An Angle on England (February 2004)
A mega-campaign aims to boost British tourism to Orlando
Imagine waiting by the curb in England, your overcoat buttoned up to your chin to fight off the chill. A double-decker bus arrives with an ad on its side showing a family like yours laughing on a roller coaster in the Florida sun and a telephone number to call to win a free holiday in Orlando. When you get home to your flat, you curl up in your favorite chair next to the furnace and flip the channels on your satellite TV. A commercial showing people swimming with dolphins and chatting with Mickey Mouse urges you and 6 million other subscribers to click a button on the remote control to receive Orlando vacation information by mail.
The Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau spent $1.7 million to target the United Kingdom with its “Destination Imagination” advertising campaign, which started in late December and wraps up this month.

Money Trail (December 2003)
A conservation group wants to complete a 1,300-mile nature trail – but it needs help Most Florida visitors are not as familiar with the gopher tortoise as they are a certain Mouse. That’s something The Great Outdoors Conservancy hopes to change eventually. The national land trust based in Bradenton is kicking off a $100 million fund-raising effort to complete the Florida National Scenic Trail started in 1966 by the Florida Trail Association and recognized by Congress in 1983 as one of eight national scenic trails that conserve not only wildlife but also history.

This is not your neighborhood bike trail, says Conservancy President Bill LaMee, the 2,000-member group’s head cheerleader and only paid employee. Its path is 1,000 feet wide and it winds its way 1,300 miles from the Panhandle to the Everglades.

At least it would if it were finished. The conservancy and its partners need to acquire 380 of those miles from thousands of owners to create Florida’s version of the Appalachian Trail. The park, which is maintained by the USDA Forest Service, would be upgraded to include trailheads with restrooms, parking areas, campsites and fishing holes, as well as educational signs at historic sites. But the conservancy needs money.
It’s first stop: the Florida Legislature. The conservancy will ask lawmakers this spring to pledge $20 million in state funds that LaMee hopes to match with federal money. “I need the state to give credibility to our effort,” he says.

Magical History Tour (January 2004)
Tampa’s restored WWII ship takes history aficionados on a trip back in time. During its first “Relive History” cruise last September, the SS American Victory floating maritime museum in Tampa Bay came under a surprise mock attack by a World War II-era Navy plane. About 300 visitors high atop the decks peered down at the aircraft with their mouths open as it buzzed past the side of the former Merchant Marine vessel.
“This was a first for me,” says Tim Teahan, media relations director for the SS American Victory, which has been working with aviation enthusiasts to schedule another flyover event for later this year. “It’s not often they get to put on this kind of a show.”

But when the ship leaves port again this month, and on other occasional six-hour cruises throughout the year, visitors will have some type of unique experience each time, whether it’s World War II re-enactors in period uniforms, memorial services honoring mariners lost at sea, or a close-up view of the Sunshine Skyway bridge.

An RV Villa (March 2004)
Upscale RVs are becoming popular as getaway retreats for vacationers
As word spreads about a little-known type of vacation housing, manufacturers of recreational vehicles called “park model RVs” say they’re struggling to keep up with demand in Florida and throughout the United States.

At 12 feet wide and 30 feet long, park models are a hybrid between typical RVs, which are made for vacationing on the road, and trailer homes, which are seldom if ever moved. The units are built on a chassis so they can be professionally towed at about $1.80 a mile to RV parks, retirement communities, private vacation properties, guest home sites, and hunting and fishing resorts.

Although park models have existed for about 20 years, the Recreational Park Trailer Industry Association Inc. based near Atlanta is seeing a surge in purchases as RV enthusiasts learn about them and more RV parks start offering them for sale, says William Garpow, the association’s executive director. Park models are smaller and more upscale than trailer or manufactured homes and contain the sophistication and comfort of an RV without the hassle of hooking and unhooking utilities between travels.