'How to Do Florida' to feature Bradenton area in hourlong special
MANATEE -- At a luncheon Wednesday for National Travel and Tourism Week, Chad Crawford, host of "How to Do Florida," announced an hourlong special will feature the Bradenton area.
The luncheon's theme, "Parks and Preserves make it Perfect," fell in line with Crawford's announcement.
Crawford usually gets a show filmed in about 1 1/2 days. But he and his family spent five days in the Bradenton area last summer.
"We absolutely fell in love with it," Crawford told the crowd. "I'll never forget; my daughter walked out on the beach and she said, 'There's no cars on the beach.'"
The clear, shallow waters and cleanliness of the Bradenton area's beaches led Crawford to approach Elliott Falcione, executive director of the bureau, about filming a segment for his show.
"I basically want to re-create the experience that we had here and I want to make a TV show about it," was Crawford's pitch to Falcione.
How to Do Florida, in its seventh season, is produced by the Crawford group, Crawford's Orlando-based TV and video production company. Crawford usually produces 13 shows for each season.
The Bradenton area episode will launch the series' seventh season at 5 p.m. June 12 on local ABC affiliate WWSB.
Crawford segued from the theme of the season, "vacation traditions," to the importance of nature and experiences for children and families.
"For the most part, our children aren't having those outdoor experiences like we did," Crawford said. He encouraged parents to keep kids connected to nature and "to create a culture of outdoors in your home." The Bradenton area in particular, in Crawford's view, is doing well with promoting what he calls the "nature brand."
"This tribute to your parks and your preserves; these are the places that this world needs now and will need more than ever
in the future," Crawford said. "Because we humans will always need that connectivity."
Manatee County's parks and preserves are a part of what led the area to another solid tourism year.
Among the highlights of the bureau's Year in Review presentation:
Countywide tourism generated $46.9 million in state sales taxes in the Bradenton Area; up 8.8 percent from 2014.
Total visitors to the Bradenton Area exceeded 3,015,900, up 3.4 percent from 2014.
Total economic impact of tourism in Manatee County was more than $1.1 billion.
Number of visitors since 2011 has increased by 12 percent.
Since 2011, average room rates and total economic impact increased by 22 percent and 44 percent, respectively.
Also Wednesday, Falcione, Southwest Florida C12 Chairman Doug Poll and Manatee County Department of Parks and Natural Resources Director Charlie Hunsicker presented local park rangers with awards to recognize them for the work they do for the area's parks and preserves.
Falcione asked the group what the community wants moving forward. He described the bureau's five-year plan and said he hopes to develop objectives in coordination with the community.
"We need to work together, and we need to do it; not just talk about it," Falcione said. "We gotta catch a target market that is going to bring quality to this community. We gotta work on that together."
Janelle O'Dea, business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7095 or follow her on Twitter @jayohday.
This story was originally published May 4, 2016 at 11:51 PM with the headline "'How to Do Florida' to feature Bradenton area in hourlong special ."