ConventionSouth magazine ranks Mobile high as a Hot Spot
Excelsior Band performs in Mobile (Photo courtesy of Visit Mobile)
Mobile is a certified “Hot Spot,” and not just because of the high summer temperatures.
The July issue of ConventionSouth ranked Alabama’s Port City at No. 2 on its “Winter Hot Spots” list.
It’s a recognition that doesn’t surprise Al Hutchinson, CEO of Visit Mobile.
“I think they recognize that this is a community of growth,” he said. “We have had half a dozen new restaurants open this past year in downtown mobile, and a new GulfQuest National Maritime Museum that opened last September. We have a great walkable downtown area, and an influx of millennials coming back for job opportunities and what the city has to offer. This award is huge for us because it says Mobile is a place where you want to be as a visitor and as a conventioneer.”
Al Hutchinson of Visit Mobile talks growth and attracting new business from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
Table set outside on Mobile Bay (Photo courtesy of Visit Mobile)
The magazine touted one of Mobile’s oldest traditions — and one of its claims to fame — as the birthplace of Mardi Gras in the U.S. The festivities make Mobile an attractive wintertime destination “where locals and visitors alike take to the streets and watch parades and enjoy the moderate winter weather,” ConventionSouth said. Also mentioned were the water sports, from boating to fishing to paddling, as well as art galleries, museums, music and theater productions.
Mardi Gras remains the biggest attraction for the city. Mobile was the first capital of French Louisiana in 1702, and the festival began as a French Catholic tradition. The weeks-long celebration has evolved into a mainstream festival regardless of religious affiliation. Mardi Gras continues to be one of the biggest economic boosters for Mobile.
“Visit Mobile is the dedicated marketing organization for the city of Mobile. So our job is to attract business and leisure visitors to come to this great city and spend money on our attractions and our restaurants and our hotels,” Hutchinson said.
Mobile offers popular attractions like the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park, Bellingrath Gardens and Home, the Mobile Museum of Art and the Mobile Carnival Museum. For the history buff, there’s historic Fort Conde and Mobile Bay, a major port during the Civil War.
As well as tourism, Mobile has attracted industry giants like Airbus, which produces the A320 series of aircraft. The $600 million, 53-acre facility at the Mobile Aeroplex is the company’s first production site in the United States.
“Mobile is a manufacturing hub. Not many cities build both Navy ships and commercial airplanes,” Hutchinson said.
In 2014, Hutchinson led a team that produced a new brand for Mobile tourism, “Born to Celebrate,” which was recently recognized by the Alabama Bureau of Tourism & Travel.
[Related: Born to Celebrate aims to boost tourism]
Now the city has something else to celebrate with the Hot Spot ranking.
ConventionSouth put Victoria, Texas on the top of its Hot Spots list.
For more information, visit www.mobile.org.To read the entire article about the Hot Spots, visit http://conventionsouth.com.
