Turtles lie on logs, warming their shells in the morning sun with tiny green feet splayed wide to capture maximum warmth. Black-and-white anhingas bob their heads, swimming after breakfast in the clear spring water. A silver boat glides past, all passenger eyes and cameras capturing the idyllic Florida scene.
Welcome to behind the scenes of Play Hard Florida, a local tourism and conservation company staffed entirely by Gators past and present.
The whole trip and video cost less than $400, according to Chief Executive Officer Carmine CJ Oliverio. We did that video on a shoestring budget, and yet we won, he said. We re all very excited.
Tourism up despite difficult year
The Apalachicola Times
The weather might have gotten a little colder lately, but there’s one thing that’s still hot.
Tourism.
A report provided by John Solomon, director of the Tourist Development Council, Tuesday morning, indicated that after a sudden COVID-19 drop in the spring that wreaked havoc on the industry, the county’s tourist effort has roared back, with record-setting months in July, August and September to close out the 2019-20 fiscal year with a modest, but highly symbolic, increase of 2.17 percent over last year.
The 2 percent lodging ta brought in a record-setting $1.43 million, about $30,000 more than last year’s $1.4 million.