Tybee News

Savannah and Tybee hoteliers can take some solace in reports that area room rates are not seeing the same percentage drops as most competiting visitor destinations.

But the free-fall in rates is expected to continue nationwide. and Savannah-Tybee could see a further decline of from 12 percent to 20 percent, says local hotel executive Mark Dana, current president of the Savannah Tourism Leadership Council.

That drop would be in addition to Savannah’s 14.2 percent rate decline reported for July from the same month last year, according to Dana.

Other destinations in Savannah’s market category have taken even harder hits. “We’re faring pretty well against Charleston and Fort Lauderdale,” he said.

So it could be worse, he added.

Meanwhile, occupancy and rate declines nationally have threatened to send some hotels into bankruptcy as they struggle to pay down debt.  A year ago, according to the Wall Street Journal, hotel debt in the United States considered to be in distress stood at $1.6 billion. Today it totals $18 billion, the national business newspaper reported last month.

The distressed category includes hotel debt that is either delinquent, in bankruptcy proceedings, in foreclosure or under restructuring.

The $18 billion “is a little bit frightening,” Dana told Tourism Leadership Council members at a recent lunch gathering of the organization.

Even at the lower rates, hotels nationwide are having trouble attracting guests as occupancy levels have fallen to 64 percent – “the lowest since tracking started,” Dana said.

On the positive side, Savannah saw a 6 percent occupancy increase in July over last year, according to the TLC.

Further encouraging is that the Savannah Area Convention & Visitors Bureau is ahead of last year’s pace in booking large meetings that require two or more hotels to accommodate, Dana said.

With the business visitor, which takes in those here for conventions and meetings, the task will be to counter a growing tendency of business and organizations to rely on new technology to keep them in touch, Dana noted.

Things like electronic company town halls are starting to replace in-person meetings and training sessions. Combine that with a reluctance of businesses and organizations to spend on travel and hotel stays and the thinking becomes: “the only certainty is uncertainty,” Dana said.

On the leisure side there is some encouragement from an expected trend of baby boomers retiring and having their grandchildren accompany them to visitor destinations. Three million boomers turned 62 this year and others born to the post-war generation will continue to retire through 2025. “We’ll have more grandparents than we’ve ever had before,” Dana said.

More immediately, some additional hiring can be expected in the Savannah hospitality sector as the more active visitor periods of February-April and May-June approach, according to Dana.

Skidaway Institute of Oceanography professor Dana Savidge has been awarded a research grant from the National Science Foundation for $207,450 to study ocean currents called Langmuir Supercells.

Langmuir circulation cells occur during strong winds and waves, and appear as long lines of bubbles or floating material aligned with the wind on the ocean surface.

“These lines are the surface expression of currents beneath the surface,” said Savidge. “The Langmuir cells are like huge counter-rotating jelly-rolls, aligned longways with the wind, with currents spiraling from the ocean surface into the deep and back up, while also moving downwind.”

Savidge has been observing Langmuir circulation on the Georgia shelf using a custom built acoustic Doppler profiler, which uses sound waves to monitor the movement of the ocean water. When Langmuir cells reach the sea floor, the so-called ‘supercells’ can pick up sediment and organic material, transport it high up into the water and carry it long distances horizontally. While Langmuir currents have been studied for years, they have only recently been observed reaching the sea floor.

“Our measurements suggest this process may affect sediments all across Georgia’s shelf, from the shallow near-shore environments out to the shelf edge in 50 meters of water,” Savidge said.

Savidge will use the new grant to define how these cells interact with strong tides and surface heating in Georgia’s ocean waters. She will be working closely with scientists and computer modelers from Old Dominion University (Virginia) and the University of South Florida to develop ways of including these turbulent processes in models used to predict ocean circulation and horizontal transport of the material it contains.

The 2009 Pirate Queen of the Tybee Island Pirate Fest has chosen to use her newfound royal title to help raise money for a cause that holds great meaning for her family. Amy Gaster (Queen Amelia) is co-owner of Tybee Vacation Rentals with her sister Carrie Efird. Their mother Bonnie Gaster, the 2007 Pirate Queen, is a breast cancer survivor of seven years. Pink is the company’s official color and also the color used to promote breast cancer awareness. Tybee Vacation Rentals “Pink Team” marches in most Tybee Parades handing out pink beads, and in 2009 walked as a team in the first Savannah Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. 

The Tybee Neighbors is  sponsoring a "Volunteer Tybee Organization of the Year" contest to recognize the importance of the dedicated work of Tybee’s many volunteer organizations. The winning organization will receive special recognition and a cash prize.

“When deciding how to vote, think about the organization that has done the most for the Island during the past 12 months,” according to the Tybee Neighbors board. Almost 20 organizations are listed.

You must be at least 18 to vote. Residents can  vote before April 22 by going to the group’s website at www.tybeeneighbors.com.  The, during the “Volunteer Tybee”event on Weds. April 22, residents can vote again at the Tybee Neighbors information table.