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Thousands visit our community every year
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Among the thousands who vacation in Big Canoe every year,
Evelene and Ralph Malone of Dunwoody, Ga., check in at the North
Gate with Safety Officer Becky Mosher for a week. As owners of
three time-share weeks, they’ve been vacationing here for over
ten years. “We come here mostly for the fishing,” Ralph says. |
By Bennett Whipple
You probably
already know that Big Canoe is a destination place for visiting vacationers,
but do you know they number in the thousands each year?
Consider that the 34-unit membership condominium, Petit Crest Villas,
overlooking Lake Petit, hosted alone some 4,000 visitors last year. General
Manager Tammy Owens says summer, October and Christmas are usually fully
booked, and it operates at an 80-percent year round capacity. And the
15-unit Golf Watch Villas condominium, backing up to the Creek seven
fairway, brings in another 1,200 owners and renters to enjoy our mountain
Eden during the high season from May through October. Operations Manager
Blanche Reece says they average a similar 82-percent capacity year-round.
And there are three other main rental groups with 88 additional units in Big
Canoe hosting vacationing visitors. We have Mountain Vista Rentals with
35, Mountain Home Rentals with 30, Chimney’s Rentals, 23. We have lots of
folks visiting Big Canoe looking for things to do and places in which to
eat.
To make a point
If you need visible evidence, there are dozens of visitors lining the
fishing bank on the Lake Petit dam almost daily. They buy fishing permits
which mean bucks in the cash register at Gordon Breen’s marina amenity.
What about the other amenities? Do our guests know, for example, that what
might appear to be an élite members-only clubhouse is actually a casual
dining, family friendly place that welcomes visitors? And do they know that
the Fitness Center offers visitors a place to work out those travel-weary
backs and shoulders, and to swim indoors on cold winter days just as any
other good hosting facility offers its guests?
Getting the word
out
The POA has produced and distributed to rental units a hotel-type brochure
which describes our amenities and invites guests to use them. The brochure
idea began as an initiative of the POA Communications Committee and produced
by Golf Manager Mark Johnson, who serves also as amenities coordinator. A
copy of the brochure is also handed out at our gates to visitors.
The rental managers were enthusiastic about the brochure plans and helpful
in making distributions to the units. They had prepared similar descriptive
material for distribution to renters through their websites, so they viewed
the addition of a tabletop brochure as another way to assure a positive
vacation experience for their renters and owners. Kevin White of Mountain
Vista Rentals noted that many renters carefully plan their visits in advance
and urged the POA to make the brochure information available on the POA
website.
Eyes on Cable
Channel 12
Another promotional feature recently added to TVs and table tops in rental
units is a TV “Tent Card.” At the suggestion of the committee, the card was
designed and produced by Ann Young and the marketing department of Big Canoe
Company, LLC. Under the caption “Things to do in Big Canoe,” it
invites readers to tune into cable TV Channel 12 for information about our
amenities. The channel, owned by the developer and managed by the committee,
also carries videos of community life and home buying opportunities.
According to a survey for this article, Big Canoe’s 132 condo and rental
units are predominantly cable subscribers. It is noted that Channel 12 is
available to Big Canoe clubs and organizations for announcements.
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