INDIAN RIVER COUNTY – The Senior Resource Association hosted a tourism expo at Schumann Hall Senior Center on Thursday, complete with 24 booths filled with local, regional, and national vendors.
Visitors to the event helped themselves to refreshments while they ventured from booth to booth. All proceeds from the expo went to benefit the Senior Resource Association, an organization that provides activities education, and services benefiting seniors throughout Indian River County. Event organizer Senior Center Manager Kelly de Long held the tourism expo based on community need and the success similar events have had over the past year.
“In my newsletter I have a column that features a column from Goodtime Getaways, and another another travel agency, Cruise and Travel Partners, wanted to put their stuff in our newsletter as well,” DeLong said. “That’s where we came up with the idea to have a tourism expo. We had a senior activities fair here in October with 47 booths and we had 300 people here. Then, we had another senior activities fair in Sebastian, and we had about 150 people at that one. Fairs and expos are something that people really like.”
Cruise and Travel Partners and Goodtime Getaways were joined by local businesses like Skydive Sebastian, Kayaks, etc, Diamond Travel, Gadabout Travel, and Indian River Travel and other local business at the tourism expo.
“The expo is going to be a yearly event, and we’re going to have the senior activities fair again in October,” de Long said. “We might switch up the theme of the expo next year to a technology expo next May. We’re also going to have the Sebastian senior activities far at Sebastian City Hall in January. The seniors I have here love to get out and try new things and they love to travel.”
“We have so many amazing businesses and opportunities here in Vero,” added de Long. “We have a lot for the seniors to do here at the expos, and it gives the community a chance to participate as well.”