14-06-2025
Bay County TDC approves new tourism-driven weather page
PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) – Visit Panama City Beach is putting together a brand new program that will provide personalized weather updates and destination information to tourists visiting the area.
Every year, more than 4 million people vacation in Panama City Beach.
Many of them want to know what kind of weather they can expect when they get here, especially since the weather changes so quickly. The Bay County Tourism Development Council is launching a new service to provide that information, and much more.
Tourism officials are partnering with local meteorologists Chris Smith and Dan Nyman to create a tourism-driven weather and information channel.
They've left their jobs at a local TV station to launch
'The TDC, through this channel, is going to be able to kind of control the messaging…nobody is creating 24-hour weather channels to focus on the weather messaging for a vacation destination. But it's the most important part of a vacation…you come to the beach and expect good weather,' founder Chris Smith said
This week, TDC board members voted to invest $300,000 a year for the next 5 years to operate the website.
They say that while PCB is known for its sunny beach days, it's still important to keep visitors informed about the days when the weather may rain on their parade.
'We have 320 days on average of sunshine, but it's also important to focus on those days that might not be as sunny or that are kind of scattered around and inform the visitors that are coming to our area,' Visit PCB Communications Manager Sydney Clifton said.
The website will also include information on beach safety, current beach flag status, and the UV index.
It will also feature daily live streams of the sunset for those who may be missing the beach.
'So if you're in Chicago or Nashville or wherever you may be and you're missing Panama City Beach, we're going to be able to send out like a little push notification. Say you are missing an epic sunset tonight. Don't you wish you were here?' Smith said.
is scheduled to launch sometime in October.
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