Sunshine Matters

I am proud to share that today VISIT FLORIDA announced the launch of a major fall brand campaign focused on targeting young and mature child-free travelers.  The announcement was made during a presentation at our 46th Annual Florida Governor’s Conference on Tourism.  While fall has historically been slightly softer in terms of visitation, individual visitor spending for that period is the highest – with an average of $133 per person per day.  Research indicates that if just 20 percent of the state’s visitors were to stay one more day, Florida’s economy would benefit from a nearly $2 billion spending increase.

In order for us to continue to attract more visitors to the Sunshine State, we need to reach targeted audiences with unique messaging about Florida travel opportunities all year long.  Thanks to the increased budget allocated to VISIT FLORIDA by Governor Scott and the Florida legislature, we are now able to go into market this fall and influence additional travel to Florida during an otherwise slower season.

While still part of VISIT FLORIDA’s year-round Must Be the Sunshine brand campaign, the new messaging added for fall is designed to appeal to both younger and more mature travelers who are free to stay longer and experience less family-centric aspects of the Sunshine State.  Adding a fall campaign on top of VISIT FLORIDA’s traditionally heavy summer and winter efforts, allows the state to have a presence in market with consumers year-round.  And through partnerships with Orbitz, Southwest and AAA – as well as hundreds of tourism businesses throughout the state – the new campaign features offers encouraging visitors to take advantage of limited-time deals.

“Florida is a destination people long for,” said Susannah Costello, VISIT FLORIDA Vice President of Brand. “And with more to do here than they ever realized, a Sunshine State vacation really merits an extra day.”

The media plan for the new fall campaign includes national digital and print elements, as well as a strong broadcast presence in eight key Florida markets, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.  The campaign, which runs through mid-November, is expected to garner more than 400 million impressions.

VISIT FLORIDA is also utilizing its in-state Share a Little Sunshine platform to support the new fall campaign by encouraging Florida residents to share what they love about the Sunshine State through postings using the hash tag #LoveFL.  With the call to action being promoted through broadcast and social channels, Floridians’ posts have already begun appearing on social sites such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Vine, Tumblr and Pinterest.

To see the television ad, as well as other elements of the new fall Must Be the Sunshine campaign, please see our landing page.  To learn more about VISIT FLORIDA’s partnership with Orbitz, click here to view our joint press release.  And check out the “Limited-Time Deals” page on VISITFLORIDA.com that features special fall offers from a host of Florida tourism businesses.