Image is key for Florida and Gold Medal

Comment by Jeremy Skidmore (www.jeremyskidmore.com)

There’s nothing like a hungry alligator to put a spanner in the works when you’re trying to boost sales.

And meanwhile, after a few years in the Spanish sunshine, the former Going Places managing director Terry Fisher has returned to the industry to cast his spell at Gold Medal.

The only justification for mentioning Terry and alligators in the same breath is that they are both set to have, to a greater or lesser extent, an impact on the image of the places where they reside.

Firstly, those man (and in recent weeks woman) eating reptiles.

Florida is suffering. Holidaymakers fear more of the hurricanes that we saw last year and are fed up with fuel surcharges and stroppy immigration officials.

With timing that would have been comical if it had not been so tragic, Florida tourism chiefs claimed that new Disney and Universal attractions would revive the destination at exactly the same time as newspapers were full of stories about alligators on a killing spree in the sunshine state.

The hideous reptiles have eaten three people recently, but by far the most shocking case was of a jogger being attacked while running on dry land near Fort Lauderdale. Ever since I read the story of that poor woman being eaten alive, I have not been able to get the image out of my mind.

Of course, that image will eventually go and we’ll all get things into perspective. Provided you stay away from swimming in vegetated areas (and frankly, you must be out of your mind to do that in Florida) there is only a tiny chance of you ever seeing an alligator.

But will Florida regain its popularity?

Frankly, it should. It’s a fantastic destination and, once you’ve paid the fuel supplement, is great value with the current exchange rate.

I’ve been to Fort Lauderdale (although not near lakes) and Miami several times and I can honestly say that if they’d have me, and I could find reasonable work out there, I would consider moving. These places are vibrant and exciting and the climate is second to none.

Tourism chiefs need to market them, and the beautiful Keys, rather than talking about extra rides at Disney and Universal.

We all know how great the theme parks in Orlando are, but they conjure up images of families going abroad on package holidays for the first time. They’re just a bit old hat. Florida has so much more to offer.

Meanwhile, just when you thought the industry was being taken over by faceless accountants, back comes Terry Fisher from his premature retirement. And thank goodness for that. We could do with some more personalities in the industry.

Terry can be a sensitive soul and sometimes harbours the naive belief that the press should be respectful and positive (he was most upset with a colleague who recently reminded people of his difficult last days at GP), but he has undoubted talent.

However, is his plan for Gold Medal the right one?

During my many years in travel, the company has always been a respected consolidator/operator, but it is not seen as upmarket. Terry wants to change that.

As his expertise has always been in cutting unnecessary costs and making money out of budget operations, some might say that asking Terry to develop an upmarket image is akin to asking Jose Mourinho to join the diplomatic service.

But I’m just curious as to why he wants to mend something that, he claims, isn’t broken.

If Gold Medal is successful and agents back it, what does it matter how they perceive the operation? Changing perceptions can be a long, expensive game with no guarantee of success.

Everyone wants to be upmarket these days, but there are a hell of lot of ordinary people who want to buy holidays.

What’s your view?