It’s another typical chamber of commerce day in Southwest Florida: cloudless blue skies, brilliant sunshine and an altogether delightful 80 degrees. Except that on Sanibel and Captiva Islands, there’s a chamber of commerce that’s far from typical. It goes by the official moniker of Sanibel Island & Captiva Island Chamber of Commerce and — going on 11 years in 2017 — the organization’s been led by president Ric Base, a gentleman who’s combined his background in training, sales and Florida East Coast chambers into one of the most potent marketing partners any resort, restaurant or retailer on the islands could have. “Most chambers of commerce are somewhat static operations that help their members with networking and other business basics,” he says. “Our chamber is a proactive promoter of our members to the public, while providing services in marketing that bring great results in referrals and sales, which ultimately generate returns on investment of high value.” Put another way (and here’s your not-so- secret secret) — this ain’t your ordinary chamber, but is much more akin to a larger destination marketing organization, similar in mission to county visitor and convention bureaus. Doug Babcock is Chief Operating Officer of Sanibel Captiva Beach Resorts and is a member of the chamber’s boardof directors. “We actively participate in a number of marketing programs the chamber offers,” he explains. “Across our four resorts, we
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Ric Base, President
generally see the chamber among the top referring resources to our property websites. They’re sending literally thousands of people to our reservations pages, where many of these folks wind up booking vacations. It’s a great asset that all of us on the islands benefit from, and very few chambers across the country perform this way or this well.” The facts would support Babcock. Open daily throughout the year, the colorful Visitor Center on Causeway Road welcomes nearly 170,000 eager guests annually — in season, some days upwards of more than a thousand families, couples, snowbirds and day trippers. Sanibel Captiva Visitor Guides go right back out the door each year in approximately 125,000 of those hands. And online, a remarkable 1.3 million annual visitors click onto Sanibel-Captiva.org — where close to one million are then referred on to members who are all too happy to provide lodging, food, entertainment, recreation, shopping
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