DAPHNE, Ala. — More than a year after the oil spill, the coastal region’s tourist numbers are still not as high as many hotel managers, restaurant owners and other business owners would like them to be, and with the Eastern Shore Tourism Council’s assistance, leaders in the local industry met to discuss ways to lure more travelers to the area.

“One of the goals or the plan of action for the tourism council of the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce is to have quarterly meetings, open meetings where members of the hospitality industry come together and talk with us and let’s see what we can do about tourism in this area. I consider the Eastern Shore to be a destination. I don’t consider it to be a stop on your way further south,” Darrelyn Bender, chamber president said.

The meeting produced multiple ideas to allow businesses to capitalize on the area’s offerings.

Board members believe the Eastern Shore is conveniently located between two major airports in Mobile and Pensacola, is near the beaches, and has ample meeting space, eco-tourism attractions and sports facilities that can accommodate large tournaments.

However, tourists generally seek certain things when planning trips, and Ginger Parnell, director of tourism and special events, said in her research she has found people are looking for culinary tourism, artists in action, home and garden, markets and sporting events.

“We have had some natural and manmade disasters that have hindered some of our plans and some of our funding but we still think that there are things that we can do as long as we have one way of thinking and we all come together and get our ideas on the table, see what we can do, and see what it is going to cost and let’s see what we can do to get heads in beds in this area,” Bender said.

The council in recent months has been designing and planning a new website to market the Eastern Shore, and Parnell has begun a newsletter dealing with tourism; it will be released every three months and the first issue is available online at www.eschamber.com.

Sports-related tourism has proved to be a big pull for the Eastern Shore in recent years.

“People may not go to Disney World but they will spend money to go to a baseball tournament,” Parnell said. “That was one of the things that kept the industry going after the oil spill, because of the sports plex.”

The big question asked at the meeting was “What do we do next? What is the plan of action we have to enact to bring up the tourism numbers?”

Margaret Thigpen, director of the Daphne Civic Center, said she and her staff were aggressively pursuing small conferences or meetings to be held at the Civic Center. She said most people don’t realize that the civic center has 22,600 square feet of meeting space.

“One of our weakest points is filling this center Monday through Thursday,” she said. “One of the areas we want to really focus on is corporate and association meetings. We not only have the meeting space, but there are roughly 1,000 hotel rooms on this side of the Eastern Shore.”

She said the civic center staff also plans to create packets for meeting planners that will offer guests places to stay, eat and visit while in the area for a conference or meeting.

Members of the hotel industry have been meeting on their own in recent months to try to bring more tourists to the area.

“We have got a distinct advantage here on the Eastern Shore in that we are a new product…we have the civic center here; not a lot of areas this size have that much meeting space. We have well over 1,000 hotel rooms, a myriad of restaurants and golf courses,” one attendee said. “What we don’t have is recognition.”

He said people who plan meetings don’t think of Daphne as a location to host meetings. Instead, Mobile, Birmingham and Gulf Shores are at the top of their lists.

One attendee suggested members of the hospitality industry be trained as ambassadors of the area who are courteous, helpful and knowledgeable about what the area has to offer and where attractions are located.

Parnell suggested binders with information be created for employees so information can be found easily. Every employee of the chamber already has similar binders so they can answer any questions visitors may have.

Daphne Councilmember Ron Scott suggested that the cities work with the chamber to create more attractions to boost the area’s appeal. He referred to a large tract of land the city owns behind the Walmart in Daphne that is intended to be a park, but the city does not have the funds to develop the property.

“There isn’t a reason that we can’t get started on something,” Scott said. “I think that the recreation director from Fairhope and Daphne and Spanish Fort needs to be involved in this group, because they do have lots of sports tournaments.”

He said the lodging tax has been a “godsend” to the city, and all the cities in the area would benefit from booking hotels.

“We are a jewel that is yet to be discovered,” Scott said.

The council — created by the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce — holds open meetings quarterly to brainstorm and promote Daphne, Spanish Fort and Fairhope.