Orange Beach announces 'Market Days' campaign - Orange Beach
September 14, 2011 - Orange Beach, AL (OBA) - Coming off a summer of record-breaking tourism numbers, business and community leaders in Orange Beach have started a new initiative to try to keep the good times rolling.
A campaign called "Market Days … Catch the Orange Beach Experience" kicked off Wednesday morning. This is a free community campaign for all businesses and organizations in Orange Beach. The idea is for the businesses in Orange Beach to set this time of year aside for their own special promotions and events to coincide with the popular National Events that occur in October.
The effort was started by the Orange Beach Business Advisory Committee which, according to an application available to all businesses, "commits to marketing this campaign through news outlets, websites and facebook postings.
"These ladies and gentlemen are representing professional services, restaurants, charter fishing, a little bit of everything," Devine-Johnson said of the committee. She has been at the forefront of the effort to jumpstart the new initiative.
Businesses can receive an application by emailing Yolanda Devine-Johnson at yolanda@jdevinecompany.com.
The effort will focus on an 11-day period, Oct. 6-16, when Thunder on the Gulf and the Shrimp Festival are in town. There is also a redfish tournament during the same time frame.
"We have many visitors that will be coming onto the Island," Devine-Johnson said. "And now they have a reason to visit our community and experience Orange Beach."
Mayor Tony Kennon praised the efforts of the committee.
"I've never been so impressed and excited with a business community as I have been with this one," Kennon said. "In one month's time everybody seems to have gotten on board, is excited about and wants to make something happen."
Kennon said the main goal of the campaign is to try and extend the tourist season and keep people thinking about what the area has to offer year round, not just in the summer.
"It is a way to create activities and events to give people a reason to come to Orange Beach when they might not traditionally be thinking about the beach," he said. "It's about customer service and making sure when people come to Orange Beach and to our beaches they have an experience like no other."
And, Kennon continued, it is a way to show off the self-sufficiency and ingenuity the resort town's businesses in the face of recent hard times caused by the oil spill and economic downturn.
"We want to show the resiliency of our business community, how we survive and how the camaraderie and ability to create a synergy amongst ourselves … to help us overcome what we've had … and be better than we've ever been," Kennon said.
"It's going to show that we are not going to sit around and wait for someone to take care of us. We're going to find a way to make it happen."
Several businesses such as Shipp's Harbor Grille, Tacky Jack's, the Flora-Bama and Flippers are already planning special events for Market Days. Shipp's will have chef tastings and marina packages, Tacky Jack's is sponsoring a Make A Wish Foundation fundraiser and the Flora-Bama is having mullet-toss training. At Flippers, the restaurant will offer free signature Eddie Boy's ice cream and game-day specials.
"Hopefully every business in town will provide something new and unique or some kind of opportunity for some of our visitors to come to their stores, their businesses and enjoy what we have to offer," Kennon said. "What we're hoping is this will add to the overall experience and give folks more things to do which will create a reason for more people to come down during those two weeks, 10 days."
And, Kennon said, this is just the beginning. Plans are already in the works to take advantage of other holidays and events from now through spring break.
"This is the first event, I believe, of many, many events to come," he said. "Looking at many different holidays, Christmas town, Christmas season, Mardi Gras season, spring break, we're going to try to have something every single weekend to give people a reason to come to the beach."
For more information, visit the group's website at: www.OBA.US.COM/marketdays.
Market Days Participation Form for Businesses and Organizations
16 Sep, 2011--
Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHsdq3YcceF_-yTdl3lc1t4zsZgfg&url=http://orangebeach.ws/component/content/article/182-2011/1299-orange-beach-announces-market-days-campaign.html
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