Junonia Award goes to Allison Gruber of Lee County Sports Organizing Committee for building sports tourism success

County Employee Honored for Contributions to Lee County Sports Tourism

The Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau (VCB) & Lee County Sports Development presented the annual Junonia Award to Allison Gruber, executive director of the Lee County Sports Organizing Committee (SOC), today at its Tourism Outlook Annual Meeting at the Caloosa Sound Convention Center in downtown Fort Myers.

“Allison has been leading the SOC for over 25 years and has been a critical partner in building our sports tourism success over those years,” said Jeff Mielke, executive director of Lee County Sports Development. “For those of you that are unfamiliar with the SOC, it is our preferred sports tourism housing partner, providing a level of customer service to our events that is unmatched in other destinations throughout the country.”

Each year, the Lee County VCB’s Junonia Award honors individuals who have positively impacted the local tourism community through their exceptional leadership, dedication and unique talents. This year, Tamara Pigott, VCB executive director, gave Mielke at Sports Development the opportunity to present this year’s Junonia Award.

Mielke said that Gruber helped lay the foundation for Lee County’s sports tourism industry, which now represents nearly 200,000 annual hotel room nights and over $80 million of visitor spending in the Fort Myers area. Many of those early events still take place today, such as the Roy Hobbs World Series and the Senior Softball USA Winter Nationals.

Gruber is a passionate advocate for women’s sports and all things Cape Coral, and currently serves on the Lee County Parks & Recreation Advisory Board.

Created in 2006, the VCB’s Junonia Award is named for the junonia, a treasured shell known for its rarity and exceptional quality that is on every sea sheller’s bucket list.

In addition to the Junonia Award, the VCB unveiled its new Sales & Marketing Plan – themed “Just Feels Right” – to industry partners. Click here for the VCB’s 2024-25 Sales & Marketing Plan presentation.

Keynote speaker Katie Briscoe, MMGY Global CEO, leader of the largest travel marketing company in the world, spoke about how the U.S. economy affects the travel economy.

Special recognition was given to Pamela Cronin, owner of the Shell Factory, for all of the positive memories that she and her late husband, Tom, and their team created for generations of customers over the years. The Shell Factory in North Fort Myers was open for 86 years and closed Sept. 29.