Yuma Snowbird Article

I like this quote in the article..

He offered a word to the wise to businesses that want to cash in that market: "Advertise and let them know they're welcome. Provide great service with a smile and put your best foot forward. Word of mouth is valuable."

Some could benefit from that advice.

Art Davis wrote:

Dog Folks wrote:

RVUSA wrote:

Gemstone wrote:

It's the summer tourists that make the tourism wheels turn, not the winter ones.

That's because the big mouse lives your town.

Waaal,

I have to admit that I don't have a clue about what you just said!

I believe his point was that cities with a tourist attraction like Disneyland that will draw families while the kiddies are out of school will compare favourably with areas that have predominantly only the climate to draw the snowbirds.

Dog Folks wrote:

RVUSA wrote:

Gemstone wrote:

It's the summer tourists that make the tourism wheels turn, not the winter ones.

That's because the big mouse lives your town.

Waaal,

I have to admit that I don't have a clue about what you just said!

RVUSA wrote:

Gemstone wrote:

It's the summer tourists that make the tourism wheels turn, not the winter ones.

That's because the big mouse lives your town.

Here is an article that appeared in todays (Sunday) Yuma Sun about this snowbird season.
http://www.yumasun.com/articles/yuma-90194-temperatures-visitor.html

John&Joey wrote:
It's very apparent to me you've never owned a tourist business! You rely on numbers and not what happens in real life.

Anybody can stay in business when the picking is easy. The hard part is to survive the lean months. Try paying the weekly bills when there is nothing in the cash register let alone pay the help. Oh yeah, you've saved so much during those summer months to cover the lean ones. :S

Those numbers as you put it, are tabulations of real life.

The argument had strayed as usual into the realm of the "if it wasnt for us snowbirds" banter, and the article was put up as proof of that premise. I simply pointed out that the article actually showed otherwise via hiring peaks and valleys.

As for your issue, all I can say is that my life experience has taught me to never start business in a market that was seasonal if I needed it to be a full time revenue generator. I guess you didnt get that memo. Shame.

RVUSA wrote:

Gemstone wrote:
This report paints a somewhat different picture of Florida's tourism industry, and what tourists (snowbirds are tourists too) contribute to Florida on an annual basis. It would be hard to imagine what Florida would look like economically, without tourists.

from Florida Tax Watch

Regards
Gemstone

from your article...

Florida’s peak tourism employment occurs in March or April. For the minimum tourism jobs, in 4 of the 7 years analyzed, the trough was in October, and in three of the years the trough was in January.

In each of the years since 2007, the U.S.’s lowest tourism job numbers
occur in January. In 5 of the 7 years analyzed, the peak is in August,

It's the summer tourists that make the tourism wheels turn, not the winter ones.

It's very apparent to me you've never owned a tourist business! You rely on numbers and not what happens in real life.

Anybody can stay in business when the picking is easy. The hard part is to survive the lean months. Try paying the weekly bills when there is nothing in the cash register let alone pay the help. Oh yeah, you've saved so much during those summer months to cover the lean ones. :S

Gemstone wrote:
This report paints a somewhat different picture of Florida's tourism industry, and what tourists (snowbirds are tourists too) contribute to Florida on an annual basis. It would be hard to imagine what Florida would look like economically, without tourists.

from Florida Tax Watch

Regards
Gemstone

from your article...

Florida’s peak tourism employment occurs in March or April. For the minimum tourism jobs, in 4 of the 7 years analyzed, the trough was in October, and in three of the years the trough was in January.

In each of the years since 2007, the U.S.’s lowest tourism job numbers
occur in January. In 5 of the 7 years analyzed, the peak is in August,

It's the summer tourists that make the tourism wheels turn, not the winter ones.

Gemstone wrote:
This report paints a somewhat different picture of Florida's tourism industry, and what tourists (snowbirds are tourists too) contribute to Florida on an annual basis. It would be hard to imagine what Florida would look like economically, without tourists.

from Florida Tax Watch

Regards
Gemstone

I don't have to imagine what it would be like without so many tourists, lived it. I know, fist hand, what it was like. Maybe that is why my opinions about this subject are so strong.

I won't argue the report, but again the town did just fine, long before the tourist "discovered" it. Not to say a lack of tourists would not hurt the economy, but the town would survive.

But an over bearing, self centered, self important person is the same, no matter if they are a tourist or not. It would cost me money, but I would not put up with it, and did very well without this minority of tourists.

As I mentioned before, I found that only about 10% of tourists/snowbirds were like that, and I imagine that they show up in any tourist driven community, north or south.