Promoting Paradise
Well my story is very typical of many people who have moved permanently Sanibel and Captiva - originally from Ireland (Dublin), I lived in London, UK for 20 years. My husband and I vacationed first on Sanibel in 1987 and fell in love with the place. We vacationed once, usually twice a year, every year until 2008, when we moved here full time with our three children.
Moving from the center of London (Notting Hill Gate) to Sanibel Island was less of a culture shock that you would think. The schools were very good - two of our kids (twins) went to school at the Sanibel School (a blue ribbon school - and the top ranked K-8 school in the state of Florida!) and our eldest daughter went to an excellent high school in Fort Myers. The slower pace of island life, the eclectic mix of people and the proximity to the beautiful gulf wherever you are on both islands was a wonderful change from a big city life. Nearly six years on, it is still is a delight to us as we walk our dogs on the beach each morning.
I had worked in the marketing and PR field for more than 20 years, so when we arrived on Sanibel, we opened Hillgate Communications and continued to work in this field, but on a much smaller scale. We got to know the islands well and also to know the (thriving) business community. In 2011, we were appointed to run the Chamber of Commerce media relations campaign, and today we still work on this campaign.
If you are not familiar with the work of the Chamber of Commerce, you will be very impressed. There are more than 600 active members - almost every business on Sanibel and Captiva is a member and the Chamber has a member retention rate of 94% - the envy of every other Chamber in Florida.
The very popular Chamber Visitor Center, is located on the right as you come onto Sanibel, it welcomes over 190,000 visitors each year. The Center is open 365 days a year, and acts as the welcome center to the Islands. Volunteers and staff provide visitors with comprehensive information about things to do, places to visit and places to stay, where to shop, where to dine and of course, where to find the best shells! If you have not been to the Visitor Center, I recommend you stop by on your next visit - there is a wealth of information to be found here.
So what does Hillgate do for the Chamber? Well our overall objective is to promote the islands of Sanibel & Captiva as a 'must see' vacation destination or place to live. We do this through a media relations campaign with regional, national and international media.
One of the things we do is gathering the various prestigious awards won by Sanibel and Captiva, this includes one of my favorite Captiva awards - Most Romantic Beach Getaway! Others this past year include:
- 2013 - Condé Nast Traveler Magazine - Sanibel & Captiva islands - chosen by Traveler Magazine for one of 5 Perfect Weekends in Florida
- 2013 - Coastal Living - 2013 annual America's Happiest Seaside Towns - and also Sanibel was voted one of the best places to live on the coast
- 2013 - USA Today - voted part of the 10 best attractions in Florida - Seashells on Sanibel Island - voted in December 2013 by USA Today Readers' Choice awards
- 2013 - TripAdvisor - Travelers Choice Awards - TripAdvisor choice awards voted Sanibel Island as one of the top 10 islands to visit in the US
- 2013 - Travel & Leisure Magazine - listed Captiva Island as one of the most Romantic Beach Getaways in their August 2013 feature
- 2013 - Travel Channel - Top 10 Beaches in Florida - both Sanibel island and Captiva island make the top 10 list
- 2013 - Peter Greenberg - Best Bird-watching - Peter Greenberg, America's foremost travel expert, listed the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge among his top five recommended spots for a bird-watching spring break vacation
For our media relations during 2013 we achieved have had more than 200 positive articles about our islands including placements in:
- AAA Travel Magazine
- ABC News
- AZ Central
- Calgary Herald
- Coastal Living
- Condé Nast Traveler
- Connecticut Post
- Daily Mail
- Florida Trends
- Huffington Post
- Jauntaroo
- National Geographic
- Prestige International
- Sun Sentinel (covers Broward, Palm Beach and Miami and Dade County)
- The Georgetowner
- Travel + Leisure
- USA Today
- Wall Street Journal
- Washington Post
- Welland Tribune (Ontario, CA)
- Winnipeg Free Press
- WTOP (Washington DC all-news channel)
- Yahoo News
Check out last month's Coastal Living had a six page feature on Sanibel; this month's Travel & Leisure features both islands as the best US islands destination and the ABC Boston daily lifestyle TV program, Chronicle, has just completed filming a large segment on Captiva and Sanibel last week.
I am very proud of the work we do for the Chamber of Commerce and it is a pleasure to introduce new people to the natural beauty and charm of both Sanibel and Captiva Islands.
Be sure to visit the Chamber website www.sanibel-captiva.org
Blanaid Colley
Hillgate Communications
2451 Periwinkle Way
Sanibel, FL 33957
Phone 239-472 3400
Blanaid@hillgate.biz
Thank you for the hard work and the information, Blanaid!
