Sunshine Matters

Earlier this month, VISIT FLORIDA announced a year-long Viva Florida 500 commemoration initiative, involving a promotional sweepstakes and other marketing opportunities leveraged by industry partners.  Leading up to and continuing through these marketing programs, the PR team’s proactive media pitching continues to garner earned media results, establishing a national and international narrative about Viva Florida 500 in the marketplace.

The PR team’s strategy involves showcasing statewide story ideas on the Viva Florida 500 press room on PitchEngine.  Each story idea is anchored in tourism assets and travel experiences from around the state.  These story ideas revolve around the connection between Ponce de Leon’s exploration in Florida when he visited the state for the first time in 1513 and the ongoing opportunity visitors today have to be explorers on their next vacation.  For example, the proverbial Fountain of Youth still exists five hundred years later as “travelers seek eternal youth with decadent spa getaways, revitalizing coastal breezes and wellness retreats.”

Or for the foodie, “Floribbean cuisine focuses on fresh local ingredients and powerful spices and includes traits from Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, Argentina, Brazil and the Dominican Republic.  Menus blending mangos, papaya, avocados, plantains and hot peppers with abundant seafood are the norm in many Florida restaurants.”

These and a host of other story ideas can be explored by travel media on the digital press room.

The PR team’s media pitching began building momentum this past summer.  Below, recent earned media results include:

• Viva Florida: Sunshine State celebrates its Spanish heritage throughout 2013 – an Associated Press story by Suzette Laboy, featured in The Washington Post

The AP story ran in several other media outlets, including:

• Yahoo! News
• Philly.com
• The Vancouver Sun (Canada)
• The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Additional Viva Florida 500 earned media stories appeared in:

• Travel Channel’s “The Traveling Type” blog
• USA Today
• Daily Mail’s “Travel Mail” (UK)

Next up, a story in The Boston Globe and other media outlets we have been pitching.  I look forward to sharing those features with you soon.

Meanwhile, tourism industry partners are reminded to upload your latest travel news for media to the VISIT FLORIDA media site’s Hot Happenings section. During our conversations with media, we always invite them to visit the Hot Happenings area for up-to-date news from our industry partners.  To learn more, call the Industry Hotline at (877) 435-2872.