Meeting News - December 15, 2008 - (Page 37)

★★★★★ Insider Report: Galveston Edited by Terri Hardin terri.hardin@nielsen.com Spectacular! Brilliant! Genius! When you have Miami’s five-star meetings and conventions team helping plan your big event, you can expect to hear quite a few very kind words. All true, of course. Galveston’s Committed, Passionate Reprise Battered but not broken by Hurricane Ike, the island rebuilds for the better They say that every storm has a silver lining, and Galveston is banking on meetings and conventions coming back stronger than ever following Hurricane Ike, which roared ashore in September with a 14-foot storm surge. As of this writing, most hotels were open, and the venerable Grand 1894 Opera House was in full swing preparing for its gala 114th birthday bash on Jan. 3, which will feature country rocker Jerry Jeff Walker. Galveston’s other 19th century icons such as Ashton Villa, Bishop’s Palace, and the tall ship Elissa were offering tours once more, as was the Lone Star Flight Museum, which serves as a reception venue. The island’s premiere convention property, the San Luis Resort, Spa, & Conference Center, survived Ike with nary a scratch. In fact, it provided temporary offices for mayor Lydia Ann Thomas and first responders to the hurricane. Visitor attractions like Moody Gardens, with its glass pyramids, already kicked off its annual Festival of Lights for the holidays. Its aquarium, home to rescued sea lions and penguins, continues to delight attendees with families. Likewise, the Discovery science museum and 4D Theater were back in business at Moody Gardens, while the ever-popular Rainforest pavilion, where hundreds of exotic animals and birds roam free, will celebrate its relaunch as early as spring. All this will be threaded together in a new campaign called Rediscover Galveston, according to Meg Winchester, director of sales for the Galveston Island Convention & Visitors Bureau. “You bet we’re going to put the word out,” she said. “We’re in the process right now, and that’s our message to go along with our current branding, so people will have the chance to rediscover Galveston and all the good things that are coming out of the storm. “The hospitality on the island survived really well,” Winchester commented. “The convention center did beautifully; it had a little water damage, that’s all, and we did a wedding there on Oct. 1.” Still, Meeting Professionals International extended a helping hand to Houston chapter members that lost their jobs, homes, or businesses by waiving their dues for a year. “There are only three hotels that have not opened, and the majority of the attractions have reopened or are on track to do so in the first quarter of 2009,”Winchester added.“Everyone is really doing a fabulous job of getting their properties up to working order and able to do the renovations that they wanted to do in the past.” A $6 million renovation of the beaches will add punch to the revival, she said, as sand is being dredged from the ocean to “renourish” a vast majority of the shoreline in the next four or five months. Restaurants on a popular ribbon of beach are busy serving Gulf shrimp, flounder, and sea trout, while dining outlets in the Victorian-era Strand neighborhood are expected to be ready by April 1. Said Winchester,“It’s exciting what’s going on. We get updates daily on who’s coming back.” Adding a bit of positive thinking to the mix doesn’t hurt, either, she said. “The thinking is very optimistic based on what we’ve been through. I think they’re saying we’re six to 12 months ahead of a recovery schedule for this type of storm. I think that there’s a real sense of resilience in Galveston and pride in our city. Everyone is committed 100 percent to bringing it back bigger and better.” The recovery effort has even caught the attention of former presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, who viewed the damage firsthand and put together the Bush-Clinton Coastal Fund to raise money for repairs. “We understand that tourism is such an economic driver for Galveston, and that is what’s going to help rebuild Galveston,” Winchester said. “We’re pretty passionate about that.” r —Patricia Alisau A World of Difference. www.trumpmiami.com 1-800-461-8246 www.meetingnews.com December 15, 2008 MeetingNews 37 http://www.trumpmiami.com http://www.trumpmiami.com http://www.meetingnews.com

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Meeting News - December 15, 2008

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