EDITORIAL: THE Beach or bust?

Southwest has landed and Coastal Vision 3000 has taken off.

The brains behind THE Beach declared “mission accomplished” last week and announced that the group now is becoming inactive — largely due to the recession, organizers say.

To size up the legacy of Coastal Vision 3000 let’s look at the group’s goals as proclaimed on their Web site.
•Creating an internationally recognized branded destination to ensure the long-term economic growth of our region.
•Participating in a regional brand building campaign that serves as the foundation for localized and individual destination marketing campaigns.
•Educating key regional stakeholders and persuading them to support regional brand-building efforts.
•Training a broad range of local audiences to communicate and support the regional brand.
•Being a catalyst for bridging the geographic, political and economic boundaries that have fractured marketing efforts in our region and limited our potential.
•Establishing a regional standard for collecting, organizing and sharing tourism and economic development data.
•Supporting the work of our region’s tourism and economic development professionals and working closely with them to grow our market for our individual and collective benefit.
•Working cooperatively to attract better, more competitive air service to our region.

So did they hit the mark?

After collecting $144,500 from Okaloosa County businesses and agencies and spending at least $750,000 in regional and national advertising are we any closer to becoming THE Beach?

We don’t think so.

____

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Vote in our poll on the right hand side of the page.

____

The nebulous concept was never able to overtake tried and true brands like the Emerald Coast. Furthermore, The Log has often questioned whether THE Beach best captures the attributes of Destin, especially when area tourism officials have shifted their sights from the beach to the harbor.

Sure THE Beach backers threw a few events, such as a wine tasting on the harbor and The Taste of THE Beach, but with the exception of an emerging business leaders’ group that spun off from THE Beach, we are not sure that we witnessed the education and training trumpeted in these initiatives.

And, of course, our regional identity crisis endures as the various coastal communities along the Panhandle seem as fractured as ever. Meanwhile, tourists pour in and stay in homes and condos from Okaloosa Island to 30A — only to return home and tell friends they went to Destin.

In fact, rather than uniting the various tourism development councils, THE Beach seemed to divide tourism, county and chamber officials, many of whom engaged in spirited debates about whether to support the organization that now boasts “a zero balance.”

The final goal is where THE Beach scores a passing grade. Though some Okaloosa County officials no doubt feel a little cheated, it can be argued that we find success here since Panama City’s new airport landed Southwest last year. Of course, the verdict’s still out on how much that will benefit Bay County’s neighbors.

So, let’s see. One out of eight. Doesn’t seem like a passing grade to us.