This article was taken from New Port Richey, FL Patch:
There's a snowbird season in Florida, and soon there will be a "Eurobird" season in Pasco County.
The nonprofit Pasco Area Naturist Development Association (PANDAbare) began formulating the plan to market Pasco County to European travelers earlier this year. The Eurobird project includes a variety of marketing efforts to bring the naturist resorts of Pasco County to the attention of vacationing Europeans.
That plan got a boost today with the county commission's 4-1 vote to approve a $3,818 tourism development grant to PANDAbare to promote the area's naturist communities.
The grant marks the first time Pasco commissioners will use public money to promote the county as a destination for naturists, according to a Tampa Tribune report.
Commissioner Jack Mariano voted against the measure. But most of the board felt the effort was worthwhile to "try and draw people from other countries," Commissioner Pat Mulieri said in an email.
There are more naturists living in Pasco than anywhere else in the country, and yet very few of the 19 million naturists in Europe know Pasco County is a naturist destination, PANDAbare president Paul Brenot said.
"We have multiple resorts all right next to each other, but in the summer, we don't have the tourists," Brenot said.
European naturists who often vacation for several weeks at a time during the slow months of July and August can make the resorts of Pasco their base camp, with the attractions of Central Florida at their doorstep, Brenot said.
Disney World, the beaches, the Space Coast— "Nowhere else in the world is this available" to naturists, Brenot said.
"They say if you build it, they will come. Well, it's built, they just don't know about it yet," Brenot said.
The grant money from the county will help to change that. And if the marketing efforts are successful, Brenot sees potential benefits not only to the naturist resorts, but also for the county as a whole.
"It has the potential to make money for Pasco," Brenot said.
From revenues for the county, to revenues for small businesses, to job creation, "it's just one of those perfect marriages," Brenot said.
The organization also is working to gain 501c3 status, Brenot said. In addition to promoting Pasco as a destination for naturists, part of its outreach includes education about the naturist lifestyle.
Once you begin to understand to understand naturism, you realize what a wonderful community of accepting people it is, Brenot said.
SOURCE: New Port Richey, FL Patch
