Florida's Space Coast Tourism Journal - Fall 2019

FALL 2019

Florida’s Space Coast COCOA BEACH • MELBOURNE AND THE BEACHES • PORT CANAVERAL • PALM BAY • VIERA • TITUSVILLE Delta SKY_8x10.5.indd 1

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Letter from the

Executive Director

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Meet the Team

Research 11

Visitation Report One Lagoon

14 37

The Space Coast Birding 38

and Wildlife Festival

Brevard Zoo

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Florida’s Space Coast Office of Tourism 430 Brevard Avenue Suite 150, Cocoa, FL 32922 Phone: (877) 57-BEACH (2-3224) (321) 433-4470 Fax: (321) 433-4476 The Tourism Journal is the official tourism intelligence magazine of the Florida’s Space Coast Office of Tourism

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A LETTER FROM

THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR As we end the summer season, the tourism industry on Florida’s Space Coast is as strong as ever and continues to show steady growth. This was emphasized by the March tourism tax collections, which exceeded $2 million for the first time (nearly $2.1 million) and set the record as the highest collection month since the tax was implemented in 1987. The summer season has been strong; attractions such as Brevard Zoo are reporting good attendance, and with more than 1,500 new hotel rooms in the pipeline over the next 24 months, as well as four new cruise ships coming to Port Canaveral, there’s no slowing down anytime soon on the Space Coast.

PETER CRANIS

In this issue, the economic impact of the Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival will be examined. This uniquely special event features the celebration of birds, wildlife and conservation on the Space Coast, specifically in north Brevard County. This annual event, in its 22nd year saw a total attendance of 2,000 and an economic impact of $1.025 million.

The feature story covers Brevard Zoo, one of the top zoos in the nation according to U.S. World News & Report. Take a read and you’ll see why they’re a treasure to our area. Plus, get an inside look at the future Indian River Lagoon Conservation Campus and Aquarium. The Conservation Campus and Aquarium will be a significant addition to the great activities that exist for tourists and residents alike.

SPACE COAST OFFICE OF TOURISM

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The Summer Campaign has been in full force with a heavy focus on the Fourth of July holiday. Digital advertising and video streaming are being utilized as is our ongoing billboard and airport display campaigns. Also, we will be launching the new VisitSpaceCoast.com in late July. This new site will be supported by a Google AdWords campaign. We don’t want to take our foot off the gas now, and we hope to finish the fiscal year (September 30) strong with a back to school campaign, encouraging families to take one last getaway before school is back in session.

Congratulations to Bonnie King, the Deputy Director of our office , who retired at the end of June after 31 years of service to Brevard County.

Bonnie’s steadfast passion for all things Space Coast tourism and Film Florida have no doubt made an important mark on the success of this office. Bonnie will be greatly missed and we wish her all the best.

Since I’ve started in March, I’ve met with many members of our tourism community as well as community leaders. Thank you for such a warm welcome, I look forward to meeting more of you this fall. n

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MEET THE

RESEARCH TEAM DEBORAH WEBSTER

was born and raised in the Philadelphia area, spending summers in Ocean City, New Jersey. She relocated to the Space Coast in the summer of 2015, after frequent visits to family over the past 20 years. In her role as Research and Analytics Director, she supports the Marketing team with data to best reach visitors to Florida’s Space Coast. Deborah is a graduate of Widener University and spent 15 years as a Montessori trained educator and head of school. She has two daughters; Anna Grace, 16 and Charlotte, 14 and lives in the Eau Gallie Arts District area.

MIKE SLOTKIN, PH.D.

is Professor of Economics in the College of Business at the Florida Institute of Technology. Mike earned his Ph.D. in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and his scholarly activity surrounds the application of economics to the environment and to regional economies and industries. He regularly consults through FIT Consulting, and to date, has co-authored more than thirty economic impact or contribution studies. Born and raised in Miami, Florida, Mike resides in the town of Grant-Valkaria with his life partner Karen and their three cats: Zippy, Curry, and Luna. He is a life-long supporter of his hometown Miami Dolphins.

ALEX VAMOSI, PH.D.

is an Associate Professor in the Nathan M. Bisk College of Business at the Florida Institute of Technology where he has been a faculty member since 2001. He also served as the Associate Dean of Academics at the College from 2007 to 2015. Alex completed his Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill and his undergraduate and master’s studies at the University of Alberta, Canada. His research interests involve statistical and quantitative analysis in the areas of environmental and regional economics, sustainability and ecotourism.

Alex has collaborated actively on over thirty economic impact studies, and has presented papers on these topics both locally and internationally. He is an avid EPL fan and enjoys reading historical fiction, mystery and fantasy novels.

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Contributors Lynne Mims

is an Instructor and Academic Chair for Undergraduate Online Business Programs in the College of Business at the Florida Institute of Technology. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Leeds and M.B.A from the University of Bradford, England. Prior to teaching, she worked for over 15 years in sales and marketing management within both brewing and sport-related industries. Her current academic interests include social media marketing and personal branding.

Tiffany Minton

Photo credit for pages 6 - 9, 14 & 15

& TREE TOP TREK

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Sources Duane E. De Freese, Ph.D.

is the Executive Director of the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program and the IRL Council, an independent special district of the State of Florida.

During his 4-dacade career, Duane has served in leadership positions in the publicsector, academia, non-profit organizations and industry.

Dr. De Freese is a champion of science-based, commonsense ocean and coastal conservation in Florida. He is an avid surfer, traveler and clean-water advocate.

Page 34.

RESEARCH UPDATES, PROJECTS & RESULTS

BY DEBORAH WEBSTER

For Florida’s Space Coast, March 2019 proved to be a milestone in Tourist Tax revenue, when for the first time ever, collections surpassed $2 million. With a 6 percent increase over the March 2018 figure, the $2.095 million accrual was an achievement long desired and worthy of celebration.

March is typically the tourism high-water mark, with snow birds, spring breakers, and northern winter escapees overlapping in stays. And March 2019 was no exception, with hotel/motels, condos, and short-term rentals such Airbnb and VRBO seeing their biggest year-over-year gains.

As year-long residents of the Space Coast, we know during the “busy” season we sometimes deal with inconveniences like increased road traffic and restaurant waits. But what’s not so obvious to the average resident is the economic benefit from Tourist Tax revenues. The 5 percent tax, oftentimes referred to as the ‘Bed’ or ‘Accommodation’ Tax, funds endeavors such as Tourism Marketing (attracting more visitors to our county), Sports, Capital Facilities, Cultural Support, and Beach Improvement. While each category funded contributes to the overall well-being on the Space Coast, the Beach Improvement fund is worthy of closer inspection.

We know from our Visitation Reports that tourists rate ‘Beach Activities’ consistently high in terms of satisfaction (mid 80 percent). That being said, it takes an enormous amount of money to keep our beaches clean, beautiful, and re-nourished. It is task made even more difficult to accomplish while dodging beach erosion from full moon/king tides, northeast winds, and coastal storms.

This careful balancing act falls into the experienced hands of the Brevard County Natural Resources team. We are thankful that Hurricane Dorian skipped by our coastal communities; however, some beaches did experience significant damage. Approval was granted last month for the Natural Resources team to proceed with contracting on a nearly $5,000,000 beach re-nourishment project to fix those damaged areas. Supporting dollars are being paid by the Beach Improvement fund silo of the Bed Tax. No property taxes or other assessments will be affected.

The re-nourishment project is expected to begin shortly with completion in time for the 2020 hurricane season. So thank you Bed Tax for keeping our beaches healthy and beautiful. n

Tourist Development Council Mission Statement: To promote growth, development and quality of tourism in the county; encourage participation by both visitors and residents in tourism related activities, and to act as the primary body to determine direction, goal and policy for use of the tourism tax.

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TOURISM PERFORMANCE

SCORECARD

FLORIDA’S SPACE COAST OFFICE OF TOURISM Tourist Tax Collection Revenue BUDGETED

LAST YEAR

ACTUAL

$2M $1.75M $1.5M $1.25M $1M $750K $500K

J18

A18

S18

O18

N18

D18

J19

60,000 50,000 40,000 30,000 20,000 10,000 0

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J19

J19

TOTAL

400 300 200 100 JULY AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC JAN

MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUNE JULY

Total Downloads

20,000 17,000 13,000 10,000 7,000 3,000 0

A19

BIKESHARE

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M19

Total Trips

Total Admissions

ZOO

F19

JULY AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUNE JULY

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FEB MAR APR MAY JUNE JULY

Total Surfboards Sold

60 50 40 30 20 10

JULY AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC

JAN

FEB MAR APR MAY JUNE JULY

Total Visitation*

Total Admissions MUSEUM OF DINOSAURS AND ANCIENT CULTURES

5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0

4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 JUNE JULY AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL

0

JUNE JULY AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL

*The Barrier Island Center Total Visitation number is the combination of the following data: Barrier Island Trail use, K-12 School groups, Nesting Sea Turtle programs, Walk-in visitors, Family programs, and other.

The Tourism Performance Scorecard is a collection of metrics contributed by our local business partners to analyze trends by product, destination and season. We are grateful to those who shared data for this effort.

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Tourism

on the

Space

VISITATION REPORT MAY 2018 – APRIL 2019

BY ALEX VAMOSI, Ph.D.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report provides a 12-month snapshot of domestic visitors to Brevard County who rent accommodations at hotels, motels and other lodging options and pay the county bed tax. The results come from a database that compiles information from an extensive survey instrument that was developed in 2016 by members of the Florida Tech/Space Coast Office of Tourism research team, and is refined annually for clarity and usability. For the current sample period a total of 1,133 useable surveys were collected, which translates into a year-over-year increase of 48 percent. A new weighting methodology that corrects for the relative under-representation of the hotel/motel sub-market has also been adopted for this issue. Re-weighting the survey data based on bed tax shares reduces mean estimates related to trip profiles and spending.

Coast

The Space Coast is a vibrant tourist destination that attracts visitors from all regions of the country. The focus piece for the current issue compares regional drive and air travel markets. The following items summarize the main findings from the focus piece. • Within Florida, the markets with largest population base, Tampa, South Florida, and Jacksonville, produce the highest proportion of travelers to the Space Coast.

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• The South (including Florida) is by far the Space Coast’s largest tourism market, both in absolute size and relative size.

tion report come from a 12-month rolling database that compiles information from an extensive survey instrument that was developed in 2016 by members of the • Geographic proximity impacts the propor- Florida Tech/Space Coast Office of Tourism research team. Once a year, members tion of visitors who travel from different regions of the country, their primary mode of this team refine the survey to enhance clarity and user friendliness, and to gather of transportation, and the type of accommore precise information about the overall modation they select for their overnight domestic tourism, accommodation-based lodging. market and its various sub-markets. Based on the feedback received from hoteliers and • Visitors who traveled by air spend about officials from the Brevard Zoo during the $239 dollars more per party and $120 past year, two revisions of note were implemore per person than their drive travel mented for calendar year 2019. cohorts.

• For a given mode of transportation (drive or air travel), visitors who reside in the Midwest, Northeast and West, tend to have longer visits, travel in larger parties, and spend more per party and per person than visitors from Florida or the South.

BACKGROUND AND UPDATES The Space Coast Tourism Journal provides a 12-month snapshot of domestic visitors to Brevard County who rent accommodations at hotels, motels and other lodging options and pay the county bed tax. This domestic tourism, accommodation-based market forms the vital core of tourism on the Space Coast, and is the funding vehicle for all efforts at developing and promoting the Space Coast brand. A series of standardized figures that encapsulate visitor profiles, spending patterns, and other trip characteristics of the domestic tourism, accommodation-based market has been conveniently grouped in an appendix at the end of the visitation report. These standardized figures are then complemented through a focus piece, which provides an in-depth analysis of specific sub-markets within the Space Coast tourism industry. The focus piece for the current issue compares the air travel market and three regional drive sub-markets (Florida, South, and “all other” states.)

The results that appear in the visita16

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1. “Vacation Rental” was removed from the list of accommodation types that visitors could select when identifying their chosen lodging. Respondents who selected vacation rental on previous survey instruments were reclassified as short-term rental.

2. The activities “Brevard Zoo” and “Treetop Trek,” which serve distinctly different population groups, were decoupled and separately listed on the survey instrument.

The data collection process is managed by 321 the Agency, one of the Space Coast Office of Tourism marketing partners.

In March 2018, 321 implemented a new collection process that greatly expanded the pool of individuals who, shortly after visiting the Space Coast, received a paid Facebook or Instagram ad that contains a link to the hotel survey. The new process has yielded a much larger number of surveys in total and a steadier stream of responses from one collection period to the next. For the current sample period (May 2018 – April 2019) a total of 1,133 useable surveys were collected, which translates into a year-overyear increase of 48 percent. Part of this increase is attributable to adding Instagram users to the mix of recipients who received the survey link (183 useable surveys have been collected from this source since January 2019).

TABLE 1: SAMPLE SIZES BY MARKET May 2017 – April 2018

May 2018 – April 2019

Percent Change

Overall Market

761

1133

48.6%

Non-Cruise

599

1045

74.5%

Cruise

162

88

-45.7%

Drive Travel

536

645

20.3%

Air Travel

230

488

112.2%

TAKEAWAY: With the exception of the cruise submarket, the total number of survey responses collected in the past year has increased significantly in all markets.

Table 1 highlights the year-over-year change in survey responses for the overall domestic tourism, accommodation-based market and for several of its sub-markets.

The large inflow of responses has positively impacted the sample collected for non-cruise, drive travel and air travel sub-markets.

Larger sample sizes are valuable because they tend to generate more precise statistical estimates. Regrettably, there has also been a substantial drop in the number of surveys collected from respondents who embarked on a cruise during their visit (almost 46 percent). As a consequence, a much larger share of the current sample is made up of surveys from the non-cruise market. The

share of surveys also increased significantly in the air travel market, rising from 30 to 43 percent.

Since the new collection process was first adopted, there has also been a noticeable drop in the share of survey respondents who chose hotel/motel accommodations to satisfy their overnight lodging needs. Table 2 shows that only 51.5 percent of the most recent sample came from respondents that selected hotel/motel accommodations, while current bed tax data shows that this population group generated about 73.9 percent of the bed tax revenue. The under-sampling of visitors from the hotel/motel sub-market has produced overestimates of important metrics, such as party size, length of visit, and per party expenditures, which will be discussed further.

TABLE 2: ACCOMMODATION SHARES Sample

Bed Tax*

Hotel/Motel

51.5%

73.9%

Other Accommodation types

41.2%

24.3%

Campground/RV park

7.30%

1.80%

*Bed tax shares are for Fiscal Year to Date (Oct 2018 – April 2019)

TAKEAWAY: In comparison to its share of bed tax revenue, hotel/motel lodging is under-represented in the sample.

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Statistical agencies routinely re-weight data in cases where important population groups are underreported. For this reason, beginning with the current issue, we have adopted a methodology that utilizes data on bed tax shares to re-weight estimates for many of the key metrics presented in the appendix. The adopted method of weighting data involves a straightforward three step process.

1. Sort the data by accommodation type and compute a point estimate for each; 2. Multiply each sub-market estimate from Step 1 by its corresponding bed tax weight;

people); take shorter visits (3.6 vs. 7.1 nights); and spend less ($1,133 vs. $2,045 per party) than guests who select other types of accommodation (we refer readers to the Figures 2, 3 and 9 in the appendix where they can visually compare estimates for these two sub-markets), the weighted estimates for the overall market are lower than the unadjusted figures. In essence, the unweighted survey sample under reports smaller parties, shorter stays, and correspondingly, lower spending totals. By correcting for this bias, sample means are reduced.

TABLE 3. IMPACT OF WEIGHTING – OVERALL MARKET

3. Sum the weighted estimates from Step 2 to derive an overall market estimate.

Party Size

The impact of weighting the sample estimates using the bed tax shares shown in Table 2 is illustrated in Table 3. Columns 1 and 2 tabulate the unadjusted and weighted estimates, respectively, while column 3 calculates the difference. Because visitors who choose hotel/motel accommodations travel in smaller parties (2.7 vs. 3.3 18

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Unadjusted (Col. 1)

Weighted (Col. 2)

Difference (Col.3)

2.92

2.81

(0.11)

Length of Visit

5.46

4.57

(0.88)

Lodging Expense

$656

$582

($74)

$1,510

$1,343

($168)

Total Expense

TAKEAWAY: Re-weighting the survey data corrects for the under reporting of hotel/motel lodging in the unweighted sample and reduces sample means.

REGIONAL MARKETS AND TRANSPORTATION MODES The Space Coast is a vibrant tourist destination that attracts visitors from all regions of the country. In the current 12-month sample of data virtually every state is represented, with the only exceptions being North Dakota and the District of Columbia.

Geographic proximity, in large measure, determines the mode of transportation that visitors use when traveling from their state of residence to the Space Coast. People who live closer to the Space Coast are more likely to select drive travel, while those living from farther distances may, instead, choose air

travel. Because of its geographic proximity, for those residing in Florida and the neighboring southern states along the Eastern Seaboard, the Space Coast is primarily a drive market. There exists, however, a substantial market for air travelers, especially from the Northeast, Midwest and West. In calendar years 2017 and 2018, air travel accounted for 27 percent and 41 percent of survey respondents, respectively.

What follows is a detailed examination of the Space Coast’s drive and air travel markets, segmented by the geographic region where survey respondents reside. Several questions motivate this analysis.

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1. What is the distribution of visitors who reside in Florida? What is the distribution of visitors based on geographic regions?

2. What is the primary mode of transportation used by visitors when traveling to the Space Coast? What is the regional distribution of the drive market and air travel market?

3. What differences in trip profile and expenses emerge based on regional segmentation of drive and air travel markets?

To answer these questions, we linked zip code data (primary residence) to state of origin, and then sorted the state level data into the four main geographic regions defined by the U.S. Census Bureau (Northeast, South, Midwest, and West).

As a point of reference, the south region includes areas that extend northeast to Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia and southwest to Oklahoma and Texas. Also, since the Census Bureau does not recognize Puerto Rico in their state-level tabulations, the one survey respondent who resided in Puerto Rico was removed from the sample.

In order to facilitate comparison with in-state and out-of-state markets, we

segmented the South into two groups: Florida and South-Excluding Florida. The five regional markets were then further sub-divided into drive and air travel markets. The results are summarized in Table 4, which shows the relative size of the five regional markets based on 1,132 survey respondents who visited the Space Coast during the past 12 months (May 2018 to April 2019.)

Regional Distributions of Space Coast Visitors We begin by examining the distribution of the 207 survey respondents who listed a Florida zip code as their primary residence. Chart 1 shows that during the last 12 months, Greater Tampa, Greater Jacksonville and South Florida together account for over 52 percent of Florida-based visitors to the Space Coast. Central Florida and the Space Coast account for another 24 percent of the market, while the remaining 24 percent is split, about equally, between the Panhandle, Treasure Coast, Southwest Florida and the Gainesville area.

It is not surprising to find that the markets with largest population base, Tampa, South Florida, and Jacksonville, produce the highest proportion of travelers to the Space

CHART 1: DISTRIBUTION OF VISITORS FROM FLORIDA (SAMPLE SIZE = 237) 25% 19%

19.0%

18.1%

15.6% 12.7%

13%

11.0% 6.8%

6% 0%

Greater Tampa

South Florida

Greater Jacksonville

Central Florida

Space Coast

Panhandle

5.9%

5.5%

5.5%

Treasure Coast

Southwest Florida

Gainesville Area

TAKEAWAY: Within Florida, the markets with the largest population base produce the highest proportion of travelers to the Space Coast.

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TABLE 4: REGIONAL SUB-MARKETS SEGMENTED

BY MODE OF TRANSPORTATION Drive Market

Air Travel Market

Overall Market

Count

Percent

Count

Percent

Count

Percent

Florida

207

18.3%

30

2.7%

237

20.9%

South-Excluding Florida

228

20.1%

91

8.0%

319

28.2%

Midwest

129

11.4%

162

14.3%

291

25.7%

Northeast

66

5.8%

124

11.0%

190

16.8%

West

15

1.3%

80

7.1%

95

8.4%

Total

645

57.0%

487

43.0%

1132

100.0%

TAKEAWAY: Geographic proximity significantly impacts the proportion of visitors from different regions of the country and their primary mode of transportation. Visitors from southern states overwhelmingly drive, while air travel becomes the primary mode of transportation for visitors traveling from the Midwest, Northeast and West.

Coast. What is surprising is the large share of visitors from Central Florida and the Space Coast. Visitors who live within a 100-mile radius of Brevard County are not supposed to be sent the Facebook/Instagram ad that includes a link to the survey; yet clearly this is not the case. According to representatives from 321 the Agency, the addresses used by Facebook/Instagram are based on user supplied information about primary residence. Someone who has relocated to Central Florida, but has not updated their primary residence information in Facebook or Instagram, will receive the ad and survey link when visiting the Space Coast.

Table 4 shows a breakdown of the five regional sub-markets of the overall domestic tourism, accommodation-based market, segmented further by mode of transportation. In the overall domestic tourism, accommodation-based market, almost one-half of the visitors to the Space Coast listed either Florida (20.9 percent) or the South-Excluding Florida (28.8 percent) as their primary area of residence. In regions located outside of the South-Excluding Floridah, the share of respondents who live in the Midwest was about 25.7 percent, which is more than the combined share (25.2 percent) from the Northeast and West.

We have seen that the largest shares of visitors from Florida reside in markets with the largest population base. This relationship does not, in general, hold for the five regions listed in Table 4. Population is important to tourism, but geographic proximity to the Space Coast also matters. Florida’s population in 2018 was about 21.3 million or about 6.5 percent of the U.S. population, yet the percentage of the domestic tourism, accommodation-based market from Florida was 20.9 percent, more than three times larger. In contrast, California’s population in 2018 was about 39.6 million residents or 12.1 percent of the U.S. population, but their tourism share was only 2 percent.

Florida is not the only region where its tourism share (percent of Space Coast tourists) exceeds its national population weight.

The Space Coast’s tourism share from the Midwest is 4.8 points higher than its population weight (20.9 percent). Tourism shares are relatively smaller in both South-Excluding Florida (28.2 percent tourism; 31.6 percent population) and West (8.4 percent tourism; 23.8 percent population), while the Northeast has shares that are comparable and not significantly different (16.8 percent tourism; 17.2 percent population) than its population weight.

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The volume of tourists from a particular region depends on its population size and tourism share. The South is by far the Space Coast’s largest tourism market, both in terms of population size (124.74 million) and tourism share (49%). In contrast, the West is likely the Space Coast’s smallest tourism market; although it has the second largest population (77.99 million) it has by far the smallest tourism share (8.4 percent). Geographic proximity also affects the primary mode of transportation that visitors use when traveling to the Space Coast. A careful examination of Table 4 reveals that the selected mode of transportation shifts from drive travel to air travel as we move from southern states to the other regions of the country. Approximately two out of every three visitors who traveled by car reside in the South (including Florida), while about 75 percent of respondents who traveled by air reside in the Midwest, Northeast or West. In the next section we summarize the trip profiles and spending estimates of Space Coast visitors by region and mode of transportation.

Trip Profiles and Visitor Spending Estimates The sample sizes for several of the sub-markets shown in Table 4 are quite small (i.e., well below 100 observations). To offset this small sample problem, states from the Midwest, Northeast and West were grouped into a single region for both the drive and air travel markets, while Florida and the SouthExcluding Florida were merged into one region for the air travel market. This leaves a total of five regional markets: three drive markets (Drive-Florida, Drive-South-Excluding Florida, and Drive-Other) and two air travel markets (Air-South and Air-Other).

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The proportion of visitors who selected hotel/motel accommodations for their overnight lodging, ranked from highest to lowest, are Drive-Florida (64.7 percent) and Air-South (64.5 percent), followed by DriveSouth-Excluding Florida (50.4 percent), Air-Other (49.7 percent) and Drive-Other (33.8 percent). These statistics hint at an inverse relationship between regional proximity and the selection of hotel/motel accommodations by Space Coast visitors. In the drive market, the proportion of hotel/motel lodging drops steeply as we move from Florida to regions located outside of the South. Although the drop is not as pronounced in the air travel market, the 15-point gap between Air-South and Air-Other is substantial.

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In each of the regional sub-markets, the percentage of visitors who chose hotel/motel accommodations was significantly lower than the 73 percent share of bed tax revenue that was collected from these establishments. The three-step weighting methodology, described earlier in the Background and Updates section of this report, was used to adjust for the under-representation of hotel/motel lodging in each of the samples. The statistics reported below are all weighted estimates using this three-step process.

Table 5 shows substantial variation in the trip profile of visiting parties across regions and mode of transportation. With the exception of visitors who reside in Florida, average party size tends to be higher in

TABLE 5. TRIP PROFILES BY REGION* Children

Length of Visit (# of nights)

2.15

0.47

2.95

3.23

2.39

0.84

4.32

Drive-Other

2.90

2.18

0.73

5.37

Air-South

2.52

2.09

0.42

4.15

Air-Other

2.69

2.25

0.43

5.24

Party Size

Adults

Drive-Florida

2.62

Drive-South Excluding Florida

*Weighted estimates are based on bed tax shares (Fiscal Year to Date 2019)

TAKEAWAY: The out-of-state drive markets from the South and other regions tend to travel with larger sized parties.

For a given mode of transportation, visitors who travel farther tend to visit longer.

drive markets than in air travel markets.

Drive-South-Excluding Florida has the largest party size overall, including the most adults (2.39) and most children (0.84), followed by Drive-Other (2.18 adults and 0.73 children).

The smallest party size is associated with the Air-South region, where the average number of adults and children is 2.09 and 0.42, respectively.

We have shown that geographic proximity to the Space Coast impacts both the proportion of visitors who travel from different

regions of the country, as well their primary mode of transportation. Geographic proximity also influences the average length of trip visits (see Table 5). For each mode of transportation, visitors tend to have longer visits the farther they travel to reach the Space Coast. In the drive travel markets, length of visits become progressively longer: 3.0 nights for in-state visitors; 4.3 nights for people residing in southern states outside of Florida, and 5.4 nights for people from the Midwest, Northeast and West. Similarly, visitors who choose to fly from the Midwest, Northeast or West have longer visits (5.2 nights), on average, than air travel visitors who live in the South (4.2 nights). These are meaningful differences for both modes of transportation.

The economic impact of visiting parties depends primarily on the dollars spent within the local community. The dollars spent per party, in turn, depends on party size and length of visit. Everything else equal, markets that have larger sized parties, and that come for lengthier visits, will produce larger economic impacts per party than smaller sized parties that come for shorter visits. Careful inspection of Table 6 shows that this is true for both per party and per person expenditures, after controlling for the chosen mode of transportation.

TABLE 6. AVERAGE TRIP EXPENDITURES* Per Party

Per Person

Per Party

Lodging Expense

Total Expense

Length of Visit

Party Size

$895

$140

$337

2.95

2.65

$548

$1,307

$165

$394

4.32

3.32

Drive-Other

$635

$1,481

$208

$486

5.37

3.05

Air-South

$526

$1,314

$209

$522

4.15

2.52

Air-Other

$693

$1,534

$258

$571

5.24

2.69

Drive Travel

$520

$1,232

$172

$408

4.22

3.02

Air Travel

$649

$1,471

$233

$528

4.94

2.78

Lodging Expense

Total Expense

Drive-Florida

$373

Drive-South Excluding Florida

*Weighted estimates are based on bed tax shares (Fiscal Year to Date 2019)

TAKEAWAY: For a given mode of transportation, visitors who travel farther distances, tend to have longer visits, travel in larger parties, and spend more per party and per person.

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CONCLUSIONS AND SUMMARY

Florida, and Greater Jacksonville. This relationship does not, in general, hold for the five state-level regions that were evaluated.

Population size is important to tourism, but geographic proximity to the Space Coast significantly impacts many of the important statistics that affect the domestic tourism, accommodation-based market and contribute to the economic health of the Space Coast’s tourism industry. Geographic proximity impacts both the proportion of visitors who travel from different regions of the country, as well their primary mode of transportation. It also affects the type of accommodations that visitors select, length of stay, and the composition and size of visiting parties. Length of stay, in particular, was shown to be a critical driver of regional spending estimates. Mean estimates of spending were positively related to length of visit for both modes of transportation. Finally, visitors who traveled by air spend about $239 dollars more per party and $120 more per person than the corresponding estimates in the drive travel market. Again, much of the difference can be attributed to the longer visits that are typically taken by air travelers.

Our examination of regional data shows that the largest shares of visitors from Florida reside in markets with the largest population base: Greater Tampa, South

The following appendix presents additional figures detailing information about parties that visited the Space Coast in the last 12-months.

In the air travel markets, estimates for length of visit, party size and spending per party (and per person), for both lodging and total expenses, are all higher in regions located outside of the South: larger parties and longer visits produce more spending. With respect to the three drive travel markets, length of visit is the key variable that affects spending; as length of visit increases, spending per party and per person increases. Drive-Other has the largest spending estimates within the drive market, despite having a smaller party size than Drive-South-Excluding Florida. In this case, the longer length of visits associated with Drive-Other more than offsets the relatively small difference in party size.

Length of visit also appears to be the more important variable when comparing the aggregate markets for air and drive travel.

Visitors who traveled by air take longer trips that translate into spending that is about $239 dollars more per party and $120 more per person than parties from the drive travel market.

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Appendix FIGURE 1. ACCOMMODATION TYPE TIMESHARE 2.7% RV PARK/ CAMPGROUND 7.3%

BED & BREAKFAST 1.1% HOTEL/MOTEL 51.5%

CONDO 15.9%

SHORT-TERM RENTAL 21.4%

For the current sample period, 51.5 percent of surveyed Space Coast visitors chose hotel/ motel accommodations for their overnight lodging needs. Condos and short-term rentals (AirBnB, VRBO, Homeaway, etc.) were procured by 37.3 percent of visiting parties, while another 7.3 percent stayed at campgrounds or RV parks. As a point of reference, in FY2019 bed tax data indicate that 73.9 percent of revenue originated from hotel/ motel accommodations, 1.8 percent from campgrounds and RV parks, and 24.3 percent from all other accommodation types.

FIGURE 2. LODGING PROFILE BY MARKET SEGMENT

Rooms

Overall

NonCruise

Cruise

Hotel/ Motel

Other Lodging

1.1

1.1

1.1

1.2

1.0

Nights

4.6

4.7

3.7

3.6

7.1

Room Nights

5.1

5.2

4.0

4.3

7.1

People Nights

13.1

13.2

12.3

9.5

13.1

The lodging profile graphic shows sizeable variation in the number of nights that lodging is procured within the major sub-markets, especially between the hotel/ motel and “other lodging types� (excluding campground and RV parks) segments. The number of nights that visiting parties purchased from other lodging types was almost double the number of nights observed in the hotel/motel sub-market (7.1 vs. 3.6).

Naturally, this large disparity is the primary reason for the differences observed in both room nights and people nights.

FIGURE 3. PARTY SIZE BY MARKET SEGMENT Overall

NonCruise

Cruise

Hotel/ Motel

Other Lodging

Adults

2.2

2.2

2.6

2.1

2.6

Party Size

2.8

2.8

3.2

2.7

3.3

The average party size for those visiting the Space Coast was slightly lower than reported in previous issues of the Space Coast Tourism Journal (2.8 rather 3.0). This is due to the new weighting mechanism that was adopted for this issue (see main article for a description), which places a much larger weight on the estimated party size associated with the hotel/motel sub-market (2.7 people) rather than the corresponding estimate for other lodging types (3.3 people).

89% Refer a Friend to Visit the Space Coast Of those polled, would

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FIGURE 4. PRIMARY PURPOSE OF TRIP: VACATION AND VISITS Overall

Non-Cruise

Cruise

Vacation/Holiday

53.3%

52.2%

67.0%

Visiting Family & Friends

17.3%

18.0%

9.1%

When asked to identify the primary purpose of their visit to the Space Coast, 52.2 percent of respondents in the non-cruise market report vacation/holiday; this figure jumps to 67.0 percent in the cruise market. The second most cited reason is visiting family and friends, which accounts for another 17.3 percent of reported trips. These figures are unweighted estimates that do not account for the type of accommodation visitors procured during their stay.

FIGURE 5. PRIMARY PURPOSE OF TRIP: OTHER MOTIVATIONS Cruise

Non-Cruise

Overall

Other

9.1%

7.4%

7.5%

Business

1.1%

6.9%

6.4%

Rocket Launch

6.8%

5.1%

5.2%

Private Occasion

2.3%

5.0%

4.8%

Public Event, Show or Festival

1.1%

2.5%

2.4%

Convenient Stop for Drive Travel

3.4%

1.4%

1.6%

Job Interview

0.0%

1.6%

1.5%

FIGURE 6. CRUISE COHORT BY SELECTED CRUISE LINE

DISNEY 10.2%

NORWEGIAN 4.5%

ROYAL CARIBBEAN 36.4%

OTHER 15.9%

CARNIVAL 33.0%

A total of 88 parties embarked on a cruise from Port Canaveral, which makes up about 7.8 percent of all reported trips. Carnival and Royal Caribbean were the chosen carriers for about 69 percent of cruise parties. There has been significant variation in these estimates from issue to issue, likely stemming from the relatively small sample sizes of visiting parties who have embarked on cruises.

Business, private occasion and rocket launch were other frequently cited reasons for visiting the Space Coast. Together, these three items accounted for 16.4 percent of all visits. Public event, show or festival, job interview and convenient stop for drive travel accounted for only 5.5 percent of visits.

90% Return to Visit the Space Coast Of those polled, would

Of those polled, expect to

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Appendix continued FIGURE 7. WHAT TYPE OF MARKETING HAVE YOU SEEN? 0.0%

12.5%

25.0%

Social Media Video

37.5%

50.0% 49.8%

Billboard

27.0%

Website

25.9%

None of the above

21.7%

Social Media Other

19.5%

Magazine Print

16.6%

Vacation Planner

14.8%

News Stories

14.7%

Airport Display

13.5%

TV

13.4%

Radio

5.1%

YouTube

4.6%

The strongest marketing platforms observed in the overall sector continues to be social media videos (49.8 percent), billboard or other outdoor advertisement (27.0 percent) and websites (25.9 percent); almost all other platforms experienced exposure rates between 13 and 20 percent. The two least viewed platforms (radio and YouTube) were seen by less than 6 percent of respondents, while almost 22 percent reported not seeing any of the marketing types listed in the six months prior to their travel.

FIGURE 8. HOUSEHOLD INCOME 30% 25% 21.5%

21.0%

20% 15.7%

14.1%

15%

13.5% 10% 0%

9.9%

4.2% Less than $25,000

$25,000 $49,999

$50,000 $74,999

$75,000 $99,999

$100,000 $124,999

$125,000 $149,999

$150,000 or more

The distribution of household income remains skewed towards higher end brackets.

Almost one-quarter of respondents indicated a household income equal to or greater than $125,000. The proportion of respondents who reported a household income of more than $75,000 increased by 3 points (57 percent to 60 percent) since the last issue. For comparison purposes, the 2017 estimate for median household income in the state of Florida, the latest estimate available from the U.S. Census Bureau, is just under $54,000.

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FIGURE 10. BREAKDOWN OF SPENDING, OVERALL

FIGURE 9. AVERAGE TRIP EXPENDITURE BY MARKET NonCruise

Cruise

Hotel/ Motel

Other Lodging

$1,343 $1,368

$1,173

$1,113

$2,045

$371

$418

$626

Overall Spending Per Party Spending Per Person

$478

$495

Lodging Restaurants Recreation Retail Gas Other Spending Per Party

$582

$315

$192

$158 $72

$24

Spending Per Person

$207

$112

$68

$56

$9

$26

For surveyed parties, the overall average trip expenditure amounted to $1,343, or $478 per person. Visitors in the non-cruise market spent about $194 more per party and $124 more per person than visitors who went on cruises. Spending by hotel/motel visitors was substantially less ($932 per party and $208 per person) than spending by visitors who procured other lodging accommodations (excluding RV Park/Campground). This disparity reflects the substantially shorter stays by parties that procured hotel/motel lodging.

In the overall market, visitors to the Space Coast allocated about two thirds of their expenses ($1,343 per party and $478 per person) to lodging and food/beverages purchased at local restaurants and bars. Recreational expenses and retail purchases together accounted for another 26.1 percent of overall spending, while gasoline, local transportation and all other items bought account for about 7.2 percent of expenditures.

FIGURE 11. BREAKDOWN OF SPENDING, NON-CRUISE MARKET

FIGURE 12. BREAKDOWN OF SPENDING, CRUISE MARKET

Lodging Restaurants Recreation Retail

Gas Other

Lodging Restaurants Recreation Retail

Gas

Other

Spending Per Party

$593

$321

$197

$163

$73

$22

Spending Per Party

$542

$268

$147

$108

$59

$49

Spending Per Person

$214

$116

$71

$59

$26

$8

Spending $171 Per Person

$85

$46

$34

$19

$15

The non-cruise market comprises over 92 percent of the total sample of visiting parties; consequently, their spending breakdown is similar to the overall market. Dollar expenditures for each spending category are somewhat higher in the non-cruise market, but when converted to percentages the spending patterns for the non-cruise and overall markets are virtually the same.

Of those polled,

the Space Coast Primarily for a 53% Visit Non-Cruise Holiday

The average trip expenditure in the cruise market was about $1,173 per party and $371 per person. In comparison to the noncruise market, visitors in the cruise market purchased, on average, one fewer night of overnight lodging. As a result, expenditures in the cruise market were significantly lower in each of the four main spending categories: lodging, restaurants, recreation, and retail purchases.

Of those polled,

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FIGURE 13. SATISFACTION WITH SELECT ACTIVITIES Beach Activities..................................4.42

Beach Activities....87.7%

Bicycling.............................................. 4.34

Bicycling........................................................36.5%

Brevard Zoo......................................... 4.26

Brevard Zoo.......................................................33.8%

Eau Gallie Arts District...........................4.22

Eau Gallie Arts District........................................29.5%

Historic Cocoa Village..........................4.36

Historic Cocoa Village.........................50.7%

Historic Downtown Melbourne............ 4.34

Historic Downtown Melbourne.................45.9%

KSC Visitor Complex...........................4.55

KSC Visitor Complex........................55.0%

Native Wildlife Viewing........................ 4.37

Native Wildlife Viewing.................... 56.0%

Orlando Theme Parks.......................... 4.35

Orlando Theme Parks.........................................31.2%

Ron Jon/Cocoa Beach Surf Co.............4.30

Ron Jon/Cocoa Beach Surf Co........ 55.3%

USSSA Space Coast Complex................. 4.05

USSSA Space Coast Complex...........................................13.9%

The Cove at Port Canaveral..................4.34

The Cove at Port Canaveral..............................35.9%

Treetop Trek............................................4.02

Treetop Trek............................................................................9.7%

Westgate Cocoa Beach Pier.................. 4.24

Westgate Cocoa Beach Pier...................47.7%

Survey respondents reported high satisfaction scores for many of the popular destinations and activities marketed by the Space Coast. On a scale of (1) very unsatisfied to (5) very satisfied, the weighted average score for the fourteen activities listed was 4.35. Twelve activities earned scores above 4.20. USSSA Space Coast Complex and Brevard Zoo’s Treetop Trek had the lowest satisfaction scores in the sample, but still earned average scores above 4.0.

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FIGURE 14. PARTICIPATION IN SELECT ACTIVITIES

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Survey respondents engaged in an average of 5.6 activities while visiting the Space Coast. Beach Activities were the most popular attraction (88 percent), followed by several venues that had participation rates in excess of 45 percent: KSC Visitor Complex, Ron Jon/Cocoa Beach Surf Company, Native Wildlife Viewing, Historic Cocoa Village, Westgate Cocoa Beach Pier, and Historic Downtown Melbourne. Overall, USSSA Space Coast Complex and Treetop Trek experienced the lowest participation rates. n

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PREVIEW 36

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W I N T E R

2 0 1 9

VISITATION REPORT

ECONOMIC IMPACT

The Winter 2020 Visitation Report will feature a 12-month trailing review analyzing visitor spending and preferences from their experiences while on the Space Coast. Data is captured from our ongoing visitor survey that is available through our social channels.

The space race is on and a super exciting time on the Space Coast watching the new and powerful rockets launching from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Three Falcon Heavy rockets have launched during the past year, this article will look at the impact of space travel from our shores.

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FEATURE Let’s celebrate all things Space Coast beaches! Each beach offers a unique and special quality, do you embrace them all or do you have a special beach that you call your own? Let’s explore the reported #1 activity of our visitors and residents on the Space Coast.

FLORIDA’S SPACE COAST

One Lagoon – One Community – One Voice

BY DUANE DE FREESE, Ph.D.

Summary of the Indian River Lagoon economic analysis conducted by Treasure Coast and East Central Florida Regional Planning Councils with funding from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. The 2016 study estimated the economic value of the Indian River Lagoon at $7.6 billion annually. For every $1 spent on restoration the return on investment value was estimated at $33.

A similar economic analysis was conducted for the Brevard County Save Our Indian River Lagoon Project Plan (2016).

The plan estimated a $20 to $1 ROI. The bottom line: Lagoon restoration is a smart investment.

INDIAN RIVER LAGOON ECONOMIC VALUATION UPDATE 2016 by the numbers

ON 33:1RETURN INVESTMENT $230 MILLION

LIVING RESOURCES

IRL Annual Investment

$ 48,230,566

$7.6 BILLION

7.6 $ $ 101,410,945

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

IRL Annual Economic Output

TOTALANNUAL INCOME: IRL-Related Industry

$2.6 BILLION

7.6 $$ 767,440,497

REGION 7.4M LAGOON VISITORS 2014 REGION 11.1M LAGOON VISITORS 2025

MARINE INDUSTRY

7.6 $$ 5,149,151,378

DEFENSE & AEROSPACE

RECREATION & VISITOR RELATED

$ 1,574,078,178

39,287

RECREATION & VISITOR RELATED

24,744

7,001

MARINE INDUSTRY

107

LIVING RESOURCES

$934 MILLION

ANNUALIZED REAL ESTATE VALUE ADDED FROM IRL

71,918 IRL-RELATED JOBS DEFENSE & AEROSPACE

779

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

85=1 Tourists = Job

$162 per day

IRL Visitor Spending

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The Space Coast Birdi & Wildlife F 38

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ing Festival

THE SPACE COAST BIRDING AND WILDLIFE FESTIVAL WHERE NATURE MEETS SPACE!

BY MIKE SLOTKIN, Ph.D.

To the casual witness the scene may have seemed a bit unusual in the early morning, late-January chill. A healthy mix of Boomers and late Gen Xer’s, slightly more female than male, were exploring the dikes of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and interacting with what appeared to be two seasoned field guides. While the conversation flowed from sights observed to stories of past experiences, the unifying theme and reason for the gathering were birds – beautiful, majestic, gravity-defying birds.

For the Space Coast, renowned for its miles of oceanfront beaches as well as the legacy and future of spaceflight, one of its lesser known charms is its vibrant ecological landscapes and the wildlife it supports.

What many enthusiasts rank as the nation’s preeminent birding and wildlife festival is held annually in northern Brevard County in the town of Titusville, where nature meets space. The Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival (hereafter SCBWF) celebrated its 22nd annual installment in 2019 and is a Space Coast Office of Tourism Signature Event. It is also the embodiment of an ascendant tourism market-segment which focuses on a visitor’s interaction with the natural world, and the result of one special individual’s desire to see tourism in a different light, with different motivations, but the same overarching goal: economic reward.

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In this article, the Space Coast Tourism Journal assesses the economic impact of the SCBWF, while also examining the event and its role within the tourism industry. The festival generates a sales contribution in excess of $1 million and greater than 2,000 bed night rentals, and its significance from a touristic perspective is unquestioned. A full report on the SCBWF’s demographics, lodging, and economic footprint is contained in the pages that follow. But the event, which is enabled by the Space Coast’s abundance of natural capital, and most critically, the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge’s position along the Atlantic Flyway, is also an example of how ecosystem preservation can work as a complement to economic development. Accordingly, and in order to provide further background to the festival as well as current environmental issues which affect the health of Brevard’s ecosystems, an extended conversation with the SCBWF’s principal architect is also included in this report.

Ecotourism Under the auspices of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, about once every five years a National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife Associated Recreation is conducted, the last of which occurred in 2016 with publication in January 2018. For those unfamiliar with passive wildlife recreation – so-called “wildlife watching” – the survey results are somewhat stunning. In the United States approximately 86 million individuals aged 16 and up engaged in wildlife watching, which in 2016 constituted a little more than one-third of the population of that age cohort. Birdwatchers comprised some 45.1 million, with about 39 million viewing birds around the home and approximately 16.3 million observing birds on trips away from home (these numbers don’t have to add up since an individual birdwatcher can be in both groups). All told, birdwatchers constituted about 72 percent of the away-from-home wildlife watching tourism market.

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It is a more senior market segment, with about 45 percent of participants aged 55 and up, but it is also economically advantaged: more than 40 percent of households in the U.S. with incomes in excess of $100K engage in wildlife watching, while for households whose income is less than $35K, the corresponding figure is about 27 percent. This, of course, can lead to hefty expenditures being made, and in fact, in 2016 almost $76 billion was spent on wildlife watching. The largest bulk, about $55 billion, was utilized for equipment purchases, but for our direct purposes here it is noted that approximately $11.6 billion was expended on wildlife watching trips, 72 percent of which was attributable to birdwatching. Given the earlier reported figure on the number of birdwatchers on trips away from home (i.e., 16.3 million), this entails an average birdwatching tourist expenditure of about $512 per person per trip, excluding equipment purchases.

Birdwatching excursions away from home are a sub-category of ecotourism, what The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) defines as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people.”

These journeys carry a cognitive element that readily distinguishes it from pure adventure or sun-and-surf travel, and well regarded business and economic periodicals such as The Economist have noted ecotourism’s growth as a tourism theme.

The academic literature on ecotourism is sufficiently mature to report a few general findings. Given the data discussed earlier, it shouldn’t be surprising to note 42

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that ecotourists are older, wealthier, and better educated than the general population. Ecotourism also exists along a continuum. “Hard” ecotourists take longer, more specialized trips; are physically active; require few if any services; emphasize personal experience; and have a strong environmental commitment. In contrast, “soft” ecotourists take shorter multi-purpose trips, are physically passive, and desire a service-intensive, mediated experience. The notion of an off-the-road backpacker, living on the trail in a tent and sleeping bag with a pocket full of change, is an antiquated stereotype, and one that does a disservice to the variety of this market.

Recent years have seen the emergence of a “structured” ecotourist, who manifests attributes of both the “soft and “hard” ideal type. In terms of physical activity and commitment to the environment, structured ecotourists are much like their hard cousins. On the other hand, with respect to their desire for service and mediation as well as their preference for short, large group, multi-purpose trips, structured ecotourists resemble soft ecotourists. And that’s where the SCBWF comes into play, because at its heart, the SCBWF is a structured ecotourist event. But that really begs the question: what exactly is a birding and wildlife festival?

THE FESTIVAL To better understand the SCBWF, let’s revisit the Boomers and late Gen Xer’s discussed earlier, birding on the dikes of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge with two experienced field trip leaders.

One of those guides was Denver Holt, a leading expert in the area of wild owls and the SCBWF’s opening keynote speaker.

Holt is the founder and president of the Owl Research Institute, a Montana-based nonprofit dedicated to owl conservation through education and boots-on-the-ground research. The other field trip leader was

renowned author and professional tour leader Kevin Karlson, an accomplished birder and wildlife instructor who has made numerous appearances at the SCBWF as well as other birding festivals over the past two decades.

Karlson specializes in bird identification, and typically offers workshops, keynotes, and photo instruction on a range of topics.

Having both of these experts on a birding excursion with a party of 18 is sort of like having your own personal assistant like Amazon’s Alexa for any field-related wildlife issues that arise, at a very affordable cost.

As a market niche, birding and wildlife festivals seem to have blossomed in the United States during the 1990s. Typically ranging from three to five days, these celebrations of birds, indigenous plants, and wildlife are sort of like summer camp except that the attendees aren’t kids but rather their parents and grandparents. Activities typically include keynotes and seminars on various species of birds and wildlife, birding field trips to national parks and refuges, workshops on birding and photography, participatory events such as kayaking, horseback riding,

and birding competitions, and activities which showcase much of the local flavor, including endangered lands as well as cultural destinations. Participant learning is a key dimension, both active and passive. So while this is summer camp, it’s summer camp for the brain, as well as the body. This format is in stark contrast to the birding events held in the United Kingdom, which more closely resemble industry trade shows for optics and other wildlife watching equipment.

With respect to the SCBWF, the founder is Laurilee Thompson, a former commercial fisherman who now runs her family restaurant, Dixie Crossroads, a veritable seafood tourist destination in northern Brevard County with the ability to draw patrons from just about everywhere. In the late 1990s, Laurilee recognized the potential of a birding event as an ecotourism incubator, and in November 1997, the SCBWF was launched.

Utilizing the auditorium and classrooms at the Eastern Florida State College in Titusville as a hub, a series of keynotes, workshops, and classroom lectures were coordinated along with field trips to outlying locales.

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Through perseverance, Laurilee, Brevard Nature Alliance Executive Director Neta Harris, and an amazing team of volunteers were successful in building the SCBWF into the nation’s top birding event. The key was and always has been talent. Pretty much everybody who’s anybody in the birding world has participated at the SCBWF as a keynoter, field trip guide, workshop leader, or exhibitor. In fact, for many of the birding personalities who have had a recurring relationship with the SCBWF, their career arc has moved in tandem with their affiliation with the event.

public awareness and appreciation of the value of Brevard County’s natural resources by fostering and promoting ethical naturebased tourism.” In 2019 Laurilee held the role of SCBWF Chair with Barb Eager serving as Executive Director of the Brevard Nature Alliance, a position she has held since 2016.

Barb and her team – Tiffany Barrineau (community outreach), Kathy Rooney (graphics and administrative support), Jim Eager (social media), and Danica Romeyn (outreach and development) – handle all aspects of producing and managing the event, which is a year-long undertaking.

The festival is the chief activity hosted by the Brevard Nature Alliance, a 501(c)(3) organization whose mission “is to build

But its Brevard’s natural resources that are really the antecedent to this story, for while the SCBWF thrives because attendees can

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observe a rich selection of birds and wildlife, that recreational option would be severely curtailed were it not for the undeveloped natural habitats which dot the Space Coast landscape. The preservation of environmentally sensitive lands has been an important chapter in the history of the Space Coast.

After all, this is a community that voted to tax itself in order to rescue ecologically significant lands from development, and the Brevard County Environmentally Endangered Lands Program is a national model for land conservation and management at the county level. Consider just a few of the Space Coast’s environmental assets such as the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge and its unparalleled significance with respect to sea turtle nesting; the Canaveral National Seashore and its home to more than 300 species of birds; and the Enchanted Forest Sanctuary and its large tract of coastal hardwood forest. Habitats and aquatic ecosystems such as these provide the staging areas for much of what the SCBWF offers its clientele. Perhaps the crown jewels from the perspective of the SCBWF are the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and the Indian River Lagoon. The former is a 140,000-acre environmental wonderland which surrounds the Kennedy Space Center

PARTICIPANT AGE DISTRIBUTION

UNDER

34

4.9% 35-44

So while land conservation facilitates the development of an ecotourism industry, let’s not lose sight of the fact that ecotourism can reciprocally galvanize attention for habitat preservation and rehabilitation. The 2019 SCBWF, which this article now specifically addresses, is emblematic of that fact.

DEMOGRAPHICS The age distribution of 2019 SCBWF participants, depicted in Figure 1, highlights the dominance of birders in the 55-74 age range.

These ecotourists, who are either late in their professional lives or early retirees, are still young and healthy enough to enjoy the vigor of birdwatching and have the discretionary time and income to do so. Almost 80 percent of participants were aged 55 and up, while only about 10 percent of attendees were less than 45 years of age.

42.0%

FIGURE 1:

5.2%

and home to more than 20 threatened and endangered species. The latter is an estuarine lagoon considered to be one of the most diverse in North America; unfortunately, it is under increasing stress due to population related pressures.

FIGURE 3. PARTICIPANT ZIP CODE DISTRIBUTION

30.3%

0.0%

11.0%

6.5%

10.0%

20.0% 30.0% 40.0%

Brevard County

26.9%

Other Florida Counties

45-54

55-64

65-74

75 &

OLDER

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

FIGURE 2: PARTICIPANT GENDER

Male 42.5%

57.5%

30.0%

Northeast

14.1%

Midwest West

11.5% 5.7%

South

4.4%

Mid-Atlantic

4.4%

Southwest/ Mountain West

3.1%

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Gender distribution is detailed in Figure 2, which includes all members of the survey respondent’s party. The approximately 57.5 vs. 42.5 percent female – male split is consistent with historic results observed at the SCBWF and in alignment with broader ecotourism trends.

Participant origin by zip code reveals that approximately 27 percent of survey respondents were Space Coast locals (see Figure 3). Another 30 percent of attendee parties arrived from other counties within the state of Florida, while the remaining 43.1 percent hailed from other regions within the U.S. The Northeast and Midwest collectively represented about one-quarter of participant parties. While unrepresented in the graphic, a handful of international parties participated in the SCBWF, primarily from Canada.

These results are based on a survey instrument created under the auspices of the Space Coast Office of Tourism’s research director, and implemented through the Survey Gizmo web portal. Approximately 246 usable survey responses were submitted, representing 445 SCBWF participants (average party size = 1.81). The 246 responses constitute about 32.7 percent of the estimated number of parties participating at the event.

FIGURE 4. PARTICIPATION/ VISITOR TYPES DAYTRIP BIRDERS 4.0%

DAYTRIP OTHERS 3.1%

OVERNIGHT BIRDERS 50.3%

PARTICIPATION TYPES, LODGING ACCOMMODATIONS, PREVIOUS ATTENDANCE AND MARKETING Figure 4 breaks down survey respondents by their participation role at the event, as well as their visitor type. Attendees were classified as either registered birders or others, where the latter group is comprised of trip leaders, speakers, exhibitors, and volunteers. Both participant categories were then further segmented by whether the party indicated they were locals or non-locals, and additionally, if the non-locals were overnight guests or daytrip visitors.

Overnight birders, at about 50 percent of surveyed parties, were by far the dominant cohort at the SCBWF, and overnighters in total comprised about two-thirds of survey respondents. Daytrip (7 percent) and local parties (26 percent) constituted the remaining 33 percent, with the former principally composed of parties driving over from the Greater Orlando area.

In terms of economic impact, overnighters provide the most critical push on spending activity, as lodging expenditures oftentimes constitute the largest trip-related purchase. But that assumes overnighters are procuring accommodations, and not staying rent-free with friends or family.

Figure 5 reveals that with respect to the 2019 SCBWF, that assumption is indeed correct. Almost 95 percent of overFIGURE 5. OVERNIGHTER ACCOMMODATIONS

LOCAL BIRDERS 10.8% LOCAL OTHERS 15.1%

OVERNIGHT OTHERS 16.6%

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0.0%

30.0%

10.2%

Campground/RV Park

6.4%

Bed & Breakfast

3.2%

Condo/Timeshare

1.3%

No Paid Lodging

90.0%

73.9%

Hotel/Motel AirBnB, HomeAway, VRBO, etc.

60.0%

5.1%

nighter parties procured accommodations, and about 78 percent of those rentals (i.e., 73.9%/94.9%) occurred at hotel or motels.

Another 15.5 percent of overnighter parties rented rooms at AirBnBs, bed & breakfasts, or condo/timeshares, and it should be noted that oftentimes the purchase price at these establishments exceeds what is charged by hotel and motels. Not surprisingly, more than 90 percent of SCBWF lodgers stayed in Titusville, with most of the rest renting in the Cocoa Beach/Merritt Island area (6.9 percent).

Survey respondents were also asked how many times they had previously attended the SCBWF. Just over 43 percent indicated they were 1st-timers (see Figure 6), but interestingly, almost three out of ten respondents indicated they had participated in the event five or more times. And even more eye-opening, approximately 13 percent denoted that they had participated in the event greater than 10 times. This suggests that the SCBWF is blessed with an active core of loyal and passionate attendees who have made the festival a regular feature of their post-New Year’s plans.

FIGURE 6. HOW MANY PREVIOUS TIMES HAVE YOU PARTICIPATED IN THE SCBWF? 48.0%

43.1%

40.0% 32.0% 24.0% 16.0% 9.3%

8.0% 0.0%

1st Timer

1

8.1%

2

13.0%

11.0%

3

5.3%

3.7%

2.4%

2.4%

1.2%

0.4%

4

5

6

7

8

9

10 or more

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Turning to marketing and promotional purposes, it is always illuminating to discern the pathways by which people become familiar with an event. In the SCBWF survey all respondents were asked how they heard about the festival, and respondents did have the ability to choose more than one answer. Figure 7 details the distribution of responses, with the top three consisting of “I have attended in prior years” (50.0 percent), “Word of Mouth” (30.1 percent), and the “SCBWF website or Facebook page” (25.2 percent). While the importance of social media is transparent, word of mouth contact is still a valuable contributor to the event’s support, and both magazines and organizations dedicated to birding play a vital role.

FIGURE 7. HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE SPACE COAST BIRDING & WILDLIFE FESTIVAL? 0.0%

20.0%

40.0%

50.0%

Attended in Prior Years 30.1%

Word of Mouth Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Website or Facebook Page 14.6%

Social Media

13.4%

Other Birding Magazines or Websites

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25.2%

Bird Watching American Birding Association

60.0%

11.0% 8.1%

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

7.7%

Billboard or Outdoor Advertisment

6.5%

Local Newspaper

6.1%

Visited the Space Coast booth at another Birding Festival

5.3%

The American Birding Expo

3.7%

VisitSpaceCoast.com

1.2%

Radio or National/ International TV or Newspaper

1.2%

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VISITOR EXPENDITURES AND ECONOMIC IMPACT In addition to contributing towards the growth of a healthy ecotourism industry, SCBWF birders and other participants make expenditures on an array of goods and services, providing a boost to the Space Coast economy. Survey respondents were asked about the dollar purchases they made within the confines of Brevard County, along seven categories of expenditure: lodging, restaurants, recreation, retail purchases, gasoline, local transportation, and any miscellaneous service purchases. With respect to overnight visitors, both birders and others, Figure 8 details this breakdown of spending by category on a per person per visit basis. With any non-local visitation segment, only primary attendees are tabulated, those respondents that indicated that SCBWF was their primary reason for visiting the Space Coast. Given that the festival was registration based, and not a typical open-access beach event, the SCBWF as the primary purpose for visitation was universally indicated.

FIGURE 8. OVERNIGHTER SPENDING PROFILE PER VISIT $0.00 $187.50 $375.00 Lodging Restaurants

Others

$341.93 $299.86

Birders Others Birders

$143.74 $140.48

Others Recreation Birders

$18.04 $41.14

Retail

Others Birders

$70.47 $48.47

Gas

Others Birders

$25.15 $27.63

Local Others Transporation Birders

$15.46 $6.97

Other Others Expenses Birders Total

Others Birders

$562.50 $750.00

$50.20 $10.93 $665.00 $575.47

Examining the overnighters, trip spending per birder averaged to about $575, while trip spending for other participants was approximately $665. On a daily basis the spending per birder and spending per other amounted to about $120 and $147, respectively.

Comparing birder overnighter parties with their other cohort, birder parties were larger (1.965 vs. 1.721 persons), stayed longer (4.785 vs. 4.525 nights), but interestingly, procured fewer rooms per night (1.12 vs 1.237 rooms). For both cohorts, dining and accommodations represented in the neighborhood of 75 percent of their total expenditures.

Turning our attention to daytrip visitors, it is logical that due to the duration of their trip that this category of participants will ultimately yield much lower spending propensities. For the SCBWF birder and other segments, average spending per person, by category, is detailed in Figure 9. Overall, daytrip birders spent about $60 during their Space Coast visit, while daytrip others expended about $44. For both segments, restaurant purchases comprised in the neighborhood of 40 percent of the total spend.

Local attendees, due to the assumed absence of lodging expenditure, reduced restaurant purchases, and the elimination of non-applicable categories, typically generate the lowest level of spending. However, SCBWF local participants, due to the multi-day nature of the event, are likely to return to the festival during its 6-day run. As a consequence, local birder and local other spending greatly exceeded the corresponding figures for daytrippers, at $151 and $119 per person per the event, respectively (see Figure 10). For both segments, restaurant purchases comprised 40-45 percent of the total spend, but at elevated levels compared to daytrippers. It should also be noted that the Other Expenditures category includes dollars that were denoted as lodging expenditures. For some locals, the convenience of staying in hotel or motel given Brevard County’s 72-mile length is enough to entice their patronage.

FIGURE 10. LOCAL ATTENDEE SPENDING PROFILE PER VISIT

FIGURE 9. DAYTRIPPER SPENDING PROFILE PER VISIT $0.00 Lodging Restaurants Recreation

$18.00

$36.00

$54.00

Others $0.00 Birders $0.00 Others Birders

Others Birders

Gas

Others Birders

Total

Others Birders

Lodging

Others $0.00 Birders $0.00

Others $0.00 Recreation

Birders $0.00

$6.50 $12.50

Retail

$12.50 $15.56

Gas

Others $36.49 Birders $52.71 Others $0.00 Birders $0.00

Local Others $4.40 Transporation

Birders $13.19

Local Others $0.00 Transporation Birders $0.00 Other Others Expenses Birders

$0.00 $41.25 $82.50 $123.75 $165.00

Others $55.42

Restaurants Birders $61.50

$18.61 $22.89

Others $0.56 Birders $0.00

Retail

$72.00

$5.56 $9.44

Other Others $22.40 Expenses Birders $23.33

$43.72

$60.39

Total

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A heathy and lively debate exists concerning the inclusion of local attendee spending in an economic impact assessment. Conventional wisdom amongst tourism officials is that resident spending is irrelevant, as within the context of a local economy, those dollars expended would have circulated (been spent) anyway. But that assumption may not be entirely valid.

The absence of a spending opportunity within an area can facilitate the “leaking” away of local dollars by process of outward migration, as residents find non-local draws to satisfy their leisure and recreational tastes. Nevertheless, the ensuing analysis baselines with the exclusion of local spending impacts, but we do provide what those impacts would be so that the discerning reader can choose for themselves if they want to augment that baseline figure by some percent or factor.

than 1,300 academic institutions, federal and state government agencies, and private consulting firms. Expenditures associated with the SCBWF were applied to IMPLAN’s™ social accounting model which factors in commuting, tax, and saving behavior by households in establishing multiplier effects.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

Table 1 unveils the 2019 SCBWF economic impacts, which includes the contribution from the SCBWF operating budget. All told, the expenditure flows associated with the event generated a total output (sales) effect of about $1.025 million, and a total income effect (i.e., value-added) of about $0.509 million. Income includes both labor and non-labor compensation (i.e., dividends, interest, and rents); for convenience, the subset of total income generated that would accrue solely to labor is also provided (i.e., $0.304 million). While these results exclude any impact from county resident expenditures, it is stipulated here that the local contribution would have amounted to about $54,000 in output and about $29,000 in value-added. Each reviewer can decide

The economic impact of the 2019 SCBWF is an estimate of the flows of spending associated with the event and their identified changes in sales, income, and employment within Brevard County. Impacts are estimated via input-output modeling, where an input-output model describes the flows of economic activity between production sectors, capturing what industries must purchase from one another in order to produce goods and services.

An input-output model for the economy of Brevard County was constructed using IMPLAN™ (www.implan.com), an integrated software and data package used by more

In Figures 8 and 9 the expenditures per person for overnight and daytrip birders and others were presented. A count of approximately 1,363 unique individuals was established by the SCBWF Executive Director based on registration data and rosters for speakers, trip leaders, exhibitors and volunteers. By utilizing these counts as well as the survey data contained in Figure 4, the numeric size of the respective cohort groups was established. These populations, combined with per person spending averages, inform the IMPLAN™ model.

TABLE 1: THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE 2019 SCBWF

Employment

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Direct Effect

Indirect Effect

Induced Effect

Total Effect

The Multiplier

8.4

2.2

1.4

12

1.43

Labor Income

$182,291

$68,772

$53,295

$304,359

1.67

Value Added

$304,371

$109,189

$95,904

$509,463

1.67

Output

$639,206

$217,373

$168,346

$1,024,925

1.60

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for themselves whether or not to include any of the impact from locals. Finally, the level of sales activity produced by the 2019 SCBWF would support 12 full and part-time jobs.

The last column in Table 1 presents the employment, income, and sales multipliers for this study, which are based on the composition of spending by industrial category.

Focusing on sales, in aggregate each dollar of expenditure precipitated by the 2019 SCBWF generated an additional 60 cents of sales. As for the total sales effect of SCBWF visitors on overnight lodging, about $291K is the aggregated output effect, which when combined with an assumed daily room rate of $135, implies an equivalency of about 2,155 room nights rented. It likewise entails a bed tax collection of about $14,550 (i.e., $291k x 0.05).

FINAL PERSPECTIVES How participants really feel about an event is evidenced by their willingness to endorse it as well as their choice to come back.

Figures 11a-b delve into the twin notions of referral and return, by ascertaining: 1) the respondent’s willingness to endorse the event by encouraging friends to attend; and, 2) the respondent’s likelihood of return FIGURE 11A. IN THE NEXT TWO YEARS, WHAT IS THE LIKELIHOOD THAT YOU WILL ENCOURAGE A FRIEND TO ATTEND THE SCBWF? 75.0%

visitation. When asked, “Within the next two years, what is the likelihood you’ll: a) refer a friend to the SCBWF?” and “b) return to the SCBWF?”, survey respondents clearly indicated both high likelihoods of referral (49.2 percent have already done it!) and profound likelihoods of return (almost 57.3 percent report that “[they] will definitely be back”). These are the modal responses, and the latter figure (i.e., 57.3) is almost perfectly congruent with the return visitor percentage highlighted in Figure 6.

The SCBWF is one of those rare events that cut across multiple fabrics of Space Coast life, from tourism to the economy to the environment. To better understand this tapestry, we close with an extended conversation with the Festival Founder and Tourism Development Council Vice-Chair Laurilee Thompson. Thank you for reading, and remember, the 23rd Annual SCBWF is scheduled for January 22-27, 2020 in Titusville, Florida. Until then, we’ll see you on the trail! n

FIGURE 11B. IN THE NEXT TWO YEARS, WHAT IS THE LIKELIHOOD THAT YOU WILL ATTEND THE SCBWF YOURSELF? 75.0% 57.3%

41.5%

50.0%

49.2%

50.0% 28.9%

25.0%

0.0%

25.0% 0.8%

2.0%

1

2

1 = “Completely Unlikely”

9.8%

6.5% 3

4

5

5 = “Already have done it”

0.0%

1.2%

2.8%

1 1 = “Completely Unlikely”

2

3

4

5

5 = “I will definitely be back”

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LAURILEE THOMPSON - THE MOST INTERESTING CONVERSATION YOU’LL HAVE THIS YEAR

Interviewer: Michael Slotkin, around on my grandfather's Space Coast Tourism Journal fishing pier. We lived in an and Florida Tech (MS) apartment above my dad's little boat-building busiMS: Hi, Laurilee! Thanks for ness right at the foot of the Titusville Bridge, and my sitting down with us today. grandfather operated the Your family has longtime ties and a rich history on the nearby fishing pier, which Space Coast. Can you tell us was actually part of the original first bridge across the what it was like to grow up Indian River Lagoon. You on the banks of the Indian River Lagoon at a time when could go out to the end of Brevard's population was just the pier, close to the channel. a fraction of what it is today? It was 10 or 12 feet deep.

You could tell what kind of fish you were going to catch LT: Sure, I'd be happy to. because you could literally I actually grew up running 52

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see them – blowfish, red fish or drum – swimming up to the bait. There were sea grass beds, dolphins, and lots of birds. It was a magical time, mainly because of the river. The river was the lifeblood of this community, and my childhood days were fantastic. When I was only 7-or 8-years-old, I had my own little boat and motor. And I could go out in the lagoon and go to the Spoil Islands. That's what we did as kids – we camped out on the Spoil Islands. I

also had my crab traps. It was just a different world back then. You know, I can remember standing with my grandfather on his wooden fishing pier, looking through the cement pilings of the Titusville Bridge, and we were looking at barges and cranes further south when they were building the NASA Causeway – State Route 405. They needed another access point to get to the Cape, so they built another causeway and a four-lane bridge. And we were standing on the pier looking at the cranes and barges, and he said, "These causeways, they're going to be the death of the Indian River Lagoon."

You see, because they cut off the wind-driven water movement, the causeways impede the circulation of water in the lagoon, especially up here in the northern end. The only way that the water moves in the lagoon is by being pushed by the wind, and so all these causeways that they built across the lagoon – basically dirt dams – negatively impact the lagoon because it won't be able to flush itself. That was more than 50 years ago, and I still think about what my grandfather said.

able to the general public. So I set out with my bathymetric charts, and I was able to find areas to fish based on those charts. As a result, I caught a lot more fish than everybody else. It was incredible, and LT: Oh, it was a huge adven- quite an experience. There ture, and I was a real highwas the thrill of catching more liner. I went to school at fish than everybody else, Florida Tech, and I learned and being the highliner. You about thermoclines and the know, when I first started different scientific applications out, nobody would even talk from the ocean. I applied to me because I was a girl. what I learned in college to The other captains believed fishing. I figured out how to that I was going to be a drag find a thermocline, and how on them because women had to adjust the gain on an old no place on the ocean and paper stylus Furuno depth no place running boats. They finder. I learned that if you figured that I would be in fine-tuned it well you picked up the shadow of the thermo- trouble all the time and be a big whiner… just constantly cline. When I was swordfish asking them for help. Well, fishing, the thermocline was where the bait would be. I they didn't consider that I would adjust the length of literally grew up in a boat the float drops on my fishing factory and learned how to gear so I could get as much weld when I was seven. I of it as possible fishing at installed diesel engines in the thermocline level. It boats for my dad, so the must have worked because irony of it all is that it ended I caught a lot more fish than up being them asking me for the other guys. In a similar help. way, I was a pioneer in the longline industry, the bottom MS: So we now fast forward fishing industry in the Gulf of a bit – it's the late 1980s, and Mexico. Again, I knew about you've made a career switch bathymetric charts from my from helming a vessel to college experience, so I got managing Dixie Crossroads.

MS: Most folks know you as a a set of bathymetric charts successful restaurant owner, for the Gulf of Mexico. These This is the restaurant started were detailed charts that the by your parents in 1983. Dixie tourism official, and envigovernment had developed for Crossroads is both a local ronmentalist. But you spent institution and a tourist draw. your twenties and early thir- the oil industry, but because Why do you think it is so the federal government had ties captaining a commercial well-regarded throughout the paid for the research and fishing boat along the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts, at a time development, they were avail- region? when there were probably not many women in those positions. It must have been quite an interesting experience.

What do you think about when you recall those days?

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LT: Well, there are several reasons. The main one is that we do a really good job of providing the public with real fish out of the real ocean. And I say that kind of tongue-in-cheek, but we don't sell imported shrimp here. We don't sell farmgrown shrimp. We do sell farm-raised catfish because we haven't found a supplier that can provide us with enough wild catfish. But it's an American product. Most people don't realize this, but about 95 percent of the seafood that's consumed in the United States comes from foreign countries.

And it's either farm-grown in not-so-good conditions, or it's harvested in waters where there are few, if any, environmental regulations to take care of overfishing.

My sister and I both sit on some of the advisory groups for the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, like the Deepwater Shrimp Advisory Panel, and we work very hard to provide good, safe, and healthy seafood that actually comes out of the ocean. We also work hard to try to preserve the culture of the commercial fishing industry in the United States.

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MS: In 1997 you utilized your entrepreneurial talents and lifelong passion for the environment to launch the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival. What was the inspiration for what is now regarded as one of the premier birding events in the United States?

LT: The reason that I started the birding festival was to show the Titusville community that we had assets that nobody else has and that our community is blessed to have those treasures.

Titusville is unique in that we don't have a lot of development along the shoreline of the lagoon. When Mr. Henry Flagler built the Florida East Coast Railroad, he dredged the salt marshes north of Titusville and built this big, high berm, right along the shoreline of the Indian River Lagoon. As a result, from the Titusville marina to the north, there are no structures along the shoreline simply because Mr. Flagler's railroad track is too close to the lagoon to be able to build anything. And then there's the space industry over on the other side of the river, so you have no development there either. There are

no waterfront homes along the east side of the Indian River Lagoon in Titusville, and because of Kennedy Space Center, there are no hotels or condominiums along the beach. Instead of hotels and condos, we actually have one of the nation's 10 national seashores. So for decades, I heard the business community in Titusville say, "We got the short-end of the stick. They have hotels and condos on Cocoa Beach, on Melbourne Beach, and they get the tax money from that." I got tired of listening to it, and I started thinking about how to use these precious natural assets that we have to our economic advantage.

About that time, Mr. Ralph Bird from the Space Coast Audubon Society approached me about being a board member of the Audubon Society. I was getting these magazines, and I thought, "Okay, if I'm going to be on the Audubon Society board, I better learn about this birding thing.� Every January Wild Bird Magazine published their bird festival issue.

They would do three or four sentence write-ups about the various bird festivals being held around the United States. As I looked at that map, I realized there was no star in the whole southeastern United States. The closest stars were in Virginia and Texas. I said to myself, "Well, we need to have a

birding festival here in Florida.

We're like the second most desired birding destination in the whole United States, and we don't even have a birding festival." That was the inspiration for me starting the Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival. Over time, we grew our festival into a major event, but it was sustainable, and now we're like the big daddy. When you look at the educational aspects of the festival, the quality of the speakers, and the amount of presentations and workshops – no one can touch us.

within the tourism sector, serving on the Tourism Development Council subcommittees, as well as the executive board. Recent changes in state law have allowed for the allocation of bed tax dollars towards efforts in lagoon restoration. Can you tell us about some of the projects that the TDC is funding this next year?

LT: Sure. One of the projects that we're funding is with the Brevard Zoo. They have aggressively come out with living shoreline restoration.

But there are not enough mangroves or cordgrass and MS: Okay, a little bit of tran- the Spartina grass. You can't sition here. In the last decade just go out and dig up a or so, you have spent more mangrove and move it somewhere else or dig up grasses time in a leadership position

and relocate them. There are no commercial nurseries that are growing that kind of stuff, so for lagoon restoration, the zoo is trying to figure out how to manufacture and grow those things themselves. One of the things they needed was a greenhouse to grow mangroves for lagoon restoration. They're building the greenhouse at the zoo, and because it's at the zoo it also provides a huge opportunity to educate visitors and residents about their program to grow mangroves and grasses for the lagoon. Another project that was funded out of the lagoon money from the TDC is a feasibility study for shoreline restoration for the south side of the Titusville Causeway.

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The Titusville Causeway is one of the last causeways in Brevard County that still has some natural sandy beaches remaining along its side.

Those sandy beaches are critical for outdoor recreation on the lagoon, and they are the window to the lagoon for people that can't afford a boat or people that can't afford to buy a house that's on the lagoon. They are also critical habitat for nesting horseshoe crabs and shorebirds that feed along the edge of the lagoon.

About 80 percent of the lagoon in Brevard County is hard armored, either a hard seawall or rip-rap‌basically rocks and construction rubble and anything that'll keep the shoreline from eroding. Well, horseshoe crabs can't lay their eggs in rocks. People really can't

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get to the lagoon unless they want to climb over rocks and boulders to get to the water. It's dangerous.

Both sides of the causeway are experiencing erosion, but the south side, due to fetch length, is severely eroded. We want to restore the south side of the causeway, but we want to keep beaches in place in the restoration, which means we have to do a living shoreline. So part of the TDC beach restoration money is being used to fund a feasibility study to try to understand what we can do on the south side of the Titusville Causeway to restore the causeway in a way that will protect recreation and wildlife on the south side of the causeway.

Finally, another project that we funded is a reef project

for the Marine Resources Council. Their lagoon house is right on the river, and they have a lot of linear feet of shoreline. The erosion there has been really bad, and they wanted to establish a breakwater that would stop the erosion from eating up the shoreline, but it's also going to serve as a place for other organizations to do experiments.

Florida Tech, for example, is going to use it. It's going to provide a platform in the lagoon so other organizations can test restoration ideas, and there's nothing else like it. We're really proud of funding that project because we need a place where the different organizations can go to test out new ideas.

MS: One last question for

you, Laurilee. Your passion for the lagoon is transparent, and you are probably one of the few people who can say you were here back in the early white sandy bottom days. What's your perspective on how we arrived at the point we're at today?

LT: My view is that we really haven't done a very good job of controlling growth.

It's all about growth and people. We haven't kept up with the needed upgrades for our wastewater treatment plants, and we haven't done a good job of educating people about fertilizer. The thing that's killing the lagoon is too many nutrients going into the system. And they go in a lot of different forms, but one of the biggest problems is fertilizer. You have all these people that move to

Florida, and the worst thing that happened to Florida was St. Augustine Grass, lawns and the mindset that if you're going to have a house, you have to have a great big lawn that you have to fertilize and mow all the time. Fertilizer is a problem that works in tandem with uncontrolled runoff that goes into the lagoon. For decades now, we have had these ditches that collect the rainwater and propel that rainwater with all the nutrients and all the stuff that it picks up along the way going straight into the lagoon. And with all of the rainwater that's being channeled into the lagoon through these ditches and canals, they've changed the salinity of the lagoon. The lagoon is a lot fresher now because it has all of this freshwater coming off the land that goes

straight into the lagoon. The nutrients and storm water have also created muck deposits – basically this black mayonnaise concoction that actually seeks out the deeper parts of the lagoon, the channels and canals. That stuff has been piling up, and seagrass won't grow in muck.

Oysters and clams won't grow in muck. There were some over-harvesting issues, too. We over-harvested the clams and oysters in the lagoon, and now they literally can't live in the lagoon because the water quality is so bad. I know you have to have some growth to keep communities thriving, but we just need to do a better job of educating people about how their daily activities impact the lagoon.

MS: Thanks Laurilee. n

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Brevard Zoo - From Silver Anniversaries to Golden O 58

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r Opportunities

BREVARD ZOO FROM SILVER ANNIVERSARIES TO GOLDEN OPPORTUNITIES

BY LYNNE MIMS

It’s a fact: we find baby animals more pleasing to look at than their parents.

Their big eyes, button noses, and infantile features draw us in and unwittingly evoke a smile. This probably explains how baby Clarice, the newest addition to the antelope herd at Brevard Zoo, even captivated the staff by her very own brand of cuteness.

While babies are exciting for the staff working at zoos, they are also great for business. When Johari, one of Brevard Zoo’s veteran mother giraffes, gave birth last October, the Zoo experienced an increase in the number of visitors, many of whom were eager to catch a glimpse of the new addition to the family. Similarly, the Zoo’s social media and website hits registered a noticeable spike, emphasizing the interest that newborns can generate. However, as exciting as these events are, their purpose is not to drive attendance. Animal breeding is one relatively small part of a sophisticated population management program, carefully monitored and controlled by the Zoo’s accrediting body, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The professionalism and quality of operation that is required to maintain this prestigious accreditation is certainly a contributory factor to its listing as one of the best zoos in America – currently ranked #8 in U.S. News & World Report. This is considerable progress for a local community project that started back in 1990 with nothing more than a hope and a vision.

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Brevard Zoo first opened to the public in March 1994, but the four years preceding that were an example of teamwork and leadership at its best. In 1990, the Brevard County Tourism Development Council provided $2.5 million in funds for the construction of a Zoo over 10 years by what is now referred to as occupancy tax. Half a million was committed by the legislature, on the condition that the community could raise another half a million in matching funds. A founders society was set up which funded an additional $500,000. The project had officially begun.

From then on, the community rallied together in full force. Executives from some of the local aerospace companies formed teams to work on architectural designs, fundraising intensified, and zoo organizers began to look in earnest for an appropriate site that would work for both Space Coast visitors and the local community. They scoured the county, considering locations in Titusville, Rockledge, and Palm Bay, but it was the generous donation of 75 acres of land by The Viera Company (A. Duda & Sons) on Wickham Road, adjacent to Interstate 95, that brought the dream a step closer to reality. The Space Coast’s

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largest community project was about to step up a notch.

In the spring of 1992, hammers and nails were the name of the game. More than 16,000 people of all ages joined forces to help begin construction. Thousands of volunteer hours were invested to make this the largest community zoo build ever undertaken. After much sweat and toil, this band of generous locals stepped back to allow the professionals to take over. On March 26, 1994, Brevard Zoo, as we recognize it today, opened its gates to the public.

From that moment on, the Zoo has not looked back.

Under the direction of the Board of Community Leaders, long time zoo professional and Florida native Margo McKnight led the zoo into the 21st century. During her six-year tenure as Executive Director, she introduced the Zoo’s popular kayaking experience, which remains as a unique attraction among zoos in the United States.

McKnight moved on in 2004 to follow her passion for environmental issues, becoming the Executive Director for Wildlands

Network, a conservation group focused on merging sound science with on-the-ground action.

McKnight’s departure opened the door for new leadership. A Yale University alumnus by the name of Keith Winsten was working for a large, suburban zoo in Chicago as their Director of Education at the time. He had been there for seven years and was ready for a new challenge. He heard that the job was open and threw his name into the pool of applicants. On paper, Winsten’s background made him a great candidate for the position. Little did he know at the time, however, what exactly he was getting himself into.

The majority of zoos in the United States are supported by some level of public funding.

Brevard Zoo is a little different; it operates under a less conventional model. It owns the land that it sits on and does not receive any recurring operating support from the city or the county. In other words, Brevard Zoo is completely independent – managed for the people of Central Florida by a board representing those people.

“Brevard Zoo is not beholden to any government operating body. It’s a very different mindset. We have to be lean and mean with our money because there’s no city paying the pay checks,” Winsten explains.

Did he know that when he interviewed for the job?

“I wasn’t smart enough to even ask the question,” responds Winsten, “but I landed at an institution that fit my skill set, my entrepreneurial nature. Luckily, that was serendipity.”

Some would argue that Brevard Zoo was the winner in that particular encounter.

Fifteen years later, it feels as if Winsten is only just getting into second gear in terms of the improvements being made at the Zoo and the overall benefits that are ensuing as a result, not just for visitors, but to the community as a whole.

“When it comes to leadership, some people are maintainers. They like to do things better. Me? I really get excited about major, big disruptive change. That’s just how I’m wired. My job is to scan what’s coming five years down the road and see what we need to put into place to be ready for that.”

In this instance, being a change agent like Winsten is vital. He is well attuned to the fact that the zoo model is shifting. “When I was growing up, education in zoos was more content-driven. Now, my daughter has more information in the palm of her hand (cell phone) than I ever had access to. So now, our education pillar is about connecting everyone with nature and the process of the nature of science, understanding how to be a good consumer of science, and also how science works.”

Pillars are something that have become popular jargon in the business world. They are a company’s self-declared areas of priority – what factors are fundamentally important to the success of the business.

Winsten is very clear about the Zoo’s own pillars, and education forms only one aspect.

“It’s important that we have big models driving what we do. Our mission is more about three pillars: animal wellness, conservation, and education. Starting this year, the Zoo will go into a three-year rotation of reports in these areas, each of which will define the sort of change we want to make in the world, which will ultimately drive our mission. One thing that is amazing about our Board is that they fully embrace all three pillars of our mission.”

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Animal wellness has always been and will continue to be the Zoo’s top priority. Over 195 species are cared for by full-time veterinary staff, dietary specialists, keepers, and a wealth of well-trained volunteers who are happy to donate their time to make sure that the 900 plus residents receive top-notch care around the clock. Caring for such a vast array of animals undoubtedly presents a plethora of educational opportunities, which is where the pillars begin to overlap.

“They’re definitely intertwined,” says Winsten. “Right now we see them as separate pillars, but I don’t mind blurring the edges a bit. I want people to feel connected with the entirety of it.”

Connectivity is something that Brevard Zoo represents at both a philosophical level and a practical one. The Zoo’s footprint is set up in a series of loops, with each loop representing a different geographical region of the world. The latest of these to undergo a major renovation is the South American loop (known as La Selva), which will re-open on November 16. Winsten’s propensity for big projects is encapsulated in this significant upgrade, which will include an actual outdoor rainforest within the original space. “This was a $4.4 million capital campaign project – by far our biggest project ever,” he explains. The area will have giant river otters, a new species to the Zoo, along with an impressive new aquarium. The most significant addition to the area is a series of overhead trails leading into bigger spaces, so that the animals have real choices as to where they spend their day.

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“Animal wellness is always our focus,” says Andrea Hill, Marketing Communications Director for the Zoo. “We want all of our animals to be thriving, not just coping,” she explains. The anticipated improvements to the South American exhibit are also great examples of the connectivity between animal wellness and education.

“We will be working with Dr. Darby Proctor, an assistant professor at Florida Institute of Technology,” says Hill.

“Although she has worked with other animals, her background is with monkeys.

She studies their cognitive abilities and social structures.” Many areas of natural science are studied both in the wild and at zoological facilities. The collaboration with top researchers in their field is a great example of how Brevard Zoo is contributing to the global understanding of the species that they care for, while at the same time maintaining its focus on the animals themselves and the importance of recreating a natural setting.

Animal wellness and education are important parts of the Zoo’s mission, but conservation plays a key role as well. While the Zoo supports a wide variety of local and global conservation programs, its work with the Indian River Lagoon has resonated most with the local community. Situated just four miles east of the Zoo, the Indian River Lagoon has experienced rapidly declining water quality in recent years, largely due to nutrient pollution. This puts the fragile ecosystem at increasing risk.

As part of the Restore Our Shores initiative, Brevard Zoo has collaborated with a number of partners including Brevard County and the University of Central Florida to restore oyster populations in the estuary.

Since 2007, over 50,000 community volunteers concerned about the lagoon’s health have come together to make a significant contribution to replenishing stocks of these live, natural water cleaners, in areas where they are so desperately needed.

Community volunteers are a consistent theme throughout Brevard Zoo. The county does not have an abundance of philanthropic billionaires in its midst donating seven figure sums to charitable causes. Instead, over time, the county’s residents have developed a culture of giving back in other ways: by demonstrating a genuine concern for the local environment and a propensity to help.

Brevard Zoo is a grateful recipient of that willingness to participate. Not only did volunteers help build the Zoo, but the self-funding model under which it operates means that they are an integral part of its financial stability as well. In fact, a staggering 95 volunteer positions are available each day.

The level of community inclusion, accompanied by the fact that Brevard Zoo, unlike other zoo’s, is not unionized, means that

there are a variety of roles available, and people can be slotted into a range of different places. However, having to staff almost one hundred, non-paid positions every day proves especially challenging from an operational perspective.

“We have more than 500 volunteers in total,” Hill explains. “We normally go through on-boarding on a quarterly basis. All volunteers go through a core interview process, then a two-day training program, and then they pick where they want to go and have additional training there. We then have orientation every month with staff. It’s a whole day piece, so everyone understands our mission. So there’s training all the way through. Then they actually do a tour. We really encourage all of our staff to do all our experiences – including Treetop Trek.”

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Treetop Trek opened back in 2011. The zip lining, rope walking, aerial experience takes participants on a range of heartracing obstacle challenges over the top of the zoo. This was one of the Zoo Board’s initiatives – recognizing the need to incorporate new, revenue generating, concepts that still reflected the Zoo’s mission. “We have to be innovative to survive,” Winsten points out. Innovation, however, often takes money – something that an independent zoo like Brevard has to come up with itself. Ninety percent of what the Zoo earns pays for the basic, day-to-day operations.

The other 10 percent is the philanthropy part, which supports the richness of its programs. Treetop Trek became a reality because of the Board’s foresight and ability to get a group of angel investors interested enough to commit to the project. It added a distinctly new dimension to the overall program. Nevertheless, Winsten is very aware of the dangers of complacency. While he does not necessarily see physical growth as part of their plans, his team is constantly reviewing ways to enhance the visitor experience. “We’re a half-day experience. We are not about adding, we are about taking what we have and making it better.”

Throughout the remainder of 2019, Brevard Zoo’s 25th anniversary year will see lots of “better” being put into place.

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The entrance road will be re-surfaced and provide more parking for visitors. The food service will be outsourced to offer a more sophisticated level of culinary choices. The bathrooms will be upgraded, and better Wi-Fi will be accessible to guests. Most of these projects are capital improvements, which are not supported by gate receipts or giving. The Zoo receives five percent of Brevard County’s Tourist Development Tax, which provides significant help with enhancements of basic infrastructure. “That funding is so critical to us. Our model would really struggle without it,” says Winsten. He is modest; from a business perspective, it is definitely a two-way street. With 45 percent of the Zoo’s 450,000 annual visitors coming from outside the county, the economic impact is estimated at $59 million, and the entire community benefits from that.

With the capital campaign for the 25th anniversary year rapidly drawing to a close, it is time to look ahead to the next 25 years, and Winsten is not about to let any grass grow under his feet. As part of the Zoo’s conservation efforts, lions, which are now officially classified as a vulnerable species, are an anticipated addition to the African exhibit sometime in 2021. Further improvements are also planned for the Wild

Florida exhibit, which may even include an amphitheater.

However, by far the most exciting project in the works is one that is over 20 miles away from Brevard Zoo itself, located at Port Canaveral. An impressive aquarium and conservation campus is planned to be built on 14 acres of land, just south of Highway 528, within a few minutes from the Port itself.

Imagine entering an exhibit that guides you in from the Atlantic Ocean, on to the beaches of Florida’s Space Coast, through the waterways that lead to the beautiful Indian River Lagoon, all the way to the St. Johns River.

As you make this journey, you encounter a myriad of marine life up close and witness how the latest technology is used to maintain, preserve, and study the welfare of its inhabitants. As you pass through each section of exhibits, you will gain an understanding the importance of the conservation of our waterways and learn how we can all make a positive contribution to their preservation.

It is not difficult to recognize the market potential either. “If you look on the Eastern Seaboard, there are no major aquariums south of Charleston along the I-95 corridor,” says Winsten. “So we have this huge, open gap and this nexus of tourism at the Port.”

From a business perspective, two and two

would appear to make four in this scenario, but the number four is a long way away from 70 million – the approximate amount of dollars anticipated to make this project a reality. Initial assumptions were that around half the money would come from public and private sources and the remaining funds from financing. Winsten is quick to add, however, that the more money that can be raised from public/private sources, the better.

A start to this ambitious project has already been made. The site has been earmarked, and a basic framework of leasing terms has been agreed with the Port. Last year, the Brevard County Tourist Development Council was quick to recognize the enormous potential in tourist-generated revenue from a project like this and committed $10 million through the Capital Facilities funding of the 5 percent tourist tax. The biggest financial contribution so far, though, has come from a single private donor. One individual has contributed $14 million – a person who is truly committed to the realization of this project.

A design team from Orlando has recently been selected and detailed plans are currently being drawn up in order to collate some actual costs. Winsten hopes that by the end of this year, he will have some solid numbers. He is very clear about money.

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“Our business model will be based on income. This project will run firmly in the black and generate space, dollars, and interest in all of the marine conservation that we do.”

The project undoubtedly fits the Zoo’s mission. Not only is there a definitive animal, educational, and conservational mix, but it also encompasses that all-important fourth pillar, community. Floridians care deeply about the quality of the natural bodies of water that surround them. This project would provide a focus for all who live and share this space, and bring water conservation to the forefront of the hearts and minds of this community. “I often liken it to a fire station,” says Winsten. “Even as fire technology has gotten better and we have fewer fires, we still need a fire station.

And we don’t have a fire station for the Indian River Lagoon. We don’t really have any structure, any institution that stands for the lagoon.”

The plan is that the Indian River Lagoon Conservation Campus and Aquarium will be that fire station. Bringing this project to fruition, however, will not be easy. Even with $24 million already committed, another 66

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$46 million or more will need to be raised.

That will not happen overnight, despite the tremendous corporate marketing opportunities that come with an attraction such as this – and the clock is ticking. The monies committed by the Tourist Development Council come with a caveat: the project needs to be at groundbreaking status within two years.

“There is a running clock, and we’re in a really fast, tight timeline,” says Winsten.

“But listen, if we can’t hit that timeline, we’re not going to give up on the project.

We’re going to do everything in our power to hit it, but if we can’t hit it, we’ll see where we go from there.”

If anyone can do it, the Brevard Zoo can.

The board and staff have a proven track record of making things happen. “We are revving up this oversight task force now.

We’ve got a lot of work done, but now we’re going to be doing a full court press.”

Hopefully the hard work will pay off because this one has all the signs of being a slamdunk for the Space Coast.

The author would like to thank Keith Winsten and Andrea Hill for their contributions to the article. For more information about Brevard Zoo go to BrevardZoo.org n

COUNTDOWN TO LAUNCH

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