ORANGE BEACH, Ala. _ Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau CEO Herb Malone believes that the only way to truly accomplish things is by working together, and he was quick to encourage attendees at Wednesday’s town hall meeting in Orange Beach to do just that.

While Malone was updating the crowd on the media campaign going on across the country in an effort to draw attention to the Gulf Coast, he pointed out the spirit of cooperation that has existed between the cities of Orange Beach and Gulf Shores.

“I want to congratulate Mayor (Tony) Kennon and the council and the staff here in Orange Beach along with Mayor (Robert) Craft and his council and his staff, for working together,” Malone said. “In my 25 years of being here, we have gone through a lot of things, but this is how we are going to make it through this, by working together.”

Advertising Campaign

Malone said the advertising campaign that presently features Lucy Buffett, owner of Lulu’s at Homeport Marina and sister of musician Jimmy Buffett, is successfully running in key markets throughout the southeast and Midwest.

“We know this is a challenge, trying to attract tourists during these times.”

But Malone said what they are discovering is that people really enjoy coming to the Gulf Coast.

“We are finding that our guests love us, they want to help us and they want to do what they can to support us.”

Malone said the message conveyed in the current ad campaign is that if tourists want to help, they can do so by continuing to visit the area.

“The best thing that they can do for us is to help us help ourselves by coming on down, pardon our progress while we try to get our beaches cleaned up, and experiencing other things that there are to do while they are here.”

In addition to the television ad campaign, Malone said the daily video updates that have been running on the CVB website have also been effective.

Buffett Concert

Malone also took a moment to update locals on the free Jimmy Buffett concert scheduled for Sunday, July 11.

“This is one of the biggest things to come along in my lifetime.”

Accoriding to Malone, the project is one that would normally be planned and executed over a four to five month time period, but that this one was conceived only 13 days before the original concert date of July 1.

“Again, a lot of people have worked a lot of hard hours to make this happen. None of us could control who got tickets. If we had to do it again, maybe we could improve on that, but maybe not.”

Malone reemphasized that due to wave issues resulting from the storm in the Gulf, the safety of the stage was going to be an issue and the concert had to be postponed.

“Nobody was more disappointed that it had to be postponed than myself, Mayor Craft, Mayor Kennon and Mr. Jimmy Buffett. But we know it is going to happen and it will be a tremendous thing for our community. He is helping the entire Gulf Coast do what we do best, show great southern hospitality to those who come.”