Ed Chiles has served on the Manatee County Tourist Development Council for 25 years.
For his quarter-century of service, the TDC planned to celebrate Chiles at a June 21 meeting, giving him a compass with an inscription: “Ed, With grateful appreciation for 25 years of dedicated service to the Manatee County Tourist Development Council 1996-2021.”
Chiles’ honor is “well deserved, he’s been such a leader in his tenure on the TDC,” Elliott Falcione told The Islander June 15. Falcione is the executive director of the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, the marketing arm of the TDC.
The TDC also was scheduled to hear a report from Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport COO Mark Stuckey regarding operations as pandemic-related travel restrictions continue to loosen.
Additionally, Falcione was to present a two-year budget and marketing plan, including for tourism-related capital improvements.
Also on the agenda: Anne Wittine of Quantitative Research Data Services was set to present a report detailing tourist tax collections for April and May, as well as review traveler surveys.
The next meeting of the TDC, which directs funds raised from a 5% bed tax on accommodations of six months or less, will be at 9 a.m. Monday, Aug. 16, at the Manatee County administration building, 1112 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.
— Amy V.T. Moriarty