CONTACTS:
Nancy Hamilton or Lee Rose, Lee
County VCB
(239)338-3500
Visitors to The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel
in Southwest Florida Reconnect
With Loved Ones
LEE COUNTY, FL – The Beaches of Fort Myers &
Sanibel is proving to be the perfect sanctuary for
couples and families from
around the world to reconnect with loved ones in a quiet, natural setting.
With surroundings conducive to refocusing on
what’s really important in life, visitors to this tropical
island paradise are
finding a sense of inner peace as they submerse themselves in 50 miles of
white-sand
beaches on
the Gulf of Mexico and other alluring natural
wilderness.
A wonderful change from the
been-there-and-done-that in Florida, the Fort Myers and Sanibel area
is spoiling
increasing numbers of visitors with a variety of accommodations to fit any
budget, unique eco- and
heritage-based tours and activities, and plenty of
recreational fun, such as golfing, shelling, water sports,
incredible fishing,
and shopping.
Here are the highlights of what’s new in the Fort Myers and Sanibel area:
New brand name
The Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau (VCB)
has chosen a new marketing campaign
designed to reposition the destination to
thrive in the future. Executive Director D.T. Minich, CDME, recently
announced
the new brand position – The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel,
noting the new brand creates
a clearer definition of the destination than the
former brand, the Lee Island Coast.
“With the dramatic changes that have taken place
in the travel and tourism industry, it is critically
important that we reinvent
our marketing efforts to capture increased market share,” said Minich.
“The new
brand position will give us a competitive advantage and allow us to build on the
strong name
recognition
of Fort Myers and Sanibel Island.” He explained that
research shows that only 6-7 percent of
the destination’s
target audience is
aware of the “Lee Island Coast” while 87 percent of those interviewed
were aware
of Fort Myers/Sanibel.
According to Minich, the new brand will work much more effectively with the
increasingly popular
Web search engines as well as national directories
published by wholesalers, tour operators and airlines. The
new Web site is
www.FortMyersSanibel.com.
New Midfield Terminal under construction
Construction is on schedule
for Southwest Florida International Airport’s (SWFIA) new $438 million
Midfield
Terminal Complex, slated to open in 2005. The two-story terminal will open with
28 aircraft gates
along
three concourses, which can be expanded to 65 gates.
It was on May 14, 1983, Delta Air Lines flight
1677 became the first to land at the brand new
Southwest
Florida Regional
Airport in Fort Myers. During the next 20 years, more than 73 million passengers
traveled
through the airport. On May 14, 1993 – the airport’s 10th
anniversary – its name was changed to
Southwest
Florida International Airport,
to reflect its global status.
The original master plan projected that the
airport would serve 3 million passengers a year by 1995;
that milestone was
reached in 1988 – seven years ahead of schedule. By 2000, the airport was
serving 5 million
passengers annually, and plans were under way for a new
terminal. In 2003, 5.9 passengers came through the
17-gate terminal at SWFIA.
For details, access
www.SWFIA.com.
Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary celebrates
50th Anniversary
In the early 1950s, after
extensive clear-cutting elsewhere, loggers came to cut down the ancient
cypress
trees in Bonita Springs. They had not planned to leave the
Corkscrew bird
rookery forest for last,
but this
unhappy coincidence caused national
headlines. Audubon helped rally public support to preserve
both trees
and
birds. On March 9, 1954, the Corkscrew Cypress Rookery Association was formed
in
Tampa, Florida.
Their mission was “The acquisition and preservation of the
greatest remaining cypress swamp
with associated
plant and animal life”. Their
goal was 2,125 acres. They succeeded and the first deeds for
the newly
created Corkscrew
Swamp Sanctuary were transferred to National Audubon in December 1954.
On Corkscrew’s 50th anniversary as an
Audubon Center and Sanctuary, Audubon owns and
manages
11,000 acres of unmatched
Everglades habitats and wildlife. The Blair Audubon Center and nature
trail host
nearly 90,000 visitors from around the world and the Sanctuary maintains the
largest nesting colony
of endangered
wood storks in North America. Corkscrew
provides more than 5,000 school children each
year a living
classroom like none
other.
Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is open every day of
the year and offers a nature store, tea room for
light snacks, exhibits and swamp
theater, and a 2-¼ mile wheelchair accessible boardwalk.
Contact 239-348-9151
or visit
www.audubon.org/local/sanctuary/corkscrew for more
information.
Restoration continues at Edison & Ford Winter Estates; commemorative coin released
Visitors to the Edison & Ford Winter
Estates in Fort Myers can learn a bit of history as well as
historic
preservation. The $9 million restoration project currently going will refurbish
the estates’ guesthouse,
a small
caretaker cottage, a breezeway between the
guesthouse and the Edison House and the house itself.
Completion
is slated for
2005.
The estates is the eighth most
visited historical home in the United States with 50 percent of its visitation
coming from international markets.
Also, the U.S. Treasury Department has released the Thomas Edison
commemorative silver dollar on
the 125th anniversary of the
inventor’s incandescent light bulb. The proceeds from a $10 surcharge on each coin
will be
divided among eight Edison historic sites, including the 118-year-old winter
estate in Fort Myers.
For details, contact the estate at 239-461-2687 or visit
their Web site at
www.edison-ford-estate.com.
Pink Shell Beach Resort & Spa opens new villas
Pink Shell Beach Resort & Spa in
Fort Myers Beach will open its White Sand Villas this month during
the second
phase of its multi-million dollar redevelopment. The nine-story building will
feature 92 spacious
one- and two-bedroom villa-style accommodations. Each has a
full-sized kitchen, dining areas and magnificent
views of the Gulf of Mexico.
Also, as part of the project, new amenities for the
property include a 6,000-square-foot spa, a
full-service gulf-front restaurant and 3,500 square feet of meeting
space in
White Sands Villas. For details, call 239-463-6181 or access
www.pinkshell.com.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel (formerly
the Lee Island Coast) include:
Sanibel & Captiva islands, Fort Myers Beach, Fort
Myers, Bonita Springs & Estero, Cape Coral,
Pine Island, Boca Grande & Outer
islands, North Fort Myers, Lehigh Acres. For more information,
visit our Web
site at
www.FortMyersSanibel.com
.