Thursday’s Santa Rosa County Board of County Commissioners vote was the final step to bringing on board Julie Morgan as the county’s Tourist Development Director. Morgan, who lives in Tennessee, said she’s worked in Monroe County for 9 years developing tourism and found out about the job through the Southeast Tourism Society. “I’ve been going down there for years and years vacationing from Pensacola to Destin. I love Navarre Beach. It’s the jewel of the emerald coast, so pristine, clear, peaceful, and gorgeous.”
Morgan is not just a fan of the panhandle’s beaches. She said, “I hope with my education, knowledge, and skills, I can develop tourism for the whole county, the north end as well. Santa Rosa deserves its fair share of tourism. The north and south ends offer something.” She also touted Milton’s historical nature. “There’s something for everyone. It just needs marketing and promoting,” she said. Morgan said the county needs repeat business and would push word-of-mouth advertising. She said she would also seek to bring visitors from neighboring Escambia and Okaloosa counties as well as studying tourism in the larger southeast region. Morgan said she would hit all of those markets and push into new ones to build Santa Rosa County’s visitation.
Morgan also has a unique qualification especially suited to the county’s recent change in overseeing tourism development. The July 10 county commissioner meeting saw a rare 4 to 1 vote, Commissioner Bob Cole voting against, which brought the Tourism Development Council (TDC) under the county’s Economic Development Office. Morgan said she oversaw the exact same transition 9 years ago in Monroe County, Tennessee. The people with whom she would be working were one of the things Morgan said drew her to the job. “They’re intelligent, nice people. They made me feel comfortable,” she said.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: New Tourist Development Director advocates all of SRC