Sally
Beach Fanatic
The TDC also reports that water is wet, the beaches are the reason people visit here, and fire is hot. In related news, the fire department says fire is bad. 
Okaloosa County Tourist Development Council Executive Director Darrel Jones:
? The Emerald Coast is the No. 1 choice in Florida for second homes.
? Property owners benefit from tourism because 35 percent of gasoline taxes and 45 percent of state sales taxes collected in Okaloosa County come from tourists.
?Without this money coming in here,? Jones said, ?our ad valorem taxes would probably triple.?
? Condominiums are the No. 1 lodging choice for tourists, followed by hotels and motels, family, beach homes and then campgrounds.
? Most tourists arrive by car, and the Emerald Coast remains the second most popular ?drive to? destination in Florida, behind Orlando.
?I?ve always said we could be No. 1 if we had a big black rat,? Jones said.
He said it?s also the area?s real estate ? the beaches ? that brings tourists to Northwest Florida. The Emerald Coast, he said, has been voted ?Best Beach in the South? by readers of Southern Living magazine nine years in a row.
?That is a real asset to every one of you that lives here,? Jones said. ?We are No. 4 in visitors in all the state of Florida, bringing 7.46 million visitors to this area ... Our reach is everything east of Colorado, north including Canada, and the South. Our market is large ... Please, folks, keep us in mind and keep selling the Emerald Coast.?
Okaloosa County Tourist Development Council Executive Director Darrel Jones:
? The Emerald Coast is the No. 1 choice in Florida for second homes.
? Property owners benefit from tourism because 35 percent of gasoline taxes and 45 percent of state sales taxes collected in Okaloosa County come from tourists.
?Without this money coming in here,? Jones said, ?our ad valorem taxes would probably triple.?
? Condominiums are the No. 1 lodging choice for tourists, followed by hotels and motels, family, beach homes and then campgrounds.
? Most tourists arrive by car, and the Emerald Coast remains the second most popular ?drive to? destination in Florida, behind Orlando.
?I?ve always said we could be No. 1 if we had a big black rat,? Jones said.
He said it?s also the area?s real estate ? the beaches ? that brings tourists to Northwest Florida. The Emerald Coast, he said, has been voted ?Best Beach in the South? by readers of Southern Living magazine nine years in a row.
?That is a real asset to every one of you that lives here,? Jones said. ?We are No. 4 in visitors in all the state of Florida, bringing 7.46 million visitors to this area ... Our reach is everything east of Colorado, north including Canada, and the South. Our market is large ... Please, folks, keep us in mind and keep selling the Emerald Coast.?