Rosemary Payne, 'the hostess with the mostest'
SeaWorld's Randy Anger (centre) with Transat Holidays' Suzanne Diefenbaker & Brenda McInerny
iTravel2000's Melissa Burchat &
Michael Corbiere
It’s always nice to spend a pleasant evening with fellow Florida fans in the posh confines of the Rogers Centre’s IBM Executive Lounge. There was quite a crowd of industry types there a couple weeks ago, taking in the Jays vs. Chicago White Sox game.
Our gracious host was Rosemary Payne, Director of Leisure Travel, USA and Canada for St. Petersburg/Clearwater. “We are having a fantastic year out of Canada,” she told me. “Travel is up about 10% and we’re always grateful for the wonderful support from our tour operators.” Transat, Sunwing, WestJet and The Thomas Cook Group all feature the St. Pete region.
As always, I like to pick the brains of the hosts to find out what’s new and what they like to do on their home turf. Rosemary told me that the new Dali Museum is proving to be a great draw for the area – though she personally prefers to hit the links at one of the region’s 50 golf courses. The new speedboat adventure out of Tierra Verde (featuring 2-person mini speedboats) is also a thrilling success.
Randy Anger (“Mr. SeaWorld”) has a soft spot for Discovery Cove’s new Freshwater Oasis. As he puts it, “Like a rainforest with extra-cute Asian otters and marmosets.”
And Suzanne Diefenbaker, Transat Holidays’ Director of Customer Care Centre, simply loves Florida all round. “So much to see and do… great for families, singles and couples… plus a strong dollar. Hey, there’s no reason not to go!”
To top it all off, we even had a win from the Blue Jays. Now there’s something to celebrate!
