Sunshine Matters

Today marks 126 days since the April 20^th Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion.  It has been a challenging time for all of us as we battled misperceptions of how Florida was affected by the oil spill.  Certainly, it was – and continues to be – critical that we provide open, transparent information to visitors so they can make the most informed travel planning decisions possible.

In an effort to help the Florida tourism industry stay connected and informed through the ever-changing oil spill situation, VISIT FLORIDA began hosting bi-weekly conference calls and webinars on June 10 to provide an opportunity for participants to network with one another and learn about the latest statewide marketing response efforts.  Hundreds of tourism partners representing all parts of the state have availed themselves of the webinars conducted to date. 

We will be hosting a final webinar in this series on Thursday at 2:00 p.m. to offer a recap of our statewide marketing response efforts for the brand, along with recent research findings relating to the oil spill impact on Florida travel.  We will also be sharing our Deepwater Horizon Crisis Response timeline which chronicles the launch of the Florida Live platform and includes the critical marketing, communications and advertising steps taken to address the crisis and counter misperceptions surrounding the effects of the oil spill on Florida.

I invite you to join me Thursday, Aug. 26 at 2 p.m. Eastern/1 p.m. Central.  There is no charge to attend this webinar; however, there are a limited number of lines available.  So, register today to save your “seat.”   Register Link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/488476794.

Though the webinar will serve as a recap of the statewide response efforts to date, by no means are response efforts over.  There remain very real impacts to Florida’s brand from the oil spill, and statewide tourism industry efforts are critical to the state’s recovery and restoration.  Rest assured, we will continue to keep you informed as the situation inevitably evolves.

Moving forward, we will post important information to SunshineMatters.org.  To read the latest, please sign up for the RSS feed or for email alerts from SunshineMatters.org.

We realize that not everyone may be aware of these webinars or available when they happen live, so VISIT FLORIDA has established a webpage that houses links to the PowerPoint slides used during the presentation portion,  an audio version of the entire webinar synced to the slides, and a document that contains questions sent in by the participants during the webinar and answered by staff.  To view the information from all the webinars to date, please go to www.visitflorida.org/deepwaterhorizon.

We are all working hard to continue our efforts in promoting Florida as the #1 travel destination in the world.  There is no doubt that we can all be more effective if we act together.  Thank you for your support!