summers on record. It might be folks trying to beat the record heat. …

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AAA Predicts More Labor Day Travel – GPB

Tourism up on Tybee Island

Savannah Area Covention & Visitor’s Bureau says Tybee Island has experienced its best June ever, tourism is up nearly 40 percent from last year.

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Tourism up on Tybee Island

Tybee brainstorms ways to pay for sand – Savannah Morning News

Tybee brainstorms ways to pay for sand – Savannah Morning News:  Material dredged from the river can’t be pumped onto Tybee beaches, a solution in some other localities, because it contains too much sediment.  Read more…

Focus on Tourism – July 2010

Tybee Island Tourism Council Update!

Tybee Island is busy as we are into our peak summer season full force! Our season started early this year with our April Hotel/Motel tax report showing that for 2010, Tybee was up 7.4% compared to 2009. We are also seeing increased traffic in our Tybee Island Visitor’s Information Center with April’s visitor count up 20.90%, May’s up 21.60%, and June was up 4.93%compared to 2009!

Tybee had one of the best Fourth of July weekends on record packed with activities and higher than average visitors were on Tybee to enjoy a great time! Our July 3rd Fireworks Show was spectacular and new this year was Tybee Throws a Fit on July 2nd sponsored by Oceanfront Cottage Rentals. This was a one of a kind fitness event marking the one year anniversary of Tybee Island winning #1 Healthiest Beach by Health Magazine! Local fitness enthusiasts and personalities like Style Network’s Ruby Gettinger and celebrity trainer Michael Banks were in attendance to assist with the day’s activities!

From a marketing perspective the Tybee Island Tourism Council has been busy putting together our 2010/2011 Tybee Island Vacation Planner as well as updating our website TybeeVisit.com. Along with the Vacation Planner project we’ve been updating TybeeVisit.com with the result being a more user friendly informative site for our visitors and potential visitors to find what they need to know for their Tybee getaway. New additions to thesite include updated pictures, new content, a Special Offers page and Tybee Blog. We are reaping the benefits of these improvements as visits to TybeeVisit.com year to year are up 12.57% and the last month May 22, 2010-June 22, 2010 compared to the same to year are up 12.57% and the last month May 22, 2010-June 22, 2010 compared to the same to year are up 12.57% and the last month May 22, 2010-June 22, 2010 compared to the same time period in 2009 visits are up 36.05%. Recent accolades we’ve received our Top 10 Vacation Rental Hotspots for 2010 by  by TripAdvisor and Best Local Facebook Page by Connect Savannah.

Coming up are the Southeast Tourism Society’s (STS) Marketing College and the 2010 Governor’s Tourism Conference. Lindsay will be attending the STS Marketing College July 25-30 in Dahlonega, GA. This is a three year program where tourism industry professionals from throughout the South meet for a week of intense classes and networking opportunities. Lindsay is in her second year at the Marketing College. This year’s class topics include: Understanding the Heart of Your Visitor and Connect it to the Soul of Your Destination, Breaking Into the International Market Without Spending a Lot of Dollars and Creating Events Outside the Norm.

The Georgia Coast Travel Association and the Savannah Convention and Visitor’s Bureau hosted a Group Tour Planner/Travel Agent/Travel Writer FAM Tour the beginning of July where the 50 attendees were treated to a fabulous welcome reception at the Dolphin Reef Lounge!  The appetizers, beverages, and spectacular view of the ocean made for a great evening. Their trip will take them all down our Georgia Coast and will include a trip over to the Okefenokee Swamp!

Vicky will attend the Education Community Information Fair at Fort Stewart on July 28th.  This will be a chance to showcase Tybee Island as a great day trip or vacation destination for our military families.  The 2010 Governor’s Tourism Conference will be held August 30th-September 1st in Athens, GA. where Vicky, Lindsay and Tybee Island Tourism Council Chairman Amy Gaster will all be in attendance. Speakers include Roger J. Dow, President and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, Bill Geist, President of Zeitgeist Consulting and Horst Schulze, Founding President and COO of Ritz-Carlton. The Georgia Tourism division will be offering a Techno-Tourism Workshop on Monday August 30th jam packed with tips, trends and information for us to bring back and apply to our marketing strategy.

Vicky Buck / Sales and Operations Coordinator
vbuck@tybeevisit.com
Lindsay Fruchtl / Marketing Coordinator
Lindsay@tybeevisit.com

Office: 912-786-5444

Tybee Throws a Fit, and has a ball…

Celebrity and Fitness Event “Wrap-Up”…

By Toren Anderson

TYBEE ISLAND, GA:

More than 1,000 health-conscious visitors flocked to “America’s Healthiest Beach” on Friday, June 2, to kick off their holiday weekends with “Tybee Throws a Fit,” the Low Country’s largest fitness event. Tybee Island, GA, locals and national fitness celebrities like the Style Network’s Ruby Gettinger volunteered time and skills to lead workout sessions and healthy outdoor activities for participants of all ages and fitness levels. Strong attendance and good media coverage have left event organizers hopeful that Tybee Throws a Fit will become a quarterly happening on the Savannah area social calendar.

Participants enjoyed activities as diverse as surfing, sea kayaking, beach yoga, kiteboarding and bocce even as top health celebrities including Ruby Gettinger of the weight-loss reality series “Ruby” on the Style Network and former U.S. Olympic trainer and gym mogul Michael Banks of Body by Banks offered main-event aerobics sessions under the Tybee Pier Pavilion on the island. Additionally, a crowd of more than 150 attended Gettinger’s signing of her memoir, “Ruby’s Diary: All I’ve Lost and Gained,” in the wake of the fitness event. Gettinger stayed for hours to make sure to meet and talk with each fan that made the trip to see her, displaying a little of the poise and warmth that have won her such a large following. Her trainers, Drew & Shazi Edmonds were on hand for the workouts also.

In all, volunteers provided more than 30 activities for island visitors and locals. From ocean-bound adventures and hardcore workouts to gentle nature trek, a “doggie promenade” and children’s activities like sand castle building and egg-and-spoon races, Tybee Throws a Fit offered something for everyone. The day was marked by appearances and aerobic instruction not only from Gettinger and Banks also from other notables. Drew and Shazi Edmonds, Gettinger’s trainers on the show and owners of Savannah’s Train me 24/7 gym, gave a workout class on the Tybee Pier, while Denny Starr, one of Billy Blanks’ right-hand men, gave a kickboxing demonstration.

More than a year ago, on July 1, 2009, Tybee Island was named “America’s Healthiest Beach” by “Health” Magazine, owing to its spectacular natural setting, ecologically conscious local government and physically active citizenry. With the town’s healthiest-beach reign coming to an end this July, local businesswoman Stacye Jarrell of Oceanfront Cottage Rentals and publicist/event planner Toren Anderson hatched the idea for Tybee Throws a Fit.

Jarrell and Anderson gained support from local ecological activists, fitness enthusiasts and other businesses and banded together to make an ongoing commitment to health. With additional support from local health-oriented restaurants and training sessions offered by fitness personalities—Tybee Throws a Fit became more than just a romp on the beach; it became an event that drew visitors from around the country.

TOREN ANDERSON
BRANDING, MEDIA & EVENTS
ATLANTA,  NEW YORK , THE LOW COUNTRY
770 591-8191 OFFICE
770 928-3635 FACSIMILE

All photos by Chris Hornaday
Above left: Shazi Edmonds, Ruby’s trainer and co-owner of “Train Me 24/7” leads a workout on stage. Ruby and her Fat Women’s Night workout also took place there. Middle right: Michael Banks of Body by Banks firing up the crowd at the pavilion. Banks was sponsored by Zoegetics.com. He’s also been recently featured on WJCL-TV with morning fitness tips. Bottom left: Jeff Parsons & Denny Starr along with Julie Gannam of Ruby Show on The Style Network, Below right: Diane Schleicher and Ruby Gettinger.

Visit zoelifestyle.com to download a FREE
10 minute Body by Banks workout.

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