We are talking about the FL Panhandle area-- P'Cola to Tallahassee (which technically I don't consider the Panhandle). Actually, it is really more the area of FL in the Central Time Zone. Trust me, there is a very distinct difference in the markets. I've hobbied in both locations. That is one reason I really wish ECCIE would separate the Panhandle from Jacksonville (same for Eros). North Florida is just too broad a description. It is 360+ miles from P'Cola to Jax. That is roughly 6 hours or so of drive time.
Here's my impression of the various markets. Jacksonville is more like the rest of Florida and in general the east coast. Hobbying there is probably very stable with a crop of quality local providers as well as a good locale for touring providers to hit. It is a military town, so there's always going to be a market for providers who attract the sailor on shore leave
Of all the Florida cities, Jax is probably the least dependent on the tourist industry, so there is no low and high tide so to speak for a tourist season. I know some providers try to tour an area based on high season for out of towners. BTW, few people realize this, but Jax is Florida's largest city in terms of population. Granted, it is not the largest metro area but it is pretty large.
As for the FL Panhandle, we can really break it into 3 sub regions-- Tally, the beaches, and P'Cola. This area stretches about 200 miles along I-10, so it is still an unwieldy area to cover that is exacerbated by the fact that I-10 runs far to the north of the beach areas thus creating further travel pains. In other words, it is a royal pain in the ass to get from P'Cola to Panama City Beach or from Tally to PCB. One could use the beach highway, but with stop and go traffic it takes forever to get anywhere.
As for Tally, here's my impression. The local providers seem to be on the lower end in terms of quality. It just seems to be inundated with lower class providers on BP. Also, Tally really isn't that big of a city. Sure, it is the state capital and home to FSU, but for a college town, it really seems to be lacking in terms of hot, quality providers. Just look at Gainesville, they seem to have a bevy of hot, young providers. Maybe UF is sluttier than FSU
As for touring providers, I think the status of Tally being the state capital makes in attractive in terms of potential for higher $$$ from clients. I just don't think that is the case.
Panama City Beach, Destin, Fort Walton Beach (Beaches) is a unique area. It is very difficult to get to given the poor road locations. Also, this area is at the mercy of the tourist season. We definitely have our peeks and valleys. As for local talent, PCB has been very transient. Prior to the demise of E.com, there were a few locals that you could get a good feel for. Now, there is no such thing. BP is about the only place you can find local providers. PCB really relies on touring providers or providers willing to come from Destin/FWB or P'Cola. As for Detsin/FWB, there are a couple of really good providers there, but again the death of E.com has made it hard to find good local talent. It all seems to morphing to the BP crowd with the exception of 2 or 3 girls, but you pretty much have to already know them in order to know about them. Newbies aren't going to hear about them.
P'Cola seems to be barely on life support in terms of hobbying as we know it; although, it is doing better than PCB. Again, this is probably due to the death of E.com. Several well known P'Cola providers have either semi-retired or slipped completely off the radar since E.com went under. Again, most of the action seems to be BP oriented. However, there are probably still about 5-10 quality providers based in P'Cola. Thankfully, some are willing to come over to PCB every once in awhile. On the other hand, P'Cola seems to be a mecca for touring providers. Maybe the easy access to I-10 makes it attractive. The providers go there while bypassing the beaches.
Here's my advice to the touring providers, consider touring PCB on the west end. The only problem with that is there are very few hotels on the west end. Most are on the east end; however, this is changing as there is at least one hotel out there. If providers would go there, they could get clients from Destin/FWB as well as PCB and Panama City proper.
