Fall 2003

Countdown to Centennial
In March of this year the National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) Service celebrated its 100th birthday.  Here on the island, the J. N. “Ding” Darling Wildlife Refuge will hold its centennial celebration in October.  (Factoid:  Did you know that the famous flying goose in the US Fish & Wildlife logo was designed by our own “Ding” Darling?).  Featured at our October celebrations will be wildlife shows, kayak tours, field trips, a historical reenactment, a community parade, fireworks, and a Presidential proclamation.  The US Fish & Wildlife Service got its start in March of 1903 when President Teddy Roosevelt took the tiny rookery of Pelican Island in Sebastian, Florida and declared it a federal wildlife refuge.  Today, the NWR has 525 refuges with   93 million acres to maintain.  These refuges provide habitat for 700 bird species, 220 mammals, 250 reptile/amphibian species and over 200 species of fish.  – not to worry, there will be no quiz.

I Bet You Didn’t Know
With so many of you being repeat guests to the Inn (and we love it!) you might find the following statistics interesting:  West Wind Inn hosted over 70 groups in 2002 compared to 48 in 2001; the majority of our out of state guests come from New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania (in that order).  Within Florida, Miami/Fort Lauderdale ranks number 1, followed by Tampa/St. Petersburg, the Palm Beaches and yes, our own back yard, the Fort Myers/Naples area.  Our foreign guests travel firstly from England, then Germany, Canada and Switzerland; When asked “How did you hear about us?” over 40% said they were a former guest here, almost 18% were referred by one of our guests, and a little over 12% stated they found us on the internet.

Elderhostel Now On Sanibel Island
Beginning in October 2002, the internationally known Elderhostel Program added Sanibel Island to its 10,000 programs in 90 countries.  We are proud that they chose the West Wind Inn to host the Sanibel program groups who normally arrive on a Sunday and depart on a Friday.  Currently, the Sanibel Program takes place 5 times per year in April, October, December and January (two programs).  Elderhostel began in 1975 in an effort to provide adults with educational travel programs designed to excite the imagination, sharpen one’s intelligence and open up new experiences.  Today, over 200,000 people participate each year in locations from South Dakota to South Africa and from New Hampshire to New Zealand.  Costs for these programs are normally all-inclusive, with the exception of the travel to the program site.  Elderhostel works through a network of 600 colleges, universities, museums, etc. around the globe.  Look them up on the web!

The West Wind Inn Family
It takes a lot of people to run any organization efficiently and the West Wind Inn is no different.  Thirty-seven full and part time employees make it their mission to make you happy.  One such employee that we feature in this newsletter is our Sales & Marketing Director, Jay Halcrow.  Jay has been with us since June of 1987 when she joined the team as a consultant (later transitioning to employee status).  There is a lot on this lady’s plate – promotional material, package creation, tour operator sales, group sales, publicity, public relations, conference sales, travel agent promotion, direct mail programs, interface with numerous tourism related organizations, e-mail and web site activity, incentive sales, development of sales reports and statistics, etc., etc.  As busy as she is, Jay always has the time to work with guests and potential guests one on one to ensure that their stay at the West Wind Inn is a memorable experience.  Jay comes from Boston and has lived and worked in many interesting places, to include Spain for three years as a rep for the Estee Lauder cosmetic company.  Her background in sales and marketing with Burdines in Miami for 15 years gives her that strong footing needed in this constantly changing field.

Recipe of the Quarter 
Each quarter we will feature a recipe from a guest or one of our own employees, so don’t be bashful – send us your recipe.  If we select it, we will send you two free West Wind Inn T-Shirts so that you can do some free promotion for us – see, everybody wins!  This quarter’s recipe is from Doug Conaway (our own “culinary master” at the Normandie Seaside Café).  It’s his heretofore “secret” recipe for the most delicious key lime pie you ever put into your mouth:

The Economic Value of Beaches
Travel and tourism is the largest industry in the world and in the USA, contributing $3.5 trillion to the world’s GDP (gross domestic product) and $1.2 trillion to the US GDP.  It’s also the world’s largest employer (16.9 million people or 1 out of every 8.1 people in the US).  Spending by foreign tourists visiting America supports 2.7 million American jobs – as many jobs as there are in the computer industry.  (Source: World Travel & Tourism Council & US Bureau of Labor Statistics) 

Administrivia
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