Boost in New Business Tied to Redevelopment

The Jekyll Island Authority, the state entity that conserves and manages Jekyll Island, is reporting a sharp increase in new convention and meeting business bookings as a result of planned revitalization projects. Thirty-two new conventions were secured during the Jekyll Island Meeting Planners Expo, which was held at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta on Wednesday, January 30. This represents the greatest single day of sales activity for the Jekyll Island sales department ever recorded.

“It may be the biggest sales event in our history,” said Kevin Udell, Jekyll Island Director of Sales. “The response from our meeting has just been overwhelming; they all want to bring their business to Jekyll. All we needed were new hotels to bring them in.”

At the Meeting Planner Expo, meeting planners could see a scale model of the concept plan for the new Jekyll Beach Village which includes a new Convention Center and new hotels along with revitalized dining and shopping all in a pedestrian-friendly, environmentally-sustainable design.

In addition, several other new hotel projects and hotel expansion projects were on display including expansion of meeting space at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel, the new Canopy Bluff resort project and the new Jekyll Ocean Oaks project that includes a new Hampton Inn & Suites hotel.

“We took this opportunity early in the planning process to show our clients what we have in mind, and what is in the pipeline,” continued Udell. “We were looking for feedback as well as business commitments. Based on the amount of business we have secured, you could say the feedback has been very positive.”

Meeting planners have been looking for a Georgia destination that could compete with other beach destinations. Many Georgia associations have been forced to go out of state to Destin, Hilton Head and Amelia Island. The revitalization of Jekyll Island promises to deliver tremendous economic impact to the state and the coastal region. The new Convention Center and Convention Center Hotel are scheduled to open in 2011.

“We have been able to secure over $4.6 million in direct Convention Center business so far,” said Eric Garvey, Jekyll Island’s Senior Director of Marketing and Business Development. “That represents approximately $21 million in hotel room revenue and an overall economic impact of $85 million. It’s exciting that meeting and convention planners are responding to the great things that are happening on Jekyll Island.”

Under Georgia state law, only 35 percent of Jekyll Island’s can be developed. The remaining 65 percent of Jekyll Island’s pristine beaches, marshes, maritime forests and other natural environments will always remain undisturbed. While most of the Jekyll Island Authority’s resources are spent on conservation and preservation efforts, the Authority is also charged with generating appropriate revenues to care for the island. The Authority receives no regular funding from the state’s budget, and relies on tourism and visitation for sustaining revenues. In recent years, as many of the island’s lodging options have aged, visitation and revenue has steadily declined and conventions have taken their business elsewhere.

In September, the Jekyll Island Authority announced that it had selected Linger Longer Communities of Greensboro, Ga., as its partner to redevelop a small portion of Jekyll Island.

As part of its vision for Jekyll Island, Linger Longer proposed a $350 million redevelopment which would create a new convention center, as well as three new hotels, including a hotel attached to the convention center. The proposal also included the creation of Jekyll Beach Village, a unique coastal conservation community with an active and vibrant village center.

Additionally, developer Trammell Crow Co. is in the process of planning Canopy Bluff, a new hotel on the site of the historic Buccaneer Beach Resort.

The Jekyll Island Club Hotel also has plans for a new Jekyll Ocean Oaks lodging project, as well as expansion of the meeting space at the historic hotel.

The Tourism Development Alliance of Georgia (TDAG) board voted unanimously in January to add Support for Jekyll Island Revitalization to the group’s policy platform. The Alliance’s board in particular supported the positive environmental attributes of many of the revitalization efforts on Jekyll Island, such as required LEED-certification and EarthCraft Community Standards.