Agenda 10/10/2017 Item #11D10/10/2017
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Recommendation to approve the Fiscal Year 2017-18 Strategic Marketing Plan for the Naples,
Marco Island, Everglades Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) and make a finding that this plan
promotes tourism.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
OBJECTIVE: Review the strategic plan for the destination for FY 18 commencing October 1, 2017.
CONSIDERATIONS: During 2017, the CVB conducted meetings with its marketing partners at
quarterly Advisory Roundtables where numerous elements of our destination marketing efforts were
discussed. Additional input was gained at our day-long strategic retreat on June 30, 2017 attended by over
90 tourism industry partners and monthly face to face meetings with hotel sales and marketing managers
and PR representatives.
The information collected from all these above sources has been analyzed and has now been compiled
into a one year marketing plan to promote the destination and a two year longer range plan to me et our
destination marketing objectives in the future. The resulting 2017-18 Strategic Marketing plan is now
ready for review by the Board.
The plan includes all aspects of the CVB’s initiatives to market Collier County worldwide as a tourism
destination of choice for group meetings, sports events and leisure vacations in 2017-2018. The approved
final plan will then be posted on our website for use by our Collier tourism industry partners.
The plan includes Goals, Objectives, Situation Analysis, Strategies, Implementation details, and detailed
planned expenditures for each marketing discipline in the Tourism Division Budget for FY 18. Those
planned expenditures include Administrative Costs, Marketing and Advertising, Public Relations and
Communications, Group and Leisure Sales, Sports Marketing, Film and Entertainment, International
Representation in UK, Europe, Brazil, Marketing Grants and Museum Grants and Capital Expenditures.
FISCAL IMPACT: The projected destination marketing budget to support this strategic marketing plan
is $5.0 million in paid advertising and promotion plus Contracted Services, Promotions, Sports Marketing
and Group Meetings support totaling an additional $6.8 million. These expenditures are funded by the FY
18 projected tourist development tax revenue, collected monthly by the Collier County Tax Collector.
This budget reflects the enactment of the fifth percent of Tourist Development Tax, effective September
1, 2017. These funds are a part of Funds 184, 193, 194, 196 proposed Tourism Division budget for FY 18.
GROWTH MANAGEMENT IMPACT: There is no impact to the Growth Management Plan related to
this action.
ADVISORY BOARD RECOMMENDATION: The Tourist Development Council recommended
approval of this item 8-0 at the September 25, 2017 meeting.
LEGAL CONSIDERATION: This item is approved as to form and legality and requires majority vote
for approval. - CMG
RECOMMENDATION: To recommend approval of the Fiscal Year 2017-18 Strategic Marketing Plan
for the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) and make a finding that
this Plan promotes tourism.
Prepared by: Jack Wert, Tourism Division Director
ATTACHMENT(S)
1. [Linked] Marketing Plan 2017-18 - Master (PDF)
10/10/2017
COLLIER COUNTY
Board of County Commissioners
Item Number: 11.D
Doc ID: 3809
Item Summary: Recommendation to approve the Fiscal Year 2017-18 Strategic Marketing Plan
for the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) and make a finding that
this plan promotes tourism. (Jack Wert, Division Director, Tourism)
Meeting Date: 10/10/2017
Prepared by:
Title: Tourist Development Tax Coordinator – Tourism
Name: Kelly Green
09/27/2017 2:21 PM
Submitted by:
Title: Division Director - Tourism – Tourism
Name: Jack Wert
09/27/2017 2:21 PM
Approved By:
Review:
Tourism Ed Caum Deputy Director Review Completed 09/27/2017 2:42 PM
Tourism Jack Wert Director Review Completed 09/27/2017 2:53 PM
County Attorney's Office Colleen Greene Level 2 Attorney Review Completed 09/27/2017 3:15 PM
County Attorney's Office Jeffrey A. Klatzkow Level 3 County Attorney's Office Review Completed 09/27/2017 4:23 PM
Office of Management and Budget Valerie Fleming Level 3 OMB Gatekeeper Review Completed 09/28/2017 8:27 AM
County Manager's Office Tim Durham Executive Director- Corp Business Ops Completed 09/28/2017 10:22 AM
Budget and Management Office Ed Finn Additional Reviewer Completed 09/29/2017 1:57 PM
County Manager's Office Nick Casalanguida Level 4 County Manager Review Completed 10/04/2017 9:35 AM
Board of County Commissioners MaryJo Brock Meeting Pending 10/10/2017 9:00 AM
Destination Marketing Plan 2017-2018
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
TWO YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE DESTINATION 2017-2019 3
● Introduction
● Mission, Vision, Values
● Serving the customer
● Long term goals
● Long term objectives
● Challenges to running the business
● Best practices of Tourism Bureaus
● Building the team
DESTINATION MARKETING PLAN 2017 - 2018 96
● Overview
● Mission & Value Statements
● Destination Marketing Goals
● Destination Marketing Objectives
● Customer Segments & Target Markets
● Destination Marketing Strategies & Tactics
● Destination Media Strategy 28 ○ Campaign Specific Plans ○ Media budget overview ○ Destination Brand Strategy ○ Destination Brand Platform/Brand Voice ○ Communications Strategy
● Marketing plans by discipline 39 ○ Groups & Association Markets
■ Sales Plan
■ Planner Trade Show List ○ Leisure Travel Trade Markets 55
■ Sales Plan
■ Planner Trade Show List ○ Special Markets 62
■ Sales Plan ○ PR & Communications 67
■ National and Local PR Plans
■ Crisis Communication Plan 74
■ Community Advocacy Plan ○ Digital/Social Media Plan 83 ○ Sports Market Plan 86 ○ Film & Entertainment Office Plan 91
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
● International Representative Plans 99 ○ UK/Ireland Plan ○ European Plan ○ Brazil/Latin America Plan
● Activity Based Marketing Plans 138 ○ Nature Tourism Plan (Eco, Fishing, Reefs, Etc.) ○ Arts, Culture and Heritage Plan ○ Air Service Marketing Support Plan
● Market Intelligence 147 ○ Destination Situation Analysis ○ Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats ○ Analytics Report for 2016 ○ Analytics Report for 2017 ○ Competitive Analysis
● Measuring Results 171 ○ Implementation Schedules 173 ○ E-Newsletters ○ Social Media Posts
● Budgets 2017 - 2018 180 ○ Media/Production Budget ○ Budgets by Marketing discipline
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TWO YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN 2018-2019
__________________________________________________________________________
OVERVIEW
The long-range plan for the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) is a
two-year look at where we plan our destination to be within that time frame. We will drop the 2018 plan
next year and add 2020 as year # 2 in next year’s plan. A detailed one-year Marketing Plan for 2017-18 is
the balance of this document.
This Two-Year Strategic Plan outlines our long-range destination goals and major initiatives through
2019. The 2017-18 Marketing Plan explains, in greater detail, the strategies and tactics we will use to
increase both leisure and group travel over the coming year. The Marketing Plan is designed to be flexible
so that we can react to changes in the fast-paced, ever-changing worldwide tourism marketplace.
This Plan will be available to our tourism partners for downloading from our tourism website
(www.paradisecoast.com). We will also print a limited number of copies for our Board of County
Commissioners and the Tourist Development Council. We encourage our hotels, attractions, shopping
venues, restaurants and other tourism-related businesses to use our brand elements in their marketing
efforts, and to use segments of our plan for their own marketing plans, helping us extend the reach of the
Florida’s Paradise Coast brand.
We encourage our partners to contact any of our management staff with questions or suggestions.
Jack Wert, Executive Director; 239-252-2402; jackwert@colliergov.net
Ed Caum, Deputy Tourism Director/Sports Marketing; 239-252-5703; edcaum@colliergov.net
Debi DeBenedetto, Sales & Marketing Manager; 239-252-2379; debide@colliergov.net
JoNell Modys, Public Relations/Communications Mgr.; 239-252-2425; jonellmodys@colliergov.net
Michael Obyc, Sr. Sports Marketing Manager; 239-252-6293; michaelobyc@colliergov.net
Maggie McCarty, Paradise Coast Film Commissioner; 239-659-3456; collierfilm@colliergov.net
Main Phone: 239-252-6292
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INTRODUCTION
This strategic two-year plan is the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB)
roadmap to guide our organization and our marketing efforts for the next two years. The integral parts of
this plan include long-range goals, objectives and strategies and a one year marketing plan.
The CVB is staffed and operated by the Collier County Tourism Division and is responsible for the
promotion of the entire County as a destination of choice for visitors worldwide. We advertise, promote
and attend trade shows to showcase our destination to new and repeat visitors. We represent all hotels,
attractions, restaurants and shopping venues in Naples, Marco Island, Everglades City and the western
portion of the Everglades.
We administer the operation of the Board of County Commission (BCC) appointed Tourist Development
Council (TDC), a nine-member board that advises the BCC on the expenditures of the local option tourist
development tax.
Although we do not administer the operation of the BCC appointed Coastal Advisory Committee (CAC),
or the Parks & recreation Advisory Board (PARAB), we do coordinate their recommendations to the
Tourist Development Council. These recommendations include expenditure for beach and inlet projects
and beach park facilities capital projects funded by the Tourist Development Tax (TDT).
We represent Collier County’s tourism interests in the community through partnerships with the area
Chambers of Commerce, Office of Business and Economic Development, Airport Authorities, United
Arts Council, Sports Council of Collier County, Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District (BID), Third
Street South Association, Collier County Lodging & Tourism Alliance (CCLTA), State and National
Parks and Preserves, Collier County Museums and Collier County Parks and Recreation.
We create and distribute paid advertising, printed materials, public relations, digital and social media and
promotional items to the traveling public, news media, and tourism industry professionals including tour
operators, travel agents, meeting planners, group tour operators and group leaders.
We partner with all aspects of the local tourism industry in advertising, trade show attendance and the
news industry. We also work with regional partners to promote specific aspects of a Southwest Florida
vacation, holiday or meeting such as golf, ecotourism, education and airline service.
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Assets and Resources
Collier County is blessed with vast natural resources that offer visitors and residents alike unique
recreation experiences. We do not have a dedicated large box meeting facility. We do have conference
and meeting space in several area hotels to accommodate up to about 2,000 attendees. We are the western
entry to the world-famous Everglades, home to several National Parks and Preserves, the largest artificial
reef project in North America and world class arts and culture offerings.
Long-Term Challenges Facing our Destination 2018- 2019
1. We are in one of the most volatile and dynamic eras in our history. Destination Marketing
Organizations like ours are facing a constantly evolving marketplace.
2. Consumer confidence is still lagging and although vacation and group meeting travel has
improved, it is very vulnerable to economic downturns, currency exchange rates, political issues
and unrest, civil disturbances, weather challenges and disease outbreaks.
3. The US Travel Association forecasts domestic person trips will increase 1.8% in 2018 and 2.5%
in 2019. Total travel expenditures are expected to grow at 3% per year through 2019.
4. The competition for funding, visitors and share of mind is constantly escalating. Most our
competing destinations spend 50% or more of their tourist tax revenue on destination marketing,
while Collier currently spends less than 50%.
5. We must constantly predict where our potential customers will be and how best to reach them
among all the clutter in the media marketplace.
6. Natural disasters such as hurricanes, red tide, oil spills and wildfires can discourage visitors to
return to our destination. This could potentially reduce our funding source needed to competitively
advertise and promote our destination.
7. Recent moves by the State of Florida and the Federal Government to limit or eliminate the funds
for Visit Florida and assistance in the cost of beach and coastal renourishment continues to limit
our ability to obtain co-op marketing opportunities or reimbursements from these agencies – and
will put more pressure on our funding sources.
8. Non-destination marketing funding requests threaten to further reduce our promotional funds to
sustain the visitation our community currently enjoys.
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9. Community sentiment that tourism has a negative impact on the quality of life in Collier County
diverts our staff time and resources to overcome these misconceptions.
10. Homeland Security Administration’s approaches to the Visa Waiver Program and Passport Policy
changes are a potential threat to our international visitor levels. As it becomes more difficult to
travel to the US, these visitors will choose other less restrictive destinations.
11. Workforce issues are a constant challenge to our tourism industry. The lack of skilled labor,
affordable housing, public transportation and a high cost of living is a constant challenge to our
hotels and other private sector tourism businesses to find quality employees.
CVB and Collier County Guiding Principles
The following are the principles under which Collier County operates. Our tourism promotion division is
dedicated to upholding these important principals in everything we do:
Honesty & Integrity
Service
Accountability
Quality
Respect
Knowledge
Stewardship
Collaboration
Teamwork
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MISSION, VISION, VALUES, COMMITMENT
CVB Mission Statement
To promote year-round distinctive, world-class vacation and group meeting experiences, which
result in positive economic growth and stability for Collier County.
Our Customer Mission Statement
To be the trusted source of visitor information, destination amenities and activities to vacationers,
meeting attendees, sports event participants and news media.
CVB Vision Statement
To be recognized as the most desirable year-round tourism destination in the world.
Values
We ascribe to Collier County’s Value/Guiding Principles as a division and as the official
Destination Marketing Organization for Collier County.
Our Commitment
We are dedicated to attracting high value visitors to our area, and encouraging them to spend
their travel dollars in our area businesses. By encouraging year-round visitation, we support
permanent employment that levels out the peaks and valleys in the annual business cycle in Collier
County.
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DESTINATION BRANDING
Brand Statement
Our area will be known as:
“Naples, Marco Island and the Everglades, Florida’s Paradise Coast”
Brand Promise
We promise our visitors that they will “Love what they discover in Paradise”
That promise is embodied in our brand amplifying phrase:
“Love, Paradise”
SERVING THE CUSTOMER
Customer Profile
The typical visitor to our area is between the ages of 35-54, married with children at home and an annual
household income of over $150,000.
Services Provided:
The Naples, Marco Island, Everglades CVB serves as the marketing arm of Collier County for attracting
new and repeat visitors year-round to our area. We use a variety of tools to market the destination including
paid advertising, digital media, public relations, promotional materials, attendance at trade shows, direct
marketing, social media and direct sales.
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Key Customers:
● Potential Visitors:
○ Leisure Travelers ○ Group Meeting Attendees ○ Business and Corporate Travelers
○ Sports Event Participants and Organizers
○ Niche Travelers seeking activities such as fishing, diving, water-based activities, bird
watching, weddings, honeymoons and reunions
● Tourism Industry Stakeholders
○ Collier County, City, Village, State and National elected officials
○ Hotels, attractions, restaurants, shopping venue and other tourism industry partners
● Travel Influencers
○ Journalists/writers/bloggers/influencers
○ Meeting planners and Corporate CEO’s
○ Third-party meeting planners
○ Group hotel sales persons
○ Travel publishers
○ Travel Agents; Tour Operators; Receptive Tour Operators
○ Sports and special event promoters
○ Film location scouts
○ VISIT FLORIDA
○ Brand USA
MANAGING FINANCIAL RESOURCES
Tourism Promotion in Collier County encompasses all the operations and marketing performed by the
CVB. These functions are totally funded by a 5 % county-wide Tourist Development Tax (TDT). This tax
was originally approved by voter referendum in 1992 and is governed by Florida Statute 125.0104 and
the 2017 Collier County Tourist Tax Ordinance. No other public dollars are used to promote the
destination or administer the CVB or the Tourism Division.
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Using qualitative and quantitative research, we have developed both the two-year Strategic Plan and the
one year Marketing Plan to promote Collier County as a visitor destination of choice using the TDT
revenue derived from short-term stays in paid lodging and other accommodations of six months or less.
The annual budget cycle begins in January and ends with the adoption of the entire County budget in late
September. Our fiscal year runs October 1-September 30. The Tourism Division prepares the budget for
review by the County Manager in May. The County Commission reviews the proposed budget in June.
The CVB budget for FY 18 is a part of this Marketing Plan. Each marketing discipline within the CVB
has a section of both the annual marketing plan and the annual tourism budget with specific expenditures
tied to our strategic goals and marketing objectives. Dollars are budgeted to each marketing discipline
strategies and tactics in the Division’s annual budget.
The Tourism Division staff monitors the entire CVB budget and audits each Purchase Order, marketing
expenditure and vendor invoice before submittal to the County Finance Department.
The Clerk of the Circuit Court’s Finance Department audits each item submitted by our Division before
authorizing payment. They also perform an annual audit for compliance with County Ordinances and
conduct unannounced spot audits when warranted.
STRATEGIC LONG-TERM GOALS - 2018 and 2019
● Provide tourism industry leadership to ensure the destination remains competitive
● Be recognized as the trusted source for travel information and planning services for Collier County,
including Naples, Marco Island, Everglades City and the western part of the Everglades
● Maintain and grow the market share of Florida visitors to Florida’s Paradise Coast of Naples,
Marco Island and the Everglades
● Utilize the financial and staff resources of the CVB to their highest and best use
● Continue to build trust and engagement with our local and regional stakeholders and tourism
industry partners
● Create, support and implement year-round destination marketing initiatives to level out the
seasonality in visitation to our area
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● Create and implement destination marketing strategies that encourage our tourism partners to
participate in those strategies and support our destination brand in their own advertising and
marketing efforts.
STRATEGIC LONG-TERM OBJECTIVES 2018-19
● Increase the percentage of group meeting attendee visitors to exceed 40% of total destination
visitation by calendar year-end 2019
● Grow the return on investment of visitor spending from each dollar of advertising invested by $10
each year to reach $120 by the end of 2019
● Grow our visitor satisfaction level to 97% by the end of 2018
● Grow the economic impact to our community from visitor expenditures by 5% per year
● Grow the number of annual visitors by 1% in 2018 and 2% in 2019
● Grow the number of hotel room nights consumed by 1% each year through 2018
CHALLENGES TO RUNNING THE BUSINESS
Internal & External Dynamics 1. Weather and other natural occurring situations discourage visitors from choosing our area. Once
lost to other destinations, it is very difficult and expensive to lure those visitors back.
2. Qualitative and quantitative research continues to confirm that the branding of our destination as
Florida’s Paradise Coast is the correct positioning. Current customer testing will verify that the
amplifying line of “Love, Paradise” resonates well with our customers.
3. Through qualitative research, we continuously track our digital adverting and broadcast analytics
to ensure our executions are delivering the correct message to attract our targeted customers to our
destination.
4. Tourism in Collier County contributes a positive economic impact and provides a tax savings to
each resident of nearly $1,000 in 2016. Continuing to grow this level of savings will be challenging
with economic conditions slowing.
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5. Our full-time contracted International representation in the UK, Europe and Brazil has enhanced
our efforts to reach potential international visitors and travel trade. However, limited funding for
International marketing and continually changing foreign exchange rates will challenge future
visitation.
6. Real time booking of accommodations on our web site has proven very successful in luring more
visitors. This technology is constantly evolving and investment in annual enhancements is
necessary to enable our destination to remain competitive.
Employee Requirements:
1. As revenue and additional visitation rise due to positive results of our destination marketing efforts,
we must be able to add full and part time staff to support our sales, public relations, sports and
administrative personnel to support those new staff members.
2. We must keep our salary salaries and benefits competitive with the tourism industry organizations
we compete against for visitors. We do not compete with other government agencies for tourism
industry talent, so we must compare our salaries and benefits with the private sector.
3. We need to retitle our tourism staff job titles into ones that accurately describe their daily work.
Putting them into general county-wide classifications is a disservice to these highly talented
marketing professionals.
4. Incentive pay for sales staff for meeting or exceeding goals must be considered to remain
competitive to other destination’s compensation plans.
5. Outsourcing of certain sales, PR and other marketing tasks must be continually considered to
achieve our mission
Technology Factors:
1. A new data base management program has been added, but we are challenged with sufficient staff
time to adequately use it to its full potential.
2. We have ongoing challenges with our County IT Department to adequately support our tourism
industry specific communications needs both in our offices and traveling to meet with travel
influencers worldwide.
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Growth/Seasonal Factors
1. The high season for tourism is mid-January - Easter each year. However, the vacation planning
process has widened in the past few years. Currently for spring, summer and fall vacations,
planning begins in November and runs through early spring. This necessitates that we must
promote that slower season during the high season months.
2. We have now filled the excess hotel room capacity that the destination experienced in the early
2000’s. Occupancy ranges on average near 80% annually, yet leaves an excellent opportunity to
grow occupancy in the future.
3. Older hotels will continue to close and be replaced by condominiums that will probably be
resident-only developments and tourist tax revenue could be negatively impacted.
4. On-going coastal development will restrict public access to our beaches and eventually discourage
some visitors to come to this destination in the future.
Legislative/Regulatory Factors 1. 2018 will bring us numerous state legislator changes and a new Governor and will create new
advocacy challenges for us and for our state tourism entity, Visit Florida. This situation intensifies
the need to educate these legislators on the importance of tourism to our state economy. 2. The annual 60-day legislative session will pose new threats to our dedicated funding source as
legislators look to non-traditional funds for general revenue needs. This could seriously reduce the
amounts of money available for tourism promotion. 3. Increased Federal regulations on Visas and Passports will negatively affect our international
visitation. 4. Online bookers of travel (OTA’s) and shared economy suppliers such as AirBnB will continue to
under pay the tourist tax or sales tax on overnight accommodations to tax collectors. 5. Offshore drilling sites too close to Florida’s Gulf Coast continue to be discussed at the State and
Federal level and could seriously impact visitation if a spill occurs. 6. Maintaining and possibly growing the funding for Visit Florida is an ongoing top priority for our
CVB and for all tourist bureaus in Florida. We support the coalition to encourage legislators to
increase that funding to $100 million for 2018.
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BEST PRACTICES OF OTHER TOURISM DESTINATIONS 1. Most Florida coastal destinations use 50% or more of their tourist tax to promote and administer
tourism marketing in their area. Collier County uses 43% of the tax for this purpose. This puts our
destination at a disadvantage to compete with other Florida coastal areas to attract visitors.
2. Most Florida coastal destinations fund only a portion of their beach and coastal renourishment
projects from local tourist development tax funds. They rely heavily on State and Federal matching
funds and local special taxing districts. We have traditionally used our local tourist tax funds to
pay for all or most of this cost. This situation may improve if we are approved for future
reimbursements from Florida DEP and from FEMA and Federal beach renourishment funding.
3. Most Florida coastal areas do not use local tourist tax to fund beach park facilities capital and
major maintenance projects as we do in Collier County. This practice limits our funding available
for beach renourishment projects, and promotion.
4. Most Florida tourist destinations fund the operation of their County-owned museums from General
Revenue, not tourist development taxes, so that their tourist tax revenue can be used for promotion
of their destination.
5. Most Florida counties support private sector museums through capital or marketing grants using
both General Revenue and tourist tax funds. Most museums in Florida, both County-owned and
privately funded, charge admission to their facilities. Currently our County Museums only charge
admission for selected special events, limiting their revenue potential.
BUILDING THE TEAM
Workforce Profile
For the foreseeable future, we will see people within the tourism industry staying in their current positions,
making it difficult to find new staff as our needs increase. Attracting people to live and work in Collier
County will also be a challenge. We also foresee staffing challenges in our hotels, restaurants, retail and
attraction businesses. Quality of service to our guests and in turn the quality of the visitor experience will
be challenged.
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Travel Industry Outlook in America
Per U.S. Travel Association:
• U.S. domestic travel volume, including leisure and business travel, increased 1.3 percent in 2016, to a total of 2.2 billion person-trips. An increase of 1.8 percent is expected in 2017.
• International inbound travelers, including visitors from overseas, as well as Canada and Mexico, declined by 2.4 percent to 75.6 million in 2016. Total international arrivals are forecasted to remain relatively flat in 2017.
• Domestic and international travelers spent $990 billion (excluding international airfare payments) in the U.S. in 2016, up 2.1 percent. An increase of 3.1 percent is forecasted in 2017.
Improvement Opportunities
Given the strengths that Collier County has for tourism offerings, we feel confident that the marketing and
advertising plans for the two years outlined in this plan will adequately achieve the objectives set forth.
We will see continued growth of tourism in this area and will see new hotel development as lending
sources become more interested in this type of development.
The completion of the I-75 widening project makes our area more accessible to northern visitors arriving
by auto. Future runway and terminal expansion of the Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) will
bring new direct air carriers and new visitors to our area.
Competition will be our number one challenge for the future. Many destinations outspend us in marketing.
Destinations that were not a threat in the past are attracting away our past visitors using their TDT
primarily for marketing. We truly compete with beach destinations worldwide.
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DESTINATION MARKETING PLAN 2017-18
__________________________________________________________________________
OVERVIEW:
This one-year marketing plan has been developed by the Tourism Division of Collier County using
extensive input from our tourism partners within the County. We have gathered this data through a series
of quarterly planning meetings, an annual planning day in June and presentations to the tourism industry
in the Fall of 2017. The plan is based on extensive market research from our contracted research team,
secondary research sources in the tourism industry and in house research derived from our customers and
tourism industry partners throughout the year.
Our overall goal is to use our destination marketing initiatives to answer a need in the visitor’s mind to
fulfill their travel dreams - to discover places they have only thought about, but longed to visit and
experience.
● Destination Marketing Organizations like our Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention &
Visitors Bureau (CVB), are in a unique position to deliver that dream by gaining a share of voice
in the media universe.
● Destination marketing drives economic development initiatives. Business relocation specialists are
often influenced by travel to a destination. Examples: Boeing chose Chicago and GE chose
Asheville for relocation of thousands of jobs as a direct result of those respective Tourism Bureau’s
visitor messaging and leisure travel experiences in those areas.
● Due to the massive clutter in the media marketplace, potential visitors will no longer discover our
area on their own. We must identify those potential visitors where they live and work and grab
their attention using captivating messaging to convince them to visit our area rather than choosing
another competing destination.
● Consumers are exposed to thousands of messages daily and are asked to make decisions every 2.1
seconds. To cut through this clutter of messages, we must deliver compelling reasons to those
potential visitors and to react to our brand promise to get more information or to book.
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MISSION AND VALUE STATEMENTS:
● Our Mission is to provide a quality, year-round vacation and group meeting experience that
produces a positive benefit to our business community through jobs, visitor spending and
economic vitality and resident tax savings.
● The Value of our destination is communicated through highly targeted marketing tactics to show
the sustainability of our natural resources and our quality of life.
● We target a select demographic of traveler who is attracted to our beautiful beaches, downtown
areas, natural wonders, world class shopping and dining experiences.
DESTINATION MARKETING GOALS
● Communicate our unique brand to grow our destination’s awareness, customer loyalty and desire
to share their experiences with other potential customers.
● Anticipate where our customers will be in the buying decision spectrum when they decide to
purchase a trip to our area.
● Grow the yield of our marketing efforts through increased tourism taxable sales and other customer
spending in our community.
● Engage our visitors and build relationships to share their experiences
● Deliver increasing return on our marketing investments
● Influence potential visitors to extend their stay by at least one day
● Attract sustainable visits that can maximize visitor economic impact.
DESTINATION MARKETING OBJECTIVES 2017-18
● Grow tourist tax revenue to $26 million
● Increase inquiries to our tourism website by 2%
● Grow requests for our Official Visitor Guide by 3%
● Grow year-round occupancy levels by 1.0%
● Grow our Return on Investment (ROI) of visitor spending to advertising dollars invested from a
current base of $100 an additional $10 each year.
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CUSTOMER SEGMENTS
LEISURE TRAVELERS:
Primary Demographic: Adults 35 to 64, which includes Boomers and Generation X with a household
income of $150,000+. While the target is adults, the campaigns should be skewed toward women.
● Boomer Generation ○ 55-70 age group favoring Women, families and couples ○ Affluent: $150,000+ household income
● Generation X ○ 35-54 age bracket is the first 19 years of our primary target of adults 35-64 ○ Travel as couples and families weighted toward women
Secondary Demographic target markets are Seniors 65+ and Millennials.
● Seniors
○ 65+ age bracket with time to travel
○ Seniors will often bring grandchildren on vacation
○ Household income may not be as high as other targets but they do have not work and love
to travel especially off season when they can get lower rates
● Millennials
○ 18-34 age group
○ Tech savvy, utilizing the technology everyday
○ Use pinpoint targeting for couples making $100,000+ HHI
Activity Targets
We will seek out visitors that are:
● Interested in beach activities
● Seeking unique culinary experiences
● Planning destination weddings and honeymoons
● Looking for golf vacation opportunities
● Seeking nature-based and adventure type activities
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Geographic Target Markets
● Summer Domestic Markets: Miami, Fort-Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Sarasota,
St. Petersburg/Tampa, Orlando
● Winter Domestic Markets
○ Primary: Northeast US: Boston, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Washington DC.
Midwest US: Chicago, Indianapolis, Columbus, Cleveland, Minneapolis
○ Secondary: Charlotte, Dallas/Ft. Worth
● International Domestic Target Markets
○ Canada (Winter Season): Toronto, Ontario, Quebec
○ Central Europe (Year-Round): Primary: Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium
Secondary: France, Scandinavia
○ United Kingdom/Ireland (Year-Round)
○ South America (Year-Round)
■ Primary: Brazil, Secondary: Argentina, Colombia, Chile
GROUP MEETING PLANNERS & ATTENDEES:
Attract group meetings and conferences to our meeting hotels and offsite entertainment venues by:
● Attending meeting planner shows for face to face selling opportunities
● Advertise in meeting publications and their websites
● Sponsor trade show events to build group venue awareness
● Plan sales missions to areas where planner prospects are located
● Continue RFP enhancements to win more groups for our partners
● Supporting site visits and FAM tours for planners to learn about us
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SPORTS EVENT ATTENDEES AND ORGANIZERS
Promote our sports event venues to increase hotel room nights from sports events and related meetings
during the “need times” that our accommodations are interested in additional occupancy.
● Educate local and national entities on the timetable and types of events that will be featured in the
new sports complex
● Communicate frequently with event organizers/rights holders to keep relationship fresh
● Implement post event research tactics and use the results to continually improve performance
● Develop sports specific branding for marketing the new sports complex
● Explore potential sponsors and entities for naming rights at new sports complex and other venues
TRAVEL MEDIA JOURNALISTS
Pitch stories to and develop relationships with travel industry journalists, special market writers and
bloggers worldwide to write stories and help us promote our area through the eyes of a third part y.
● Identify “pop-up” opportunities with local tourism partners for publicity on new properties,
awards, special offers and expansions
● Organize group and individual domestic and International press trips to our area
● Utilize our National PR firm to organize at least one media mission to a major market
● Generate continuous features for monthly Partner e-newsletter
● Coordinate local and regional Advocacy Program to keep tourism stakeholders and residents
informed on visitor stats and news
● Oversee quality of creative messaging in all communications
● Manage Crisis Communications protocol
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COMMUNITY PARTNERS, CITIZENS, ELECTED OFFICIALS
Continue good community relations through a proactive Advocacy Program to educate our local media,
residents, elected officials and tourism partners on the importance of attracting visitors to our community.
● Interface regularly with all tourism industry partner businesses
● Communicate with our area residents to continually tell our tourism story and visitor benefits to
sustain our excellent quality of life
● Meet with and continually educate elected officials at the local, State and Federal level to
communicate the importance of tourism to our community. Stress jobs, tax savings, small business
support and our CVB’s role as the marketing arm for many, many small businesses in our
community.
DESTINATION MARKETING STRATEGIES AND TACTICS
Strategies:
● Advocate for our Brand
○ Empower our visitors to enjoy their vacation experience with us.
○ Instill in our visitors a passion for our destination experiences
○ Support our brand: “Florida’s Paradise Coast of Naples, Marco Island and The
Everglades. ○ “Paradise” is the word our customers use to describe their experience here. That customer
perception must be in every written, spoken and photographic image used to promote our
community to the world.
● Grow Visitor Yield (Spending)
Our brand promise to customers will focus on increasing the yield that our tourism partners
generate from our customers ○ Continue to support growth in visitor spending in area businesses more than just growing
the volume of visitors ○ We will drive the demand for travel to our area through targeted destination marketing and
promotion resulting in higher rates (yield) for our accommodations
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○ We will extend the length of stay for our visitors, resulting in incremental spending growth
in area businesses ○ We will grow repeat visitation to reduce the off-season slowdown in visitation
● Audience Segmentation (Niche Markets)
Target the various visitors attracted to our community by communicating to them that we offer the
activities they are most interested in: ○ Travel Enthusiasts: Love to travel and are looking for new and unique experiences
○ Experiential Travelers: Seeing active tourism experiences, outdoor recreation, light
adventure
○ Nature Explorers: Look for locations that offer outdoor activities, but are interested in
sustainability
○ Golf Enthusiasts: Travel specifically to play many different golf courses
○ Wedding Lovers: Families and friends that travel together for destination weddings and
honeymoons
○ Reunion Gatherers: travel to and plan for reunions or organizations that seek quality,
affordable destinations
○ Wellness Gurus: seek out destinations that promote healthy lifestyles, wellness and fitness
○ Gender Travelers: small groups of girlfriends, guys, LGBT
○ Romance Lovers: seek romantic getaways for relaxation and reconnecting
○ Business Travelers: individuals traveling for business and group meetings, conferences,
incentive groups
● Anticipate Market Changes
Our community is considered a safe destination from numerous negative situations. However,
threats and changes in visitor behavior can occur at any time and without warning.
○ Travel disrupters pop up every day and are the wave of the future. AirBnB, Uber, Lift and
others are captivating the interest of travelers and are becoming a preferred way to
experience new places and activities. We cannot ignore these trends in consumer behavior,
and find ways to embrace them as part of the new visitor experience
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○ Zika virus outbreak in South Florida last year required good working relationships with
Health Department and Mosquito Control authorities
○ Water quality issues such as Red Tide and Blue-Green Algae and toxic materials intrusion
into coastal and inland water require coordination with Environmental Authorities
○ Brexit in the UK market threatens to slow outbound travel to Florida
○ International currency exchange rates are less favorable for the Euro in Europe, the British
Pound in the UK, the Real in Brazil and the Canadian Dollar
○ Political unrest including demonstrations and travel boycotts related to “bathroom laws”
and Confederacy issues require immediate response from law enforcement and elected
officials
We must also be on the lookout for unusual trends in the marketplace such as:
○ The recent Pokémon Go craze took the social media community by storm, and required an
immediate response to assist our County Museums, Naples Zoo and other tourism partners
to implement a local promotion to keep the “buzz” going.
● Integrated Marketing Strategies
We will coordinate all our marketing efforts into one integrated message through paid media,
earned and owned media promotions, special events, contests and other activities to educate the
customer on all the reasons to select our area for their vacation or group activity.
○ The 2018 media plan will lead with Public Relations and digital and social media in
advance of the actual run dates for paid media. These efforts will build awareness in the
media marketplace to improve our efforts to break through the media clutter and get the
attention of our target customers.
○ Using a combination of traditional media and the on-line channels enables us to reach
several different age and income demographics and strengthen the reach of our brand
messaging.
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○ Before we develop creative messages, we utilize many research techniques and sources to
better understand the needs and wants of our customer:
■ Monthly visitor profiles, hotel occupancy and rate studies, competitive destinations
analysis or occupancy, rate and demand as provided by our contracted research
firm, Research Data Services, Inc.
■ Google Analytics for website, digital and social media trends, current user statistics
and user trends.
■ Arrivalist Analytics will be used to indicate the path consumers take from the time
they see our promotional message to the time they arrive in our community.
■ Adara Analytics will be used to measure travel arrangements with air and hotel
bookings to and nearby our destination. This technique captures travelers in their
search for a vacation destination and continually exposes them to our brand
message.
■ Visit Florida quarterly research on out of state arrivals
■ Smith Travel Research monthly statistics on our hotel occupancy and rates in
comparison to our competitive destinations in Florida.
■ US Travel Association Research on national travel trends, consumer demand for
travel and political issues that threaten our visitation
■ Brand USA information on International travel trends and issues.
Tactics
Media Exposure: We will use a combination of paid, owned and earned media to deliver our brand
message to our target audiences.
● Paid Media will be in the form of broadcast and print advertising, digital banners, e-newsletters;
new content in targeted publications and broadcast channels; social media paid posts; search
engine optimization using targeted search terms and out of home media such as real-time
temperature boards in metro markets and mass transportation hubs.
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● Owned Media will be delivered through our tourism website, www.paradisecoast.com ; our
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube channels; e-mail marketing and our printed and online
digital Visitor Guide.
● Earned Media will include the exposure we receive from our Public and Media Relations efforts
through third party endorsements from travel journalists, bloggers and influencers; television
series celebrity hosts such as Samantha Brown on PBS, Emeril on Food Network, and other
broadcast personalities.
Experiential Videos:
● We will utilize video and story content on social media and digital channels to promote our targeted
activities that can attract a variety of travelers such as Experiential Travelers, Nature Explorers,
Wellness Seekers, Romance Travelers, etc. These videos will be used in social media, digital
banners, and themed e-newsletters.
Content Generation: We will create new content for our website and social and digital platforms to give
new and updated reasons for potential or repeat visitors to choose our area.
● Social media posts using recently generated photos and copy points from our marketing agency or
from our visitors.
● Brand message assets such as blog posts, influencer posts, resident of visitor uploaded images and
videos to our website and social medial channels.
● Video production from outside sources such as Visit Florida and Brand USA to promote our area
to visitors worldwide, in support of paid media campaigns. Video is the fastest growing asset to
promote travel, and research indicates that video reaches three times as many people and is viewed
more often than text only blog posts.
● Our marketing agency will produce a series of 10 videos on various experiential activities
including shopping, dining, spas, accommodations, eco adventures and arts and culture. These
videos will be paired with stories and photos to describe experiences that many travelers are not
aware are offered by our area.
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Branded Events: We will promote existing signature events and work with event promoters to create
new events to draw new and repeat visitors to our area. We will use social media, sponsorships and grants
to support the promotion of these events.
Signature Special Events:
● Stone Crab Festival, October
● Swamp Buggy Races, October, December, March
● Everglades Seafood Festival- February
● Naples Art Festival- January
● Naples Restaurant Weeks (Spring and Fall)
Sports Events:
● US Open Pickleball Championship – April
● Watercross National Championship- October
● CME Group Championship- Final stop on LPGA Tour-November
● QBE Shootout-PGA Challenge (Greg Norman Shark Shootout)- December
● Football University (FBU) National Youth Football Championships - December
● Chubb Classic- PGA Champions Tour – February
Group Meetings and Group Travel: Attract meetings that match our available group hotel space and
occur at the times of year when our hotels need this business to fill otherwise empty hotel rooms.
● Attend group meeting planner trade shows
● Advertise in group meetings industry publications and websites
● Photograph and shoot video of our unique meeting spaces and group event amenities
● Organize sales missions to areas where corporate headquarters are located to showcase our area
for meetings, professional development and other meeting events.
● Organize and support familiarization trips and site visits of meeting planners to experience the
destination for themselves.
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Collier Tourism Partner Resources: We represent all tourism industry businesses in Collier County that
are involved in any way with attracting, entertaining or housing visitors in Collier County.
● Free listing in annual Visitor Guide and on our official tourism website
● Free listing of events that are of interest to visitors
● Free photo and video sharing on our website and social media channels
● Access to destination research and other analytics data
● Create special packages for combining events with hotel stays, dining options and other attractions
in the area.
● Exposure to travel writers, bloggers and other media contributors to help promote their businesses
● Use with permission certain brand specific photo assets in their advertising and promotional
efforts.
● Train front line staff in hospitality best practices through on line program with Visit Florida
● Join in on destination sponsored “Instameets” with bloggers on various experiential subjects.
● Quarterly gatherings with tourism staff and marketing partner vendors on the latest destination
marketing efforts and an opportunity to discuss strategic initiatives that are working in their
businesses.
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DESTINATION MEDIA STRATEGY
Leisure Marketing
● Integrate video content within all niche media and events
● Increase promotion of unique destination offerings such as the Everglades and The Paradise
Coast Reef
● Increase promotion of Arts and Culture offerings
● Continue sponsorships of major golf events (LPGA, QBE and the Chubb Classic)
● Continue support of key local “foodie” events such as Stone Crab Festival and Naples Restaurant
Week
● Utilize Choozle Insights to strategically target our target demographic
● Continue discussions with media outlets that have existing luxury partnerships
● Utilize opportunities to promote family activities and vacation experiences
Domestic Marketing
● Increase the use of video ad networks and digital rich media advertising to increase frequency
and drive website inquiry
● Widen the target market scope of digital media and optimize regularly to reach new markets
● Take advantage of Visit Florida co-op opportunities when appropriate
● Continue to use customized e-newsletters as a source of communication for specific targets and
niche markets
International Marketing
● Incorporate Brand USA partnerships in UK, Germany, Canada, Brazil and Latin America
● Luxury partnerships might include advertising, social, PR and promotions domestic and
internationally
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CAMPAIGN SPECIFICS
Fall Campaign (Oct - Dec)
● Target golf market in support of our three professional golf events
○ Consider opportunities to geographically target golf enthusiasts while they are at other
golf events around the state of FL
○ Target Florida drive markets to support the Stone Crab Festival and Naples Restaurant
Weeks events
● Expand digital marketing to integrate additional leisure oriented messages
Winter Campaign (Jan - Mar)
● Target northern markets and test new opportunity markets
● Heavy up schedule during the coldest winter months with the promise of a warm, sunny getaway
to Florida’s Paradise Coast.
● Search out new mobile opportunities such as out of home/billboard digital targeting
● Investigate unique opportunities including airports, malls and theatres
● Create a campaign utilizing all mediums leading to a campaign specific web booking engine
● Include new digital targeting for prospects - air, hotels
Spring/Summer Campaign (Apr - Sep)
● Target Florida markets with multimedia campaign, leveraging new mobile opportunities
● Encourage Floridians (with a focus on families) to take advantage of Family Venues on Florida’s
Paradise Coast
● Promote the close -proximity of our area to other Florida feeder markets and the value they will
discover in our area with off-season rates and dining promotions
● Promote our numerous family-friendly events and festivals
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MEDIA PLAN AND BUDGET 2017-18
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DESTINATION BRAND STRATEGY
Create a strong brand message that continues to widen the appeal to Domestic and International visitors,
while building on our strong luxury positioning that has proven so successful for the destination.
The 2017-18 Plan will:
● Increase brand and destination awareness year-round
● Differentiate our destination from our competition by continuing to build on our upscale, luxury
brand positioning, avoiding imagery or copy that limits our appeal or conveys unaffordable
● Target audiences looking for a vacation/getaway opportunity that lets them escape the day-to-day
grind while experiencing their definition of “Paradise”
● Stress luxury and quality, but reinforce that we deliver our superior experience and good value
● Demonstrate how our destination promises to pamper, entertain, educate, and energize each
visitor in their own way
● Reinforce our destination’s value during slower seasons to attract a wider range of visitors,
especially families
DESTINATION BRAND PLATFORM/BRAND VOICE
Dear Visitor,
There is something special about our destination.
Something that beckons you to explore stunning white beaches, pristine turquoise waters, and glorious
natural settings.
Something that calls you to indulge your passions for fine dining, upscale shops, and all things
luxurious.
Something that speaks to you in an intensely personal way – promising one-of-a-kind experiences and
moments never to be forgotten.
This is our invitation to you and yours. An invitation to enjoy a Florida vacation unlike any other.
And, we can’t wait for you to accept it.
Love, Paradise
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DESTINATION CREATIVE STRATEGY
LEISURE CREATIVE STRATEGIES
Invite consumers to plan a personalized, one-of-a-kind vacation in their version of Paradise using the
following strategies:
● Create a collection of ads that speak to a variety of interests (i.e., beach, dining, shopping, golf,
fishing, diving, eco-adventure, etc.) that can be hyper-targeted to our audiences
● Create a personalized conversation with each potential or repeat customer
● Utilize content of varying lengths to engage consumers to discover our destination on their terms
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● Develop content that can be used across all platforms, including web, social media, and mobile
● Create new photo and video assets that can be utilized in every medium, at every stage of the
customer buying decision journey
● Portray our community as the welcoming, inclusive destination by featuring diversity in our
photo/video assets. This will expand our appeal to the Hispanic, African-American, and LGBT
markets.
● Increase our focus on target markets and customers with the greatest potential to grow: Retirees
who can plan vacations mid-week, and Affluent Millennials with incomes of $100 K+
● Refine our brand tone and imagery to maintain our high-end, luxury image without sending the
message that “I can’t afford to go there”
● Explore/pursue opportunities to promote our brand with Online Travel Agencies (OTA’s) such
as Expedia and Trip Advisor by providing destination specific content
● Continue to develop and introduce cutting edge approaches to delivering a creative message at
the right time, at the right place and on the right platform to grab the attention of new or repeat
visitors to our area.
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EVERGLADES AND ECO-TOURISM
● Everglades National Park is one of the largest internationally recognized attractions in the
country, but the portion of the park located within Collier County is not about sawgrass and
alligators
● We are the saltwater portion of the Everglades, so we need to highlight features/activities unique
to Collier County. Show fishing, camping on beaches in 10,000 Islands, pole boating, hiking,
walking on boardwalks, and other recreational activities
● Highlight Everglades City through new stories, videos and social media posts to build content
● Position an Everglades visit as a bucket-list experience that lets you experience as much or as
little “eco-adventure” as you’re comfortable with (i.e., visit Everglades in the morning, have
lunch at an Old Florida eatery and enjoy a luxurious dinner back in Naples that same evening.)
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DINING
● Use activities videos/content videos to highlight the variety of dining options we have available
● Incorporate longer-form storytelling where appropriate (i.e., “Cook Your Catch”)
● Use social media to spotlight new restaurants, innovative dishes, unique drinks, charismatic
chefs, Sea to Table seafood delicacies
GOLF
● Use activity videos/and content videos to highlight the many golfing options available
● Use social media to spotlight local teaching pros or signature holes on Championship courses
● Leverage photo/video assets from local partners and golf courses to help tell our golf story
ARTS & CULTURE
● Use activity/content videos to highlight museums, galleries, and theaters available in the county
● Highlight art district on Shirley Street
● Use social media to spotlight local artists, current exhibitions and live theatre productions
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FISHING
● Highlight the many fishing opportunities available to both casual and avid fisherman. Focus
primarily that 70% of our fishing trips involve backwater and inland saltwater fishing vs. 30%
involve off-shore fishing trips.
● Use activity/content videos to show the many different varieties of fish available on our new
artificial reef system off Naples and Marco Island beaches
● Use social media to spotlight local captains and charter companies
DIVING
● Expand promotion of the new Paradise Coast Reef through local dive shops
● Use social media to spotlight local divers and/or dive companies
● Create social videos with assets from Pure Florida and other underwater photographers
FAMILY VACATIONS
● Continue to promote to families in Spring, Summer, and Fall with a value message
● Highlight the many family-friendly activities throughout the destination, including The Naples
Zoo, Botanical Gardens, Golisano Children’s Museum of Naples, The Conservancy, Rookery
Bay Environmental Learning Center, Sun-n-Fun Lagoon, Everglades eco-tours and hotel kid’s
programs
● Use activity/content videos to show family-themed fun throughout the county
● Use Consumer e-Scapes newsletters to target families with kid friendly activities
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CREATIVE TARGETING AND VOICE STRATEGY
SPRING/SUMMER
● Target Florida consumers in key drive markets
● Emphasize family vacations/getaways
● Stress “value season” opportunities in our area
● Feature family-focused messaging and imagery in advertising, newsletters, and social media
● Target high income retirees who can take vacations mid-week
● Use re-targeting to reach potential visitors with content that combines their specific interests
with a value message
● Test various messages to determine best performing and change out as needed
FALL/WINTER
● Target consumers in key feeder markets, including: New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia,
Cleveland, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Columbus, Pittsburgh and Washington DC
● Choose opportunity markets that show good potential to grow visitation in the future
● Target special event attendees in key drive markets to promote festivals, golf and sports events
● Target high income retirees who can take vacations mid-week
● Feature luxury, warm weather “paradise” messaging and imagery in advertising, newsletters and
social media messages
● Use re-targeting to reach potential visitors in various stages of their vacation decision process
● Test messaging whenever possible to ensure maximum response
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GROUP SALES PLAN
_________________________________________________________________________
ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR 2017
● New Group Collateral Development – Top 10 Reasons to book Florida’s Paradise Coast of
Naples Marco Island Everglades
● Attended 13 group meeting trade shows to date plus two educational shows with three more to
go for this year.
● Completed two Sales missions and two Meeting Planner Fams
● Offered several opportunities through CVB contacts and relationships to host planner shows in
the destination including Meetings Today, Destination Florida, Florida Attractions Association,
Florida Encounter, Smart Meetings. We successfully booked Florida Attractions Association and
Meetings Today is pending. The rest were not bid on by area hotels due to date and rate
conflicts.
● Meeting Planner Monthly e-newsletters completed and distributed each month to our in-house
database and purchased list of targeted planners.
● 50 RFP Enhancement Program requests were granted and 42 groups booked through this
program and utilizing the allocated funding.
● Sponsored eight meeting planner special events in conjunction with shows at lunches, dinners,
and receptions for Prestige; Florida Encounter; IPEC; Host Global; Destination Florida;
Incentive; Florida Society of Association Executives; and XSite.
● Hosted 17 meeting planners in destination sites with 40% of those sites booked as definite.
● Attended HelmsBriscoe 2017 annual conference and met with over one hundred HB associates.
Continued to follow up throughout the year with those planners and hosted a regional HB
Wellness Fam.
● Recruited and hired additional sales assistant for the office and posted out and advertised our
RFP on LinkedIn for a Midwest representative.
● Purchased new trade show booth backdrops, table linens and promotional items.
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● Initiated a lead generation program that generated 37 qualified leads and two RFP’s resulted
from planners promising future meeting RFP’s and would consider our destination.
a. All leads/planners received a CVB services post card
b. All leads/planners got two emails from the CVB
c. All leads/planners were put into IDSS database for tracking
d. All leads/planners were put on distribution list to receive monthly e-newsletter
e. All leads/planners were assigned a follow up date
● Created custom PowerPoint presentations for each of the trade shows attended.
Group Sales Comparison 2013-2017 To Date
Year 2013 2014 2015 2016 *2017
RFP’s Sent 231 222 281 473 313
RFP’s
Booked
73
64
86
97 69
Room
Nights
Booked
22,88
16,317
29,124
46,183
25,603
Economic
Impact
Actual
$14,611,174.97
$12,413,677.37
$23,394,437.62
$30,011,381.50
$13,933,303.72
*YTD from Oct. 1, 2016 – July, 24, 2017
RFP's vary in # of attendees and room nights so production and economic impact will vary year to year
regardless of the number of RFP's sent or booked. The CVB typically seeks RFP's of size 25-250 room
nights, which is our destination’s sweet spot size. RFP's were up in 2016 mainly due to advertising in
CVent which is the number one planner source for RFP distribution in the industry. We did not renew
CVent in 2017 plan because bookings were flat from the previous year and inventory was limited the
last 18 months due to mainly Marco Island hotel rooms off line and meeting space off line.
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Group Meetings Sales Delivery - 2017
PERIOD AT A GLANCE YTD for Oct. 1, 2016 - current date July 25,
2017
Number of Meeting Planner Contacts 800 plus - all are now loaded into IDSS
containing over 5000 meetings planners
Number of RFP’s Collected/Distributed 313 RFP’s sent to date
Number of RFP’s to Contract 69 to date contracted
Total Room Nights/Econ. Impact for Period 25,603 room nights; Economic Impact of $14
million
Number of RFP Enhancement (RFPE) Requests 2017 -50 granted to date with 42 booked definite
(2016: 12 booked 13 lost 2016 =25 requests
granted)
Number of RFPE’s to Contract 2017 = 42 booked with 6 lost and 2 pending
Number of FAM’s/Sites 2 fams hosting 23 planners & clients
17 sites of 8 booked 6 lost and 3 pending
CURRENT SITUATION
The group meetings market is flat in comparison to the same period in 2016. Rates have increased, F&B
increased and most all planners are seeking more economical destinations as their budgets have not
increased with the market demand.
Decreased group hotel room inventory, increased costs of F&B and other hotel expenses have driven the
cost of group meetings up industry wide. In our area, we are challenged with less group meeting hotel
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rooms and meeting space compared to 24 months ago. A major factor has been the J W Marco Island
Marriott Beach Resort which has been short 100,000 square feet of meeting space since June 2015 and
has also had several hundred sleeping rooms under major renovation. This inventory shortage has
resulted in the Marriott losing two-entire peak and value seasons of group market and has limited size of
groups they can bid on.
The Marco Island Hilton has also been closed for extensive periods for renovations during June – October
2016, and again June -December 2017 due to fire and water damage in rooms with an anticipated re-
opening in January of 2018. This has left Marco Island off the group market for many months at a time.
The Hilton Naples had limited inventory for several months in 2016 for renovations. The Naples Beach
Hotel & Golf Club completely closed their Golf Course for an entire season. The LaPlaya Beach Resort
is currently (summer/fall 2017) doing room renovations and is declining group business for this summer
of 2017. This has left minimal inventory and aggressive rates from the other local competing hotels in
Naples. We have lost group business to those aggressive high rates.
The Smith Travel report does not routinely reflect these off- market rooms so our comparatives look
negative in comparison to our competitive set of destinations. In reality, we did not have the inventory
to run occupancies and number of visitors as in the past. Lack of room inventory and lack of available
meeting space hurt the group market for 2015/2016 and again 2017.
Competing cities such as Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm, Orlando, Tampa, St. Pete have all seen new
hotels and an increase in room and meeting space inventory. These new hotels and resorts are attractive
and will pull business away from our market and keep the rates very competitive. Zika, and heavy
summer rains have been a concern, as well.
Despite all these inventory challenges, our destination sales team managed to produce a record number
of RFP’s and a flat booking conversion for our community in 2017 compared to 2016.
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Tips & Trends
Incentive Travel is number 1 – Per Facebook and Adobe, one of the best ways to inspire sales people
to perform is by offering a chance to travel. Incentive travel is a $14 billion industry. The Incentive
Federation Inc. says that 38% of all American companies with revenues of more than $1 million offer
some sort of incentive travel. This has increased by 10% since 2014.
The Millennials are now the largest generation and overwhelmingly want to travel as much as possible
(75%). A company that offers millennials a chance to travel for achieving their annual sales goals,
acquiring the most referrals, or increasing product awareness is a company where workers will stay and
perform well.
Our destination sales team will seek out, market to and address Millennials and Incentive travelers and
the meeting planners who represent these groups.
Target Market Segments
Strategy:
Insurance, Financial, Association, Luxury, Medical, Incentive, Corporate and Board meetings.
● We will attend trade shows that cater to these markets
Tactic:
We will do special mailouts to Trade Association lists to reach these planners
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MEASURABLE OBJECTIVES
METRIC GOAL FOR 2018
Number of Meeting Planner Contacts
1200 = 100 per month
Number of RFP’s Collected/Distributed
450 = 38% increase
Number of RFP’s to Contract
125 = 25% increase
Total Room Nights/Econ. Impact for Period
50,000 Room nights
$35 million Economic
impact
Number of RFP Enhancement (RFPE) Requests
60 RFPE grants with 51
booked – This is max per $$
cap
Advertising, Media & Promotions
Lead Generation
Strategy: Purchase CVent advertising to maximize RFP’s from group planners. CVent monopolizes the
market and 85% of planners use this source for RFP distribution.
Invest
Tactics:
● $19,000 in CVent subscription to increase incoming RFP’s by 25% -35%. Sales support staff
will manage the account and we will enhance our listing, add photos, special pages and
attachments with destination information.
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● We will utilize newsletter opportunities with CVent, banners, need dates and get top of page
placement on competitors CVent pages. Respond to and work with every planner RFP. Utilize
IDSS database and DI Calculator. This will increase our RFP distribution and hotel RFP’s from
this source.
● This tactic will save $7,000 in attending the CVent “Elite Meetings” conference.
Strategy:
● Purchase ads in group publications we currently advertise in to provide the exposure against our
comp set of meeting destinations and deliver our message to planners. Continue plan with that
similar budget allocation.
● Analyze ad performance to date and remove any that are not performing. The ad agency needs
to do this measurement as I do not have these numbers on number of ads or performance of ads.
Tactics:
● North Star publications: several publications include Successful Meetings and Incentive, M&C
would be used and include a mix of print (where appropriate) and digital, webinars, health &
wellness features, Florida features and luxury features.
● Corporate & Incentive: same strategy with print/digital using health & wellness features Florida
features and luxury.
● Insurance & Financial publication: Use when Florida is featured, warm weather destinations or
with Trend issues.
● Meeting Today: Same strategy as North Star only one publication
● Connect: Only advertise in three issues to connect with shows we are doing. Include Florida
feature issue, 40 under 40 issue and medical issue.
● Smart Meetings - check performance measure through agency and consider a show and digital
plan when publication subject warrants it.
● Retargeting co-op opportunities could be purchased through Madden Media
● Sponsored webinars
● Print in publications with relevant content such as Wellness or Florida on the cover.
● New Meetings Video and ads ($6,000) will be created, new meetings photos shot for advertising
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Sponsorships
Strategies:
● Use the allocated $60,000 budget for in market sponsorships to bring planner events to the
destination. Our goal to have two to three events in market that these $$ support bringing the
planners to our destination.
Tactics:
● Target groups such as Meetings Today, Florida Attractions Association, Premier Event,
Destination Florida, Florida Encounter, Connect Florida and other types of planner events to the
destination. The CVB builds relationships and seeks out these hosting opportunities.
● We have already committed $40,000 for 2018 in sponsorships, and if we win those we will need
to reallocate funding from the RFP Enhancements or trade show funds to sponsor other
opportunities.
● We plan to host these shows and as many planners as possible in our destination and maximize
destination exposure to planners we could not have otherwise gotten to the destination.
● In the past, we have sponsored lunches with this funding at other destination show locations to
include IPEC, SMU, Encounter, Connect. We will hold on doing these for a couple of years.
Third Party Affiliations
Strategies:
● Use third Party group meeting planner services to drive new leads to our group hotel partners.
This measurement is in the chart for total 2018 measurable objective goals.
Tactics:
● Join HelmsBriscoe and Conference Direct on a rotation basis every other year.
● We will do other Third Party trade shows also every other year like HPN, American Express,
Groups 360 and so on.
Sales Missions
Strategies:
● Plan sales missions to target cities in the Midwest and other centers where our targeted planners
are located
● Allocate $15,000 budget for three to five sales missions in the plan in target cities
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Tactics:
● Targeted Cities include ○ Indianapolis
○ Pittsburg
○ Iowa Quad Cities (Insurance & Financial)
○ Ohio -Cincinnati, Columbus
○ Asheville – Like city has festival we can market on Sliders (local transportation)
● Host lunches and dinners in each city, possible a unique offsite location – consider dates and
times that coincide with SITE or MPI or other show events where we are already in that City
● Tie into Luxury Meeting Summits in some of these
● November 6, 2017 - Pittsburg
● We could also tie into MPI or SITE events in those cities as an alternate. This would allow us to
accomplish to goals in one destination
● Lunch or Dinner with trade show – continuity, interactive
● Spa events
● FAM Trips targeting top five cities in the fall – mid May or October and invite them here
● Committees will be formed to assist in planning the sales missions.
Familiarization Trips
Strategies:
● In the Florida Market, we have a huge database of all types of Florida planners from Association,
Insurance, Medical, Third party, etc. Our goal for the Florida market is to get 50 planners in 2018
to drive to the destination and participate in a lunch & learn destination presentation one day
event. Do one or two events to get the desired goal.
Tactics:
● Invite and accept up to 50 planners to attend a January Lunch & Learn
● Showcase J W Marriott and Hilton Marco Island since they are newest renovations and will do a
Naples Presentation with hoteliers present and host and pay for a luncheon.
● The Florida planners invited will be local and drive market planners that can do this trip in one
day. They will pay their own transportation.
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● If Marco properties are not ready, we will showcase LaPlaya new renovation and do a hard hat
Marco tour.
● Pre- Florida Encounter Fam Dec. 11 & 12.
● September 2018 Fam to tie into one of the fall Florida shows like Destination Florida (formerly
SMU) or Connect Florida pending those dates.
● Connect Florida, Florida Encounter and Destination Florida are the 3 shows that address the
Florida market very well for us including FSAE so we will use those shoes and a Florida Lunch
& Learn to cover the Florida and Association markets.
● Include Sales missions as in market Fams and invite them here.
Trade Shows
Strategies:
● Meet at least quarterly with our group hotel sales teams to get input on the shows that make the
most sense for the CVB sales staff to attend.
Tactics:
● The Collier hotel partners have indicated the CVB should not be attending IMEX, Conference
Direct, HelmsBriscoe National meetings, nor MPI events every year.
● CVB will let the hotels handle those third-party accounts.
● Identify new planners at new trade shows and attend those trade shows every other year to keep
a variety going.
● We will reserve some funding for opportunity shows that we may have not been aware of at the
time of this plan. Also, some of these Luxury Summit shows will only be done if we combine
them with sales missions to that same city.
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Planned Show/Events October 2017 - October 2018
Show Name Date Location Cost
2017
Small Market Meetings Sept. 26-28 So. Bend, IN $4,000.00
Luxury Summit Oct. 17 Minneapolis, MN $700.00
Luxury Summit Oct. 18 Milwaukee, WI $700.00
Luxury Summit Oct. 19 Chicago, IL $700.00
Insurance, Financial, Association, Medical,
Incentive, Corporate and Board Meetings
Oct. 20 Greater Chicago, IL $700.00
SITE SE Certified Incentive Specialist program
certification
Oct. 19 & 20 or
26 & 27
Caribbean $750.00
Connect Medial Oct. 1 Cincinnati $4,500.00
FSAE Connect Media Nov. 1-2 Palm Coast $5,000.00
Luxury Summit Nov. 6 Pittsburgh, PA $700.00
Elite Meetings Alliance 3 options JW Marriott Marco Is. $7,000.00
Florida Encounter Dec, 13-15 Palm Beach, FL $2,050.00
2018
IPEC 2018 Jan. 28-31 Oxon Hill, MD $6,000.00
Rendezvous South Feb. 26-28 Daytona Beach $3,500.00
Incentive Live 2018 March 26-29 Las Vegas, NV $4,500.00
Florida Attractions Association May Naples Grande Sponsorship
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Smart Meetings National May $4,000.00
IBTM America June TBD
CVent Partner Fair July TBD
Partner Connect Midwest June Chicago, IL $5,000.00
Connect Corporate August $5,000.00
Connect Specialty August August $5,000.00
Host Fam using database and lead gen leads September In Market
SMU Destination Florida September Miami 2017 $6,000.00
Connect Medical October 2018 $3,750.00
Total $69,555.00
These plus 3 other sales missions Pittsburgh,
Cleveland, Indianapolis
Midwest Representation
Strategies:
● Hire through RFP process a contracted representative living in the Midwest to work the
Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago and nearby markets to attract the incentive and corporate
market meetings to our area.
Tactics:
● Rep will attend MPI, SITE and other local northern memberships and Luxury Summit shows in
that region, make sales calls and schedule sales missions. Target date is October 1, 2017 to
have the rep in place.
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Newsletter Program
Strategies:
● Continue highly successful e-newsletter program
● Hotels and venues will be featured in the newsletter with links.
Tactics:
● Feature what’s new and assign appropriate markets to appropriate months for features. Group
hotels and attractions receive free features if you send CVB your “what’s new” information,
create great packages and share with CVB.
● Themed newsletters reaching target markets segments include Insurance, Financial, Association,
Medical, Incentive, Corporate and Board meetings.
● Newsletters will include a special tip from Debi DeBenedetto, speaking to them personally about
new trends, restaurants, wellness programs, hot deals, venues, and tips on booking and marketing
paradise coast and special event locations.
Wellness Marketing
Strategies:
● Wellness Tourism is a fast -growing segment that our area can capitalize on.
● Naples will soon be designated as a Blue Zone community and that opens many opportunities to
promote our community with many activities that are healthy alternatives. CVB would support
two productions with sponsorship funds if hotels will produce a wellness event in market. CVB
goal would also include two hotel wellness packages to market each quarter and include wellness
tips/information on two newsletters with possible to dedicate one newsletter annually to just
wellness.
Tactics:
● Create Wellness packages – we could be a wellness capitol destination with our “Blue Zone”
designations and uniqueness. Let’s capitalize on our spas, outdoor retreat options, health menus
and wellness creativity. Goal to form a committee to help resorts/hotels and community work
together to create these initiatives and programs.
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● Share and create packages that can be posted on our website and incorporate this incentive into
your HR, employee wellness and meeting packages. Effort to become certified “Wellness Zone”
designated hotels/resorts.
● We will incorporate this into sponsored events, FAMs, advertising, webinars and other possible
opportunities as they present themselves. Our group agrees this is a market segment we should
pursue by leveraging what we offer as a destination - Blue zone, sustainability, elements of
exercise, activities, food. Create mindfulness in meetings.
● Utilize the wellness page on CVB website - CVB needs to know what hotels provide - Hotels
create package - highlight what they provide - Hotels can get blue zone certified
● Meetings/organizations - lifestyles, Team Building Fitness activities
● NCH- Lifestyle medicine, Medical individuals, speakers- good filler business. PR driven.
Facilities we have. Explain what is Blue Zone and coordinators will come and speak to educate
group attendees and planners.
● Capitalize of the Naples award as the “Happiest, Healthiest City”
Group Meetings Research
Strategies:
● Incorporate more group meeting attendees in the monthly research. Listen to focus groups.
● Test various niche markets to see which ones have the most potential for future growth.
Tactics:
● Focus group research at group meeting trade shows like IMEX - Walter Klages group to host two
focus groups for planners. One in market and one at IMEX or other largely attended planner
events. Establish baseline research on planner perceptions and needs and what they think of
current branding, call to action and advertising, newsletter and other efforts CVB is doing to reach
them through media and targeting.
● Probe if we are affordable or luxury?
● Does the message that we are “affordable luxury” resonate well with this market?
● Associations, Millennials and LGBT and SMERF groups. Use high season to market to other
high end groups; insurance, incentive, corporate, Financial, medical, LGBTQ, wedding markets
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RFP Enhancement Program
Strategies:
● Continue to assist our group meeting hotels to attract new group business. Through attending
trade shows, sales missions, lunch & learns and planner events and memberships in and out of
market.
● Offer incentives for RFP enhancements to meeting planners in the off season through the resorts
and increase that number to use the maximum of this RFPE budget. Currently at 52 increase to
60 and increase the close rate to 90%.
Tactics:
● Continue the RFP Enhancement program which as a close rate of 89%.
● Extend the time frame to three years of funding
Sites and Offsite Venues
Strategies:
● Continue planning and managing destination sites with a budgeted allocation to pay flights,
meals, transportation and gifts. Increase sites for two a month with 50% close rate.
Tactics:
● Create the Ultimate Venue Checklist to anticipate questions planners may have when viewing
off-site options.
Group Meetings Website- www.MeetInParadise
Strategies:
● Redesign the meetings website to incorporate more services to planners and make it more user
friendly. Goal to increase popular visits by 2% with ad campaigns, wellness initiatives, newsletter
and organic searches.
● Look at the navigation of website to make it more user friendly – goal to increase Landing page
sessions from 2016 rate of 1450 to 2017 rate of 6,333 up 20% through the tactics listed below.
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Tactics:
● The meetings pages of the website will embrace the 2018 marketing campaign theme “Love,
Paradise”. We will work with the creative team to make sure new ads and photos reflect this
concept and that the concept works with the meetings market.
● The CVB Welcome Postcard used to welcome in market meeting attendees will be revised to
encourage attendees to share and tweet, post photos, Instagram and images of their visits to
Florida’s Paradise Coast and encourage social media use and reciprocation. This will encourage
business/leisure or “bleisure” and return visits.
● Ensure the contact phone numbers and email and bios for destination expert staff is easy to find
and readily available to planners searching the meetings site and the www.ParadiseCoast.com
site.
● Enhance and use more often the new meetings Facebook page least weekly and more whenever
appropriate news is available.
● Use MeetinParadise.com as call to action for all advertising, planner contact and newsletters.
● We will do a better job of tracking e-commerce with SEOs and tracking of website and
advertising to maximize viewing and spending.
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LEISURE SALES & TRAVEL TRADE PLAN
Domestic and Latin American Markets
__________________________________________________________________________
ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR 2017 1. Increased travel agent database by 28.7 % from October 1, 2016 to July 15, 2017. 2. Recommended our Sales Assistant, Michelle Pirre, to start working the LGBTQ market as a
potential for future visitors from this niche market to the destination. This market is showing
great potential and Michelle Pirre will continue to work the market. 3. Met and networked with Orlando and Miami based receptive tour operators three times in FY 17.
One of these events was held during our first IPW CVB hosted dinner. 4. Hosted 11 International FAM´s from Germany, UK, Brazil and Argentina. These consisted of
both tour operator and travel agent FAM´s. 5. We do not yet have official numbers for the increase in Latin American traveler awareness, our
partners have indicated seeing increases visitation from Argentina, Brazil and Colombia. Our
research firm reports that Argentina was up 23.5% and Brazil was up 7.3% in 2016 over 2015 in
visitation to our area. 6. We attended the La FIT trade show in Argentina and Ladevi Workshop in FY 2017 and found
great interest with tour operators requesting training in both Argentina and Chile. 7. We also hosted a training seminar for Copa Airlines in Santiago with overwhelming response to
training and collateral. Copa Airlines has flights coming into Tampa which has opened travel for
this market to the West Coast of Florida. 8. We hosted two Brazil travel agent FAM’s and did a sales mission in Rio.
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CURRENT SITUATION
● Domestic travelers are still the strongest producer to our destination, followed by UK and
Germany. Domestically the Northeast and Midwest continue to be our strongest feeder markets
between January and Easter and Florida in the spring and summer months.
● Internationally, Brazil and Argentina are the strongest producers from Latin America. Germany
is our largest European market followed closely by the UK.
● Unique experiences, adventure travel, family/multi-generational travel continues to be the most
popular activities for all our visitors.
● Latin American vacationers are looking for beach, shopping and dining.
● In Latin America, current economic and political conditions have improved in Brazil and
Argentina and we are seeing much more visitation from them.
● Canada and Mexico are our biggest competitors with the Latin American market with the
political situation and exchange rates are more favorable.
● The restructuring of Visit Florida has a negative impact on the smaller DMO’s that rely on coops
and partnerships.
TARGET MARKETS
The Leisure markets to be targeted in 2017-2018 are as follows:
Geographical:
● Primary Domestic – Northeast Midwest, Florida (Miami/Fort Lauderdale and Orlando)
● Secondary Domestic – Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas.
Demographic:
● Primary Domestic: 35 – 60 years old with a Household Income (HHI) of $150,000+
● Secondary Domestic: Millennials with a HHI of $100,000+
Activities:
● Primary: Beach, family, multi-generational
● Secondary: Photography, Women’s Travel Clubs, Arts
● Niches: shopping, dining, wellness, golf, fishing, boating, nature/eco/adventure.
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Measurable Objectives
Become more involved with Golf Tourism Plan and execute at least 2 Golf FAM’s in FY 18
Domestic Sales Missions/trainings. One to our
primary market and one to our secondary market
(see above for target markets)
Plan and execute at least 2 domestic sales
missions in FY 18
Continue the development of the Brazil market Host a minimum of 2 Brazil leisure FAMs and
one Sales Mission in FU 2018
Latin American trainings Plan and execute 3 travel agent trainings
Itinerary samples Create 3 itineraries for Latin American tour
operators to promote
Increase tour operator and travel agent base 500 contacts
Strategies:
● Become more involved in the golf tourism market
● Join additional Professional organizations for networking opportunities.
● Work with partners to plan sales missions to markets of interest to visit tour operators and travel
agents.
● Identify the “not to be missed” activities in our community to promote to our visitors.
● Grow our international visitation from all sectors of Latin America
● Increase sales training opportunities in the Latin American market
● Develop more collateral materials for the Latin American market
● Develop more family travel and multi-generational travel strategies and tactics as identified by
our partners.
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Tactics:
● Attend the International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO) and work with our
International reps to get more tour operator FAM’s to the area.
● Join the Executive Women’s Golf Association (Cost $155 per year) for leads on groups to the
area and work with Sports Tourism for leads on future amateur golf tournaments.
● Plan Sales Missions in conjunction with travel agent trade shows or consumer shows. Need at
least three partners to participate. Partners will provide which cities (Primary and Secondary
markets as listed above) they would like to target and clients they would like to visit.
● Participate in travel agent trainings with domestic and international tour operators and travel
agents either by visiting their offices or via webinars (e.g. Travel Weekly webinar). Educate
how to sell the destination and what sets us apart from other beach destinations.
● Target our luxury destination, Everglades and Everglades National Park, health and wellness,
golf, fishing, boating, unique shopping and dining, culture, adventure travel
● Internationally we will continue to promote beach, shopping, dining. Take a vacation from your
vacation (Do the parks in Orlando, then come relax on the beach).
● Promote the following in a special “Not to be Missed” list:
○ Naples or Marco Island beaches, two different experiences
○ Naples Pier
○ Sunsets
○ Tin City ○ 5th Avenue and 3rd Street (unique restaurants and shopping)
○ Airboat Tour in the Everglades
○ Golf on our championship golf courses
○ Sunset boat tour
○ Jet ski the 10,000 Islands
○ Eco tours
● Tour Operators in Argentina, Chile and Colombia have requested sales training for their offices
and travel agents. We will target 2/3 top tour operators in each of the countries to visit and train.
We will also develop itineraries that they can use to start promoting the area. These will include
beach, shopping, dining the top three points of interest for the Latin American vacationer.
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● Develop a way to hire marketing representatives/individuals on a project or part time basis to
assist in securing venues and client lists.
● Produce a new Spanish visitor guide for our top Latin American markets.
● Develop a MICE piece to distribute and place on the Spanish website and look at opportunities to
incorporate Sports Marketing (Soccer, Golf, Tennis).
● We now have a Spanish URL – ParadiseCoast.com.es which is only a landing page. We will add
a Spanish leisure video to the landing page now and create an actual website in FY 2018.
● Join the Family Travel Association to help grow family travel to the destination. (Cost is $1,500
per year). This will give us access to market research, networking events and member-only
events.
● We will re-join Visit USA Argentina for $500 and perhaps Visit Uruguay for brochure
distribution at their annual event that takes place the day after La FIT trades show in October
(see implementation schedule).
● DMO targeted trade shows help tremendously in keeping up with trends in destination marketing
and new ideas. See implementation schedule for possible shows to attend as schedule permits.
Professional Development
Work towards achieving Professional in Destination Marketing (PDM) Certificate through Destinations
International. Eventually become a Certified Destination Management Executive (CDME).
Implementation Schedule
Some shows listed in the following section are available for partner participation and some are in
partnership with Visit Florida. We will add or replace shows at partner request and possibly eliminate
others depending on partner participation and prior results. Also, see social media implementation
schedule as part of the PR Plan and AVIAREPS Plan.
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Planned Trade Shows for 2017-18
Show Name Dates Location
Travel Industry Exchange Oct. 12 - 14 New Orleans, LA
Ladevi Workshop Oct. 25, 2018 Santiago, Chile
Copa Vacations Oct. 26 Santiago, Chile
La Fit Oct. 28 - 31 Buenos Aires, ARG
Desinto USA Nov. 1 - 2, 2018 Santiago, Chile
Festuris Nov. 9 -12 Gramado, Brazil
WTM Nov. 17 London
Florida Huddle Jan. 9 - 11, 2018 Fort Lauderdale, FL
New York Times Jan. 26 - 28 New York, NY
Chicago Travel & Adventure
Show
Feb. 10 -11, 2018 Chicago, IL
Connect Travel Feb. 19 - 20, 2018 Orlando, FL
ITB Feb 2018 Germany
ANATO March 18 Bogota, Colombia
Canoecopia March 2018 Madison, WI
WTML April 18 San Paolo, Brazil
IPW May 18 - 23 Denver, CO
GTM May 2018 Las Vegas, NV
NEXT June 2018 Mexico
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GTM July 12 - 14 2018 Fort Lauderdale, FL
La Cita Aug. 2018 Miami, FL
Delta Vacations Sept. 22 - 24, 2018 Minneapolis, MN
RTO Summit Sept. 2018 Orlando, FL
Other Sales Initiatives
Sales Missions
Northeast US or Florida Fall/Winter 2017/2018
Sales Calls/ trainings
Brazil March/April 2018
Argentina October 2017
Santiago November 2017
Domestic Fall 2018
Spring/Summer 2018
Education
PDM Classes July 2018
Connect Marketing Summit Feb 2018
ESTO August 2018
Florida Governor's’ Conference Sept 2018
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SPECIAL MARKETS SALES PLAN
__________________________________________________________________________
ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR SPECIAL MARKETS 2017
● Developed a plan to address the growing LGBTQ market segment and secured membership in
IGLTA (International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association) and enhanced their website with our
destination photos and stories to attract the travelers from the LGBTQ market.
● Our Sales Assistant attended an IGLTA Annual Conference in St. Petersburg. By attending this
conference the CVB acknowledged potential in this market with great interest in Everglades
City, along with Leisure travel, and Destination Weddings.
● Initiated a database of LGBTQ travel agents and Tour operator contacts, along with LGBTQ
wedding planner contacts.
● Reviewed and developed plan to update our CVB website weddings section to attract brides and
their respective honeymoons.
● Featured destination weddings/honeymoons in our Leisure e-newsletters, doing social media
promotions and weddings and honeymoons in Travel Agent & Tour Operator presentations.
● Included wedding information while speaking with consumers at various tradeshows.
CURRENT SITUATION - LGBTQ
The LGBTQ market has grown and flourished in the past few years, and several communities in
Florida have been early adopters to promoting to this market segment.
● 15 Million US adults identify as LGBT (6.8% of US population)
● 3 million Americans live in same sex households.
● 75% of LGBT live in “Double Income No Kid” (DINKS)households
● 40% of LGBTQ consumers prefer companies that advertise to them.
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This market many niches that we can pursue including LGBTQ Weddings, LGBTQ Meetings, LGBTQ
Leisure. Topping the list of 12 hotel brands on Travel & Leisure for LGBT friendly hotel brands, we
have nine Marriott properties, five Hilton properties and three Preferred Hotels & Resorts, three
Wyndham, and now one Hyatt brand property, giving many options for places to stay for LGBTQ.
Currently we do not have enough events and LGBTQ promotions to attract more from this market. We
do have a conservative community and we are demographically diverse. Our destination is not top of
mind when considering an LGBT friendly destination in Florida, a state that has several other
destinations that do enjoy that awareness of being a welcoming place for LGBTQ visitors.
TARGET MARKETS
The top markets FOR LGBTQ visitors are as follows:
Geographical:
● Primary Domestic – Northeast Florida, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Philadelphia, NY,
Baltimore
● Secondary Domestic: Seattle Washington, California, Austin TX, Key West, Ft Lauderdale,
Miami
Age, Income:
● Primary 35-60 years old with a Household Income (HHI) of $150 K+
● Secondary: Millennials with a Household Income of $100 K+
Activities:
● Primary: Health & wellness, weddings, arts & culture, eco-tourism/adventure, golf, beach,
shopping & dining
● Secondary: Honeymoons, LGBT (Pride) events in the destination
STRATEGIES
● Attend tradeshows to meet organizers of travel for these special market segments of LGBTQ,
weddings and honeymoons.
● Educate ourselves in this market by taking webinars, and or attending seminars, and by joining
local groups and associations.
● Create marketing materials and digital/social messaging to address these special markets
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TACTICS
● Develop a database of travel agents, tour operators, and meeting & wedding planner contacts that
sell to these markets.
● Research LGBT associations to book meetings and conferences.
● Integrate content, listings and photos in our Visitor Guide
● Create LGBTQ friendly social media platforms
● Renew our membership with IGLTA and consider new memberships with associations for
digital marketing, to put the destination on the map as LGBT friendly
● Target luxury travelers and adventure seekers in the LGBTQ market through travel agents, tour
operators and consumers that we are affordable in the shoulder seasons of May-December and
June - September
● Target our advertising and digital reach into Florida LGBTQ cities for staycations, our LGBTQ
events, and LGBTQ performers to attract the in-state market
CURRENT SITUATION - DESTINATION WEDDINGS
● Per the Destination Weddings Travel Group, Majority of couples get engaged in December and
they begin working on the big day 4 months after
● 35% initiate planning their destination weddings on a mobile device
● Majority of couples peruse a destination wedding to have a unique wedding experience
● Interest in planning a destination vow renewal HAS RISEN 151%
● At a national level, brides buy over 7.5 million bridal magazines per year
● Brides buy 4-6 issues of the same magazine, so the “pass along” value is an average of 8-10
people per issue
● Over 80% of all brides and grooms use the internet to assist in planning some portion of their
wedding
● The average price of a wedding is $28,000, and the average spend on honeymoons is $4,000
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TARGET MARKETS
Geographical:
● Primary: Philadelphia, NY, Boston, Illinois, Chicago
● Secondary: In state FL Market
Age, Income:
● Primary: 35-60 with a Household Income (HHI) of $150 K
● Secondary: LGBT with HHI of $100 k+ and Millennials
Activities:
● Primary: Beach, luxury, Romance, family friendly.
● Secondary: Arts, culture, eco & adventure, golf, beach, shopping
STRATEGIES
● Research organizations to join that target the weddings market.
● Promote to the wedding and honeymoon markets through web, digital and social channels
TACTICS
● Seek memberships to wedding & honeymoon pubs for digital marketing and print advertising
● Seek out wedding associations to keep up on trends and education
● Attend a wedding expo & incorporate LGBT weddings as well as renewal of vows
● Play up honeymoons and vow renewals
● Upgrade and refresh the wedding page on our website and include vow renewals
● Create a list of wedding friendly vendors as website referral resources
● Crate e-Newsletters and actively post to social media pages
● Research luxury destination wedding planners
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MEASURABLE OBJECTIVES
LGBTQ Meeting Planner Base
Establish new LGBT
Meeting Planner base to
project growth
Destination Weddings, LGBTQ Weddings &
Honeymoons
Establish Wedding Planner
Databases of 25 planners to
increase destination
wedding base
Attend 1 LGBTQ tradeshow to meet Travel
Agents & Tour Ops
Increase data base by 30%
(20) contacts
Attend 1 Wedding Expo
IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE
Since these are new markets for the CVB a set budget and specific tradeshows have not been decided
upon. What we would like to do is attend the following:
Wedding Expo, preferably New York Jan 6 -7, 2018
Research attending a Florida Show TBD
One LGBTQ Tradeshow TBD
CONSUMERS & ADVENTURE TRAVEL SHOWS
BOSTON GLOBE TRAVEL SHOW Feb 9-11,
2018
PHILADELPHIA ENQUIRER TRAVEL ADVENTURE SHOW March 10-
11, ‘18
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PR & COMMUNICATIONS PLAN
__________________________________________________________________________
ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR 2017
● Increased overall publicity 38% over 2016
○ Media Value for destination: $11,853,501
● Press in the Destination
○ Brazil – Two CVB groups with five journalists each
○ USA – CVB group with five journalists
○ USA – Two influencer groups
○ USA – worked with hotel partner to assist on Golf-themed group trip with over 15
journalists
○ 70 individual media visits
● Increased community awareness of positive impacts from tourism through regional publicity
○ Extensive coverage in Naples Daily News, The News-Press, Naples Florida Weekly,
NBC-2, WINK News, Fox 4 and more explains economic impacts, factors influencing
tourism industry, benefits of living in a tourism destination, sports tourism, Zika and
water quality issues management.
● Top Domestic Publicity
○ CBS This Morning, AAA Home & Away, Forbes, Southern Living, Atlanta Journal
Constitution, Albany Times Union, The Daily Meal, Florida Sportsman, Bassmaster,
Boating and more.
○ Leveraged top rankings, reader’s choice and other awards
● Top International Publicity
○ China – National Geographic, Comfort and Men’s Uno magazine coverage resulting from
press trips
○ Coverage from blogs and consumer and trade magazines in Germany, U.K., Brazil, India,
others resulting from press trips, story pitching, media marketplaces
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● Top Broadcast Publicity
○ Independent UK Online, broadcast syndication – Discover the OTHER Side of Florida
with Simon Calder
○ How to Do Florida – Spearfishing on the artificial reef
○ CBS This Morning – U.S. Open Pickleball in Naples
○ LIVE with Kelly – Naples #1 Happiest-Healthiest metro area
● Effectively handled crisis situations
○ Water quality/algae issue countered with website campaign featuring real time photos,
daily beach and water quality updates.
○ Zika virus fears countered through bylined articles in major daily, helpful and truthful
website messaging, outreach to local media.
● Began working with top digital media influencers
○ Scott Eddy, Grace Wainwright, Kendall Kremer, Marissa Meade, Luxury Columnist
(UK)
○ Hosted multiple Instameets recruiting local, regional digital influencers
● Successful New York/Boston desk-side media mission combined with VISIT FLORIDA media
event
○ Met with Luxury Travel Advisor, Food Network Magazine, USA Today, Where
Magazine, many more
● Engaged with top tier media through media marketplaces, conferences, desk-side visits
○ Florida Huddle, Florida Encounter, Florida Outdoor Writers Association, PRSA Travel +
Media Conference, U.S. Travel IPW
● Kept Communications On -Brand
○ PR manager performed extensive writing and editing for website, visitor guide,
newspaper by-lined articles, news releases, all bureau marketing materials
○ Ongoing intensive daily effort to upload new events, deals, news and situation alerts to
website
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CURRENT SITUATION
Changing Channels
Most U.S. consumers receive news through digital media and the number of Americans relying on print
media for news continues to decrease. These trends are forcing traditional media outlets to increase
their investments (resources, staff, time and money) in developing online and social content.
Magazines and newspapers continue to downsize staffs, decrease pages and, in some cases, cease
publication. As the number of on-staff editors decreases, media outlets are relying more on freelancers,
non-traditional journalists (such as novelists and poets), as well as social influencers and bloggers for
content. With the proliferation of round-ups, 140-character news stories and 15-60 second videos, long-
format journalism has taken a backseat. Even print publications are adjusting editorial pages to read
more like web stories and social feeds.
Per Skift’s 2017 Megatrends study, “Snapchat, Instagram, WeChat, Twitter, Facebook, Google, and text
chat are all areas that travel brands need to get used to as traveler behavior shifts in the digital space.”
● Our PR agency of record, Lou Hammond Group (LHG) follows a strict policy when vetting
social media influencers. Content is reviewed to see if it aligns with the brand, is tasteful and
balanced between what is organic vs. sponsored. The team researches the audience to see how
engaged they are, and if they are potential customers. Once an influencer is approved the team
works to outline coverage expectation.
● VISIT FLORIDA engages influencers for Florida Road Trips to multiple destinations. These are
handled like regular hosted press trips by the destination as the state oversees the overall
influencer agreement.
Trends Across the Media Landscape
A top need for journalists continues to be “trends”. Outlets such as USA Today and The Associated
Press require five trends. Other outlets require three. Authentic local experiences that set the destination
apart from others, interesting local characters, eco adventures tied to news hooks related to the
environment are also of major interest.
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Blurred Lines
Paid and earned media continue to merge and integrate. CVB and its agency partners will continue to
focus staff and contracted talent efforts on new story content creation with multimedia components that
can be pitched and placed. Budgeting for contracted freelancers, influencers and paid social media
boosts and ads is essential for success.
Tools of the Trade
Staff team needs to be educated and armed with proper tools to meet the growing demand for
multimedia coverage assets including a variety of cameras for still, video, 360 imaging, etc., as well as
time for education and expansion of skills utilizing a variety of tools.
CVB Staff Workload
Handling all the many duties under the PR & Communications umbrella is challenging at best for a
small in-house team. With three team members, the CVB staff will focus on engagement of influencers
and freelancers to aid with content creation. We will try to bring on another part time worker to assist
with the influx of daily content updates – primarily events and deals – for the website.
TARGET MARKETS
● Domestic: Our communications focus will continue to be on destinations with direct air service
into RSW including major hubs, such as Northeast Tri-State area, Chicago, New England,
Minneapolis. There is also additional focus on growing markets such as Texas and others west of
the Mississippi.
● Segments: We will focus on outlets that reach the luxury traveler, families, foodies, beach
enthusiasts as well as soft and more hardcore adventure seekers. We will continue to seek
experiences that validate the area’s ranking as #1 Happiest-Healthiest Metro Area in the U.S. to
capitalize on the trend toward wellness travel. Trade outlets will also be targeted to reach groups,
meetings and convention planners. The communications team will reach these markets through a
variety of media – at least newspapers, magazines, online new outlets, blogs, broadcast outlets
and social media influencers.
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OBJECTIVES/ STRATEGIES/TACTICS
● Increase destination publicity overall by 10% in the next year
○ Public Relations, Social Media Elements for Launch of Fully-Integrated Love, Paradise
Campaign
■ Work with area hotels to create a “pop-up” Love, Paradise Suite to be filled with
made-in-the-destination must-have amenities. A stay in the suite will be paired
with authentic destination experiences to serve as grand prize for social media-
driven contests.
■ Create social media elements that may include a dedicated hashtag to support
campaign, encourage visiting journalists to use during any social postings
■ Host one consumer event in a major metropolitan area (such as New York,
Chicago or other target market) coordinating with launch of the 2018 integrated
marketing campaign. Experiences such as a pop-up nail salon, collateral and
prize items on display, data capture cards.
■ Host one group travel influencer FAM with ‘Love, Paradise’ theme – focusing on
love of travel, immersive destination experiences.
■ Partner with at least one local artisan product maker(s) such as a perfumer to
create official ‘Love, Paradise’ scent; local chocolatier, others
● Host at least three group domestic press trips and two International press trips and up to 40
individual press trips in the next year
○ Host one group press trip of up to six North American journalists to showcase the
destination’s array of offerings.
○ Host one group of up to six Southeast Florida journalists for a late summer getaway
focused on dining, pampering experiences perfect for the weekend or quick getaway
traveler.
○ Accommodate at least 40 individual press visits ongoing, as availability from partners
allows and per media reach.
○ Work with CVB’s U.K., Germany, Brazil teams and VISIT FLORIDA to accommodate
international press with strong ROI for the destination as time and budget allows.
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● Media Missions
○ CVB representative to work with LHG agency to undertake at least one media mission in
a major media market such as South Florida, New York City, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta
and others as time and travel allow.
○ CVB representative to attend at least two conference, trade or dedicated events that
include a media component such as IMM, PRSA Travel, U.S. Travel IPW, Florida
Huddle and other conferences with focused media components.
○ CVB will seek to participate in VISIT FLORIDA media missions, if offered, to take
advantage of partnership with the state.
● Increase tourism partner engagement each quarter of the coming year through:
○ Monthly Paradise CoastLines E-news to Collier County tourism partners with once
monthly issuance based on staffing and/or work schedules
○ Host two partner seminars presented by LHG Executives – covering specific topics in
Public Relations and Digital operations. Coordinate this effort with digital team. Topics
may include mobile photography for social media, take ownership of your CVB web
listing; social media best practices, others
○ Share destination coverage with constituents as it happens
● Continue developing positive community relations with residents
○ Respond to and proactively communicate regularly with local media
○ Issue at least 4 news releases or 4 submitted pieces (articles or guest opinion
pieces) for local publication that show the benefits of tourism
● Ensure quality, accuracy, brand identity for all bureau communications
○ Plan for time needed to oversee the copy editing of the new Visitor Guide and review
and edit of the partner listings
○ Participate in the review of written and multimedia content. Copy edit and communicate
with the ad agency creative team on copy edits for consumer E-newsletters, advertorials,
update existing website articles, write new stories, etc.
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● Plan for and effectively handle crisis communications
○ Work with Emergency Ops Center ESF 18 team to develop and get in place a WebEOC-
based hotel vacancy grid that can be updated easily and is visible to the entire EOC user
network
○ Refresh Zika messaging, be ready to handle national and international barrage of media
in the event of a local-transmission situation requiring issue of advisories from CDC
○ Work with Miles Partnership to ensure new website has emergency module that is easy to
activate, update and navigate
○ Work with local industry and EOC team to get local hospitality/tourism businesses to
register with the new Florida Virtual Business Emergency Operations Center in advance
of a crisis. Hold at least one partner meeting on this topic.
○ Be ready and flexible for all possible emergency situations.
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CRISIS COMMUNICATION PLAN
Introduction:
This document is a strategic crisis communications plan to help minimize the negative impact on
tourism that may occur from damage to, or the perception of damage to Collier County resulting from a
declared emergency situation.
Marketing Goal:
To make prospective leisure and group visitors aware that Florida’s Paradise Coast is a pristine beach
destination and a relaxing place that awaits their visit.
Situation Analysis:
Negative media coverage regarding hurricanes, potential hurricanes, or other emergency situations such
as a mosquito borne disease outbreak or scare such as the Zika virus, dengue fever, chikungunya; a
severe water quality crisis due to an oil spill, as toxic algae, harmful bacteria, red tide, etc. – whether
they affect Collier County or not -- can have a negative impact on Collier County tourism.
Often the media fails to distinguish between destinations that have had near misses, versus those that
have incurred damage. When a severe water quality crisis impacts Southeast Florida beaches, the media
is apt to use headlines like “Toxic algae closes South Florida beaches” without distinguishing exactly
where the problem is, or is not. Because of this negative media hype, domestic and international
travelers and meeting attendees often feel that all of Florida has been damaged or negatively impacted
by a storm or other emergency – and decide not to travel to our area.
Target Markets:
● Geographic: The top Spring- Fall feeder markets for Collier County leisure and group business
include Miami/Ft Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Orlando, Tampa Bay, Clearwater-St. Pete, New York
and Chicago. International feeder markets would include Canada, UK, Germany, the Netherlands
and Brazil.
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● Demographics: Adults 25-54 years of age, including couples and families.
● Seasons: The hurricane season runs June through November. Mosquito-borne disease threats are
more likely May through December. Water quality issue could occur at any time.
● Campaign Timing: Public Relations and social media efforts would begin immediately upon
notice from the Collier County Emergency Management staff that an emergency situation is
eminent. The media schedule would begin when the CVB and agency team deems it is
appropriate and would continue for at least one week.
Budget:
Each declared emergency will have a special budget of approximately $165,000 per event would be
allocated as follows. The total approved emergency advertising budget covers up to 3 declared
emergency situations:
● Social Media: $10,000
● E-Newsletters: $10,000
● Production: $15,000
● Advertising Media & Website Content Development $100,000
● PR Distribution $30,000
TOTAL PER EVENT $165,000
Timeline
The following timeline is contingent upon a variety of factors including weekends, hurricane evacuation
orders by other counties, as well as many other possible factors.
Public Relations Crisis Communications Plan
The CVB’s public relations team goes into action in the early stages of an emergency event, gathering
and updating destination status information, obtaining and disseminating information about hotel
vacancies and conditions in the area for potential storm evacuees as well as residents and visitors within
our own destination, and notifying local, state, national and international media and tourism contacts of
the destination’s situational status.
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The PR manager or the Digital Marketing Coordinator activates the online Emergency Module and
develops customized messaging and Home Page display views related to the situation or crisis.
In the event of a storm event, the team begins communicating regularly with Phase V, the Paradise
digital team, the LHG national PR team and area hotels to ensure accommodation information and
vacancy status is displayed online.
Once the crisis has passed, immediate action is taken to obtain clear and accurate information of the
conditions in and around Florida’s Paradise Coast.
The latest news is displayed on the website’s emergency module, in the website media center,
communicated to area partners and to the media.
The CVB splits news dissemination between the in-house team and the national team at LHG, and uses
paid news distribution services such as TravMedia or Business Wire to quickly get news to as much of
the tourism and general news media as possible. The CVB also communicates news through VISIT
FLORIDA channels.
Several paid news distribution services may be utilized as part of the crisis communications plan. They
include but are not limited to the following. Each individual situation dictates what service is best and
the dollar amount may vary.
D S Simon Media
D S Simon is a leading provider* of satellite media tours, allowing organizations to effectively
communicate key messages across as many as 30 markets in the U.S. or globally, using their choice of
destination spokesperson for the story for television, radio, Internet, and social media. A media tour also
offers a great platform to create additional digital content such as Instagram videos, Vines, social media
ready content and more. Projected cost: $20,000
*Additional satellite media tour vendors may be found here:
http://www.odwyerpr.com/pr_services_database/satellite_media_tours.htm
TravMedia
TravMedia is the leading platform putting tourism messages out to the global tourism media audience. A
contract of $10,000 could be put into place to provide for multiple distributions to select global
audiences, with the opportunity to modify messaging and language used for each target market.
Projected cost: $10,000
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Implementation Scenarios:
Potential Threats
Zika Virus
This situation could potentially hinder travelers’ desire to come to the destination, particularly family
travelers and honeymooners. Upon learning that a locally-transmitted case has been reported and
confirmed, the CVB would take several steps. 1. Upon learning of locally-transmitted cases (by mosquito) in South Florida, the CVB PR
team creates situational statements available for media and activates the website
Emergency Module as a place for the statement and daily updates as needed. Messaging
to Collier Tourism partners takes place to share the informational website link. 2. CVB staff utilizes this information when asked to inform and educate on the state of the
situation. 3. Upon learning of a locally-transmitted case (by mosquito) in Collier County, CVB PR or
Director contacts Florida Department of Health, Florida Governor’s Office and VISIT
FLORIDA for situational updates, media relations coordination, comparison numbers on
Collier County vs. the rest of Florida or the country, and other information. Ongoing
contact ensues with Collier County Health and Collier County Mosquito Control. 4. CVB PR or Director issues a bulletin to all hotel emergency contacts with messaging
points to be implemented by the property. 5. CVB PR or Director will update Emergency Web Module to include prevention tips and
update on current situation (see #1). 6. CVB PR team posts updates on destination social media handles. Team also monitors
news, including blogs and social, and feeds out correct information as needed. 7. CVB PR takes lead on message development. LHG provides national media coordination
and works with state agencies named above regarding national media appearances.
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Terrorism/Active Shooter
Upon learning of an active shooter situation, the CVB would take several steps. 1. CVB PR or Director connects with local police and government authorities regarding the
situation and crafts language for a reactive statement. 2. CVB PR or Director prepares statement as response for incoming queries by local and
national media. Tourism defers to law enforcement for lead on situational updates to
media. 3. CVB PR team posts update on destination social media handles as appropriate to the
situation and location of the event. Team also monitors news, including blogs and social,
and feeds out correct information as needed.
Environmental Crisis
Should an environmental issue such as algae influx, oil spill, or other health-threatening situations arise,
the CVB would take several steps. 1. CVB PR or Director connects with Collier County Pollution Control, Department of
Environmental Protection, etc. to determine immediate impact of the situation. 2. CVB PR or Director updates website to advise travelers of state of the affected area. 3. CVB PR team issues news alerts to media in Collier County to inform and educate on the
state of the situation. 4. CVB PR or Director provides Phase V operators and area Visitor Information Centers
with status information to use in answering inquiries 5. CVB PR team posts update on destination social media handles. Team also monitors
news, including blogs and social, and feeds out correct information as needed.
Evacuation Orders from Other Counties
This situation could potentially send hurricane evacuees to Collier County. A special meeting of the
BCC would be called for an assessment from Emergency Operations Center (EOC). Upon learning that
Collier County would have at least its inland hotels free from evacuation orders and likely out of an
impending storm’s projected path, the CVB would take several steps.
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1. CVB PR or Director notifies Phase V to begin hotel call around to determine number of
available vacancies and whether hotels accept pets in an emergency. 2. CVB PR or Director issues a bulletin to all hotel emergency contacts with instructions on
assisting Phase V and about self-updates for emergency Web module. 3. CVB PR or Director provides Phase V operators with status information to use in
answering the Hotel Hotline, 1-800-785-8252. 4. Phase V loads data from initial call around in Web emergency module.
Coastal Zone Evacuation orders for Collier County residents and visitors:
● CVB PR or Director notifies Phase V to begin hotel call around to determine number of available
vacancies at all Collier County hotels outside the evacuation zone, and whether hotels accept
pets in an emergency. They also survey coastal hotels to determine if emergency personnel,
staff, media or guests will be in residence.
● CVB PR or Director provides Phase V operators with status information to use in answering the
Hotel Hotline, 1-800-785-8252.
● CVB PR or Director issues a bulletin to all hotel emergency contacts with instructions on
assisting Phase V and self-updates for emergency website module.
● Phase V loads data from initial call around in Web emergency module.
● CVB PR activates emergency module on website
Storm or Emergency Event Day(s):
● Director determines the schedule of tourism staff for the CVB station in the Emergency
Management Operations Center (EOC).
● At end of event, CVB Director notifies team of office status and any special assignments.
● CVB PR team monitors news and begins collecting information for post-event status releases.
● Immediately upon end of event, CVB PR team and all other available staff along with Phase V
surveys area resorts, hotels and attractions to determine what is open, closed, undamaged,
damaged, etc. All report to PR Manager with results.
● CVB PR team utilizes social media as much as possible throughout event day for live updates.
● CVB PR team updates website emergency module with up-to-the-minute information in text
section.
● Phase V updates website emergency module with hotel information as it is received.
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Post-Event Timeline
Day 1 Following Storm or Event:
● CVB PR Manager determines whether professional video shoot is needed for B-Roll.
● CVB PR Manager or other assigned employee canvasses County to gain first-hand assessment
and photos – contact Gary McAlpin to ride along for coastal access.
● CVB PR updates the website.
● CVB Director contacts team to put appropriate response plan into action.
● CVB PR issues post event news release with accurate and up-to-date status including estimate of
when destination will have power and return to normal status. Distribution to specific media lists
through Lou Hammond & Associates; CVB PR manager issues Business Wire release.
● CVB PR team and Director determine whether a Satellite Media Tour is warranted.
● CVB PR team determines if an ARA or NAPS self-written, accurate news story should be
purchased for placement in national publications.
● CVB PR team assigns content uploads to Paradise digital team of photos, video, etc. to social
sites such as YouTube, etc.
● Entire CVB team assists EOC as needed with emergency hotel accommodations requests or
other issues. This should not be the responsibility of PR as they are extremely busy with
gathering destination status information and photos, Web updates, press releases and social
media updates.
● After destination assessment, Paradise initiates customized creative including TV spots
Day 2 and 3 Following Storm or Event:
● CVB PR continues issuing storm updates and projections for safe travel and positive vacation
experience.
● Entire CVB team assists EOC as needed with accommodations for emergency personnel requests
and other tourism related issues.
● Paradise completes media content customization – spots trafficked to media.
Day 4 and Beyond Following Storm or Event:
● Emergency paid media campaign begins. See media strategy that follows.
● CVB PR efforts continue daily.
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Paid Media
Media Strategies: Leisure
● All current running media will be temporarily suspended until the weather has cleared
● E-mails: A timely message regarding the emergency would be emailed to the entire CVB leisure
database. The email would also promote the Paradise Coast brand and allow prospects to
hyperlink directly to the ParadiseCoast.com website. These emails would also be available for
Collier County hoteliers and attractions to forward to their databases.
● Online/Southwest Florida: Various sized ads would run on third party websites that would
provide specific information about the Naples, Marco Island and the Everglades area. Examples
include the websites for NaplesNews.com, NewsPress.com and other area news websites.
● Online/Outside Collier County: Ads would run on third party websites in the five Florida feeder
markets. Any online advertising currently running could be updated to reflect the emergency
messaging. Additional ads could be placed in major markets east of the Mississippi on
Weather.com and CNN.com.
● Television: Depending upon the timing of the campaign, existing television buys might be
converted to reflect the “emergency” TV commercial.
● Social Networks: Paradise Digital team will publish emergency TV spots through the social
media outlets utilizing Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
● International: Travel trade in the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada and others. Utilize
international reps to distribute information to media and travel trade.
Media Strategies: Group
● E-mail: The group email would reflect the same type of emergency situation message as
presented in leisure, but would be custom made for the meeting planner. These emails would go
to the CVB meeting planner database, and would also be available for Collier County hoteliers
and attractions to forward to their databases. The properties and attractions could send the email
verbatim or they could borrow components and develop their own e-mail. An email would also
be developed to promote the emergency e-mail campaign to the hoteliers and attractions.
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Partner Communication Plan
In the case of an adverse weather situation or other emergency event, our industry partners will be asked
to play a vital role. It is important for partners to be familiar with the plan and know their role well in
advance.
We ask that each of our partners designate a staff member to interface with the CVB office and be our
emergency contact. We will need phone numbers, cell numbers, email addresses and any other contact
information that we can use in an emergency.
Once an emergency is declared by the Collier County Commission, the following will happen:
1. The CVB will activate the Emergency Information Module on our website
www.paradisecoast.com. This module will be prominently displayed on our home page and will
cover the latest information on weather conditions, availability of accommodations, shelter
locations and evacuation plans.
2. Phase V will begin calling all our accommodations to get information on available rooms, filled
rooms and rates for the next five days.
3. Partners will be encouraged to access the emergency accommodations section of our website and
enter their own information. If this is done, we ask that Phase V be notified that your information
is current.
4. CVB staff will occupy their designated ESF 18 space at the Emergency Operations Center
(EOC) to keep the industry and the EOC staff up to date on the current tourism industry
situation.
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DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN
__________________________________________________________________________
ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR 2017
• 18,728 Social Media Fans gained, an increase of 118.9%, with a projection of 36,000 for 2017
• 11,232,426 Social Media Impressions, a decrease of 9.4%, with a projection of 20,000,000 for
2017. (platform algorithm adjustments and spending changes impression numbers greatly)
• 106,879 Social Media Engagements, an increase of 7.6%, with a projection of 200,000 for 2017.
(this is what all social media performance is measured by)
• 39,461 Link Clicks to our consumer website, with a projection of 76,000 for 2017.
CURRENT SITUATION
Social media has become a major communications tool in Destination Marketing. So much so that more
destinations are leaving print and focusing mainly on Digital Marketing.
The use of live and recorded video on Social Media channels has exploded. Video is one of the most
successful ways to engage and increase fans on social media. Engagement is key, we need people
talking about us.
Paid and earned media are now merged, and it is now necessary to boost post and advertise through
social media channels such as Facebook and Instagram (pay to play) as a common practice. This is one
of the most effective ways to reach specific targeted audiences with our branding message.
Usage of mobile platforms continues to trend upward and has surpassed the halfway mark on our
website and social media channels.
Our area tourism partners are showing an increasing interest in learning more about how to Market on
Social Media Channels.
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TARGET MARKETS
Geographic
Primary: Mirror the paid media plan target markets by season
Secondary: Secondary markets where we draw sports event participants for their major events.
Age/ Income
Primary: 35-54 with HHI of $150,000 +
Secondary: Millennials, Gen X, Gen Y potential travelers
Activities
Support the activities used by the paid media tactics, and encourage hash tag usage at events and
meetings to expend our reach of brand messaging.
KEY STRATEGIES AND TACTICS FOR 2018
Strategy
Expand Social Media posts frequency and usage
Tactics:
● Create and implement a Live Social Media Broadcast Schedule
● Increase the number and frequency of boosting Facebook posts
● Increase brand engagement on all social media channels
● Use and feature more “user generated content”
● Increase diversity in content images
● Research integrating a trip planner into Paradisecoast.com website
● Continue to grow Pinterest & Instagram to extend reach and drive awareness amongst moms and
family travelers as an aspirational destination
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Strategy:
Engage more of our partners in social media and digital implementations
Tactics:
● Conduct Partner Training Classes on social media marketing techniques
● Conduct Destination Contest designed to “sell the destination” in conjunction with “Love,
Paradise” branding campaign
● Host more influencers in the destination with large followings
● Continue to utilize Twitter to reach industry professionals and travel influencers
● Focus on “In-House” video production to supplement outsourced vendors
MEASURABLE OBJECTIVES
● Launch the redesigned ParadiseCoast.com website to maximize mobile device experience by
November 2017
● Conduct hands on “Listing Workshops” designed to teach partners how to manage their website
listings, and Social Media Accounts. Minimum of two (2) workshops in the next fiscal year
● Increase live video broadcasting to a minimum of two (2) broadcast per month
● Create and launch one (1) social media contest per quarter
● Increase and continue to promote Artificial Reefs (minimum of one (1) post per month
● Continue Organized InstaMeets with a minimum of one (1) per quarter
● Boost more posts that are organically performing (minimum of one (1) per week)
● Increase social media fans by 36,000
● Increase Social Media Impressions to a minimum of 20,000,000 for 2017 (platform algorithm
adjustments and spending changes impression numbers greatly)
● Minimum of 200,000 social media engagements.
● Minimum of 76,000 Link Clicks to our consumer website
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SPORTS MARKETING PLAN
__________________________________________________________________________
ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN 2017
● Attracted five new field sports events to the County in 2017
● Attracted two new water sports event to the County
● Provided research and assistance in communicating the benefits of developing the planned new
sports complex and assisted in getting the new facility and the funding mechanism approved for
development
● Improved the working relationship between Tourism, Parks and Recreation, and the Collier
County Sports Council to better serve events and event organizers
● Developed a new procedure for scheduling and contracting for new and existing events within
the County
● Strengthened relationships with local venues and high schools, which led to scheduling and
hosting events at those local facilities
CURRENT SITUATION
● Tourism Division research has indicated that there is a need for new sports facilities in Collier
County to meet the ever-growing demand. Event organizers are seeking large, modern facilities
to host their events. A new sports complex has been proposed and the County Commission has
approved this development and the necessary funding model to build and promote the new
facility.
● We continue to communicate to stakeholders and event organizers on the development of the
new sports complex and the artificial turfing of existing playing surfaces in existing complexes.
These enhancements will help us meet the growing demand for event space in Collier County.
● We continue to invest the necessary time on new business initiatives to pre-sell the new sports
complex and secure new events for our existing facilities
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MEASURABLE OBJECTIVES
● Pinpoint the design of the new sports complex and market said design to local partners in early
2018 and national sports organizations by second quarter of 2018. (i.e. NASC, Connect Sports,
Florida Sports Foundation, TEAMS, etc.)
● Add two new water sports events to take place at Sugden Park or other County waterways by end
of September 2018
● Implement a new sports funding model and guidelines to assist in driving more visitation and
room nights into Collier County for each event hosted by December 2017
● Institute an industry standard event impact calculator to assist in capturing critical visitation data
from each event. (DMAI Sports Calculator) and report to the TDC monthly on results
● Identify third- party housing entities that can assist with our growing event participant
accommodation needs by March 2018
TARGET MARKETS
Geographic:
● Sports target markets are based on the design of the facilities that house the events. Any national
or international organization with an event capable of being hosted in local facilities and hotels is
a target entity
● Programming out current facilities with linear field and/or baseball/softball field events is the
ideal market. Targeting watersports events also bodes well for the destination
Age, Income
● The age of sports visitation ranges as it is mainly comprised of families, meaning the youth
athlete competes and family members travel along to spectate
● Income is typically in more of an economically moderate category as families are traveling and
looking for affordable travel and accommodations. Events with adult participants can sometimes
warrant a higher economic category leading to a broader price point for local accommodations
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Type of Events
● Primary concentration is on amateur sports events
● Secondary concentration on training events for all ages
● Attract events year round, but also during the need times for hotels and attractions
● Field sports such as soccer, lacrosse, flag football, and pickleball are a good fit for our facilities
● Water and beach related sports are also important to attract on as current facilities are maxed out
Overall Strategies
Overall Strategies
● Educate local and national entities on the timetable and types of events that the new sports
complex will feature
● Communicate at least quarterly with event organizers/rights holders to keep relationship fresh.
● Create a post event research tactics
● Explore developing sports specific branding to showcase Collier County and strategic branding
for marketing the new sports complex
● Explore potential sponsors and entities interested in naming rights to assist in maximizing ROI at
the new sports complex
Tactics:
● Work with Advertising agency of record marketing efforts to create ads and social media posts to
blend with brand message. Combine sports activities with leisure activities to show the total
event/vacation experience available here
● Work out details on all contracts well in advance of the event dates
● Create a survey instrument that can be sent to visitors and to participants digitally to garner
feedback about their experience in Collier County
● Partnering with Advertising agency of record to develop sports specific ads and commercials
showcasing the local destination for Collier County marketing purposes
● Work with Procurement and eventual naming rights vendor to identify potential venues and
corporations in naming rights for the new complex and existing Collier facilities to maximize
revenue potential and ROI on new complex
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P.R. & Social Media Event Support
Strategies
Develop a set calendar to plan-out all communications and social media posts for upcoming events and
during events to maximize the coverage of our events.
Tactics
● Plan for 4-5 tweets per week (20 tweets monthly) with content concerning upcoming events and
Collier County sports news of note
● Efforts will be made to collaborate with event organizers to share in their individual organization
social media efforts
● Contact event organizers to supply media kits and press release information to the CVB prior to
the event. The CVB PR team will circulate the event content to the appropriate channels via
social media and the local media when needed
● Press releases will also be created by CVB Communications to spread awareness about local
sports events
Tradeshow Strategies
● Tradeshows will be the primary direct sales technique to communicate with new and existing
event organizers and rights holders of major events
● International events and training pose a significant growth market for our community, especially
in the need times of the year or spring and summer
Tactics
● Register, plan tactics and attend the following tradeshows: NASC, Connect Sports, TEAMS,
Sports Relationship Conference
● Research additional Conferences and shows and coaches conferences depending on the ROI for
attending
● International and watersports tradeshows would be ideal to attend for increasing Collier County
visitation
● Work with local sports organizers with International contacts to attract spring training for soccer
(football) with European and Latin American teams and clubs
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Sports Media Strategies
● Promote each event local, regionally and nationally to maximize the best awareness of our
destination for sports
Tactics
● Events that can provide their own press release and media information, will be assisted by our in
-house PR team and our national PR firm to promote the event
● Tourism’s Advertising agency of record will develop recommendations on the best way to
market the proper message to local and national media outlets in regards to events and the new
sports complex
● The CVB will task the Advertising agency of record to develop appropriate print and digital
media to be available for local partners, national outlets, and trade shows
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PARADISE COAST FILM OFFICE PLAN
__________________________________________________________________________
ACCOMPLISHMENTS 2017
● T Group Productions/History Channel’s, “Ozzy and Jack’s World Detour” - This program
features rock legend Ozzy Osbourne and his son Jack as they travel the globe, learning about
aspects of their background from history experts and locals. The viewership average: one
million. They explored the Everglades and Western Collier County
● Next/U.K. – Great Britain’s number one online clothing retailer. They service and deliver to 72
countries around the world. They chose our area’s locations for their expansive children’s
clothing catalogue.
● Brunswick/Merge Studios - a commercial shoot for Mercury Marine outboard motors at Sugden
Lake. Mercury is #1 supplier on the water, selling 100 K units in the U.S. annually. The
commercial video is also a part of their social media campaign and remains a part of their
website
● NBC/Investigation Discovery- Deadline: Crime with Tamron Hall – One-hour TV news
magazine with host Tamron Hall featured a story about an unsolved crime in our area. They
worked with local law enforcement to take viewers through the step-by-step process of
unravelling a missing-persons inquiry
● BBC Channel 4/U.K. - “A Place in the Sun”- the episode followed a British couple who is
hoping to buy a property in Florida. The series is so popular its spin-offs include a website the
features news and advice for those wishing to buy international properties, representing over
30,000 listings
● Blair Inc. – a returning client, this catalog company has a print circulation of three million. They
also have an impressive online presence with a target market of 40-65-year-old females. Their
budget averages $450 K locally
● HGTV/Left Right Productions - “Island Life” reality lifestyle series shot on Marco Island as
they documented a young couple find- per the official press release- their” own slice of Paradise”
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● Tommy Bahama/Queen Productions – the tropical lifestyle brand selected Naples as the location
to shoot their holiday catalog and to launch their customized Tommy Bahama Airstream caravan
promotion. As “van life” has become “a thing”, the island-style branding of this popular retailer
selected our beaches to capture that concept. Their local spend was $100 K+
● Attending the Association of Film Commissioners International Cineposium in Atlanta and had
the unique opportunity to see the competition and experience their infrastructure and crew base.
Georgia has become the #3 hub for production in the U.S. with only Los Angeles and New York
topping the list
● Hired a part-time film assistant who has been able to generate photography for the film library.
He has also been able to provide images for other CVB departments and events
CURRENT SITUATION
Until recently, with the support of our state legislature, Florida was a top destination for film and
television production. Florida is no longer ranked in any such listings. With no funded program to draw
film, television and digital media projects and companies to Florida, our industry is now challenged to
be even more creative in our business development tactics.
In 2016, total box office sales for movies topped $11.2 billion in the U.S. An appetite for services from
streaming providers such as Netflix, Amazon and Hulu have helped total digital revenue to increase 23%
last year in Europe alone. Apple and Google have both launched their own production companies
creating movies, exclusive TV series and documentaries for their streaming services. This year at the
Cannes Film Festival Netflix’s feature film, “Okja,” was screened and nominated for the festival’s
highest award, the Palme D’or. (It should also be noted that the last high-impact TV series to shoot in
Florida was Netflix’s award-winning, “Bloodline,” which shuttered production when the FL film
incentive sunsetted.
There are more platforms and delivery systems that need entertainment content than ever before. This is
not just a trend; it is the future of media.
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The Paradise Coast Film Office has always held that personal, beyond-expectation customer service was
why regular clients kept choosing our area for their projects and impressing new clients with the facility
of production. Our area has a plethora of locations and the accessibility to those locations is clearly a
factor in selling the county as a filming and production destination. Finding the right location helps the
bottom line and can often upgrade a production without having to challenge the budget.
Our continually growing Reel-Scout® library of locations and clear-cut permitting process allow us to
help compete without actual cash rebates.
With the global demand for movies and television content never higher than it is currently, that gives us
the motivation to work harder for our market share. Naples/Marco Island/The Everglades/Collier County
has historically been a niche market that emphasizes our diversity of locations and the accessibility to its
resources. We have never been the blockbuster movie destination. We appreciate who our clients are.
Still photography, episodic television, nature-based, reality and documentary programming continue to
dominate our product. We’ve seen an upswing in the importance of the U.K.-based productions that
have chosen to shoot here and the film office will once again participate in the London-based FOCUS
trade show to promote our destination to the international marketplace. As one of the original U.S. film
commissions to join, we came in early and have been able to leverage that seniority to take advantage of
the pre-and post-networking events that take place surrounding FOCUS.
Social media engagement has become incredibly important as we try to interact with our followers and
remain culturally-relevant. 97% of online adults 16-64 visited/used a social network within the last
month. ² with an emphasis on the most widely-used platform, Facebook, the film office continues to
reach and attract new followers. Paid promotions have done well and there is a definite interest from
many viewers whenever a local location (past or present - #TBT or #FBF) is featured.
We’ve tried to create a certain personality to our engagement. We’re always trying to prompt a response
or a re-post from our postings. We want to do something positive for our readers while at the same time
get the film commission’s message delivered.
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Twitter and Instagram have been under-utilized and we are now putting new efforts to populate both
these platforms with content and companion entries to our Facebook page. AdWeek indicates that posts
with hashtags get twice the engagements as those without. An increase in hashtag creation is also
underway to engage with viewers and to join in on digital conversations. We intend to cross-post to
maximize our social media presence.
To leverage social media, we expect to develop our Instagram and Twitter accounts and continue our
consistent style on Facebook. As noted in the CVB Marketing Summit, our partners see the need for a
dedicated social media manager and the film office would certainly welcome that to properly engage
and develop relationship and to process the analytics as this does take a great deal of staff time. We also
plan on interacting more with those who comment and begin strategically using follower-generated
content. For example: “What is your favorite local location?” or a title like “My Secret Beach” to entice
interest. ¹Sources: MPAA, Annual Report, Netflix, Inc. ² Sources: Pew Research Center Survey
MEASURABLE OBJECTIVES
● Reel-Scout® Library expansion (possibly including video) @2 new locations per month
● Develop and update content and features for the Paradise Coast Film Commission website each
month
● Maintain a notable presence in the industry through marketing efforts, participation in at least
four industry trade shows and events with a special emphasis toward independent filmmakers
and advertising
● Partner with the Naples Film Festival and area cinemas in promotions especially those
welcoming industry visitors
● Pursue at least six significant story placements in media and advertising in trade directories
(most without cost)
○ KFTV (Global)
○ PRODUCTION 411 (NYC and LA)
○ ProductionHub.com
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○ AFCI Global Directory/Locations magazine
○ In Focus (Global)
○ Doddleme.com
● Increase social media posts (scheduled and impromptu) to five per month
● Increase Followers and Likes on social media with more personalized engagement by five
percent
● Develop more meaningful hashtags for use on Twitter and Instagram
● Continue two budget-wise print ads in location directories only. In this very visual business,
outstanding photography is essential to stand out in a crowded field
TARGET MARKETS
Geographical:
● New York, Los Angeles,
● U.K.
● Western Europe
● Canada
Age:
● Millennials
● Baby Boomers
Activity:
● Still photography-print and web; Episodic format-TV/mobile devices
● Commercials-both print and video
Strategies:
● Increase communications with all potential producers, film scouts and independent film
producers and ad agencies to attract production to our community
● Participate in the numerous film and production events both domestically and Internationally
● Remain active in all film and entertainment organizations and advocate for the return of
incentives for Florida
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Tactics:
● Continue the successful promotion of the area for production
o Location of the week, TBT photos, photo and film events, scout photos,
o ”Our Locations Really Do Make a Scene” engagement with public and clients
● Provide proactive client support services for all film, TV, print, and new media projects
● Direct professional scouting trips for all projects considering Collier-based locations
● Manage immediate response times for leads/inquiries and permitting
● Integrate social media outlets and client engagement
● Maintain strong relationship with the Florida State Office of Film and Entertainment/Florida
Department of Economic Opportunity
● Focus on strategic partnerships with other Florida film commissions to strengthen political,
economic and marketing abilities
● Maintain Association of Film Commissioners International continuing education under their
Master’s Program
● Participate in the Producers Guild of America’s annual “Produced By” Conference
● Attend AFCI Cineposium for film commissioner accreditation in marketing, technology
education, and professional development
● Continuous involvement in Film Florida and its Marketing Committee, Film Commissioners
Council and Tradeshow/Events Committee
● Social media engagement: Facebook/Twitter/Instagram
● Promos in conjunction with Focus-London
● Listings in all influential on-line industry directories
● Retain efficient processing of film permits for both city and county, including special drone
permits
● Attend Social Media Strategies Summit in 2018
● Continue online permitting process to include links and assistance to outside agencies such as
Florida State Parks and FDOT
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FILM OFFICE
EVENT, CONFERENCE, TRADESHOW, FESTIVAL
MONTH, 2018
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF TELEVISION
PRODUCTION EXECUTIVES CONFERENCE, MIAMI
JANUARY
SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIES SUMMIT
FEBRUARY
RALLY-IN-TALLY, TALLAHASSEE
MARCH
AFCI LOCATIONS AND GLOBAL FINANCE SHOW, LA
APRIL
PRODUCED BY, LA (Producers Guild of America Conf.)
JUNE
TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
SEPTEMBER
NAPLES INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
OCTOBER
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METRICS FY 18 FY 17
Reel-Scout Locations
24
75% increase
14
Industry Trade Shows
4
50% Increase
2
Media Placement
6
60% increase
4
Social Media Posts
35/month
15%+ increase
30/month
Social Media Followers
210
25% increase
200
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INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATIVES
2017-18 PLANS
__________________________________________________________________________
UK & IRELAND PLAN – OMMAC, Ltd.
Accomplishments 2016/2017
Increased PR Coverage:
● Florida’s Paradise Coast featured as part of a Florida Video Series on The Independent
Online, January 2017 - Simon Calder, a household name in UK travel journalism. Simon is the
travel editor of The Independent, and regularly appears live on the BBC and other national news
stations to comment and advise on travel topics. We hosted Simon in Florida’s Paradise Coast.
Florida’s Paradise Coast was then featured as a solus video amongst a series of seven, focused on
Florida. The series is now hosted on the Independent Online that receives 75, 127,812
Awareness raising campaign
● Cooperatively with Visit Florida- raise the awareness of Florida’s Paradise Coast amongst trade,
media and consumers through sales, marketing and PR initiatives. ○ Participated with TravMedia Networking event sponsored by Visit Florida, with over 180
media in attendance giving us the opportunity to promote Florida’s Paradise Coast to many
targeted journalists. ○ Provide information to Visit Florida on a weekly basis for their ‘Florida Friday’ newsletter,
distributed through trade media partner TravelMole- distributed to 70,000 tour operators
and agents in the UK and Ireland. To date our region has been featured several times to
date, generating 280,000 opportunities.
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○ Participated with Visit Florida on travel agent/ tour operator training days, visiting the
offices to provide training and updates to: Virgin Holidays; Ocean Holidays; Thomas Cook
and Travel Counsellors reaching over 1,500 agents.
Golf Promotion:
● Hosted International Golf Event and Fam – We negotiated a Pre-AGTO North America
Convention event in Naples in June 2017. We invited key tour operators attending NAC to travel
out early and experience Florida’s Paradise Coast. We organized and executed an ‘experiential’
golf event over the three days. 25 tour operators applied to attend and we selected 12 leading golf
tour operators from eight different countries, as well as event sponsor and strategic brand partner
Moet Hennessy. The trip was well supported by local industry partners, and the golfers interacted
with our hotel and attraction partners throughout the event. The golf themed tournament/ FAM trip
allowed guests to experience the properties’ onsite golf courses first hand and the total destination
experience. The feedback we receive from the guests was it was the best organized fam trip they
had ever experienced.
Signature Showcase Event, World Travel Market
With the aim to keep Florida’s Paradise Coast top of mind – at the leading UK trade show World Travel
Market (WTM), Florida’s Paradise Coast co-host a signature event at the Visit Florida VIP Dinner. Over
300 senior UK & Ireland travel industry decision makers representing the main companies selling Florida
and the USA attend. This exposure and recognition for our destination keeps our area with top of mind as
a destination of choice for UK travelers.
Additional support for individual and group trade fam trips
We hosted over 25 requests including over 12 specific tour operator/ agent groups enabling us to showcase
the destination to an important segment of the UK travel trade.
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CURRENT SITUATION
UK and Ireland Economy
The overall confidence in the economy is now at pre-2008 levels and despite the uncertainty of the
outcome of the Brexit negotiations the outlook is positive. House prices are continuing to rise and wage
inflation is also at a 10- year high. The UK has also seen the fastest drop ever in unemployment and now
stands at just less than 4.9%. The UK Stock market has also seen a rise in the months following Brexit
and is continuing to trade at a high.
The 25-60 age group UK workforce has increased their consumer spending in the past 12 months and,
with oil prices staying low and increased capacity in airlift, it is this demographic that is the key focus in
the travel industry – especially for the long-haul travel market to Florida.
Politics
The political situation in the UK has changed dramatically. From a coalition government in 2014 with a
divided political landscape, to a Conservative majority-led government, to the present status of a minority
party. During the elections in June 2017, Prime Minister Theresa May lost her party majority and creating
a “hung Parliament”. It took weeks for the Conservative party to construct a deal with the Democratic
Unionist Party (N. I. DUP party) to form a coalition government. The UK public were horrified at this
decision and already having a damaging effect for the Brexit deal to follow later this year and next. The
outlook in the UK is of cautious optimism despite the uncertainty of the global economic situations.
Ireland
The Brexit deal has had both positive and negative impacts. Ireland is already benefiting economically as
many global corporations are relocating their European HQs from London to Dublin. On the negative
side, Post Brexit, the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will become the only
land border between Britain and the European Union, raising the possibility – technically – of passport
checks, customs checks and tariffs. Since the Good Friday agreement ended the Troubles almost 20 years
ago, no one wishes to see the reintroduction of any hard border.
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Trends in UK & Ireland
● The most pervasive effect of Brexit on the tourism economy so far for the consumer is the historic
weakness of the pound as continuing uncertainty prevails. What is known is the pound is at an
historic low against the U.S. dollar and a near all-time low against the Euro – the two currencies
that most affect holiday expenditure.
● The effect so far has been that travelers are accepting a more expensive vacation in 2017, albeit
changing their holiday habits somewhat. Whilst the poor exchange rate is unlikely to result in an
overall reduction in overseas vacations and is not expected to affect the USA disproportionately,
as additional air service is generating lower air fares.
● The luxury market has remained strong throughout the recession and it continues to flourish –
which is a key focus for our marketing efforts and Florida’s Paradise Coast.
● In the Digital Luxury Group’s World Luxury Index, Britain was the second biggest growing
market for luxury travel, up 8.5%, behind only Russia at 12.8%, and ahead of China’s 3.3%
growth.
● Review sites such as Trip Advisor continue to have an increased influence on bookings, with 7 in
10 people using online reviews to help decide their holiday destination.
● Families seeking more control over their budgets will play a role in the continued growth of all-
inclusive holidays; 20% of people are planning an all-inclusive holiday, and 25% among young
families.
Travel Statistics
● Over 60 million overseas trips were taken by UK consumers
● Spain is still the most visited country by UK residents with 14.7 million visits to Spain in 2016, an
increase of 13% from 2015 and a record total.
● Spain, France, Italy, the Republic of Ireland and the USA, in that order, remain the top five most
popular countries for UK residents to visit, accounting for 49% of all visits abroad and
approximately 46% of total spend abroad.
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● Florida received a record 1.7 million UK visitors in 2016 – flat from 2015 and leading US
destination.
External Conditions – A Period of Uncertainty
The UK and the U.S. are entering a period of uncertainty with Brexit, the new U.S. administration, global
terrorism and fluctuating currencies. However, two vital components must be addressed as we consider
the current environment for travel and tourism to the USA:
The strong US dollar and the Political landscape.
The relative weakness of the pound compared to many global currencies, coupled with historically low
air fares maintains an uneasy equilibrium for UK travelers. British consumers will need to accept price
increases on all foreign travel in the short to medium term. And, while there may be a reduction in spend
and length of stay, it will not lead to a significant downturn in visitation to the USA.
Given the nature of media coverage and public sentiment to the current political environment it is easy to
predict a potential ‘Trump Slump’. There are, however, abiding strong cultural, business and familial ties
between the UK/Ireland and the USA. OMMAC understands the power of these relationships and the
importance of promoting a message of the warm welcome extended from Florida’s Paradise Coast to UK
and Ireland visitors.
● The controversy surrounding the rhetoric and travel policies of the new administration have been
widely reported with numerous studies showing a decline in flight searches to the USA that
occurred within days of the first travel ban at the start of this year
● The travel trade research organization, Forward Keys, reported a reduction in flight searches to the
USA of 13.5% in the days following the travel ban announcement
● The timing of the outcry during the key booking period of January and February may well have
resulted in a decrease in USA bookings at a commercially sensitive time, and could lead to a slight
reduction in visitation during the high-volume summer months
● On 26 June 2017, a US Supreme Court ruling partly reintroduced temporary immigration measures
for nationals of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen
○ British and Irish passport holders aren’t affected by these measures
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Airline Update
● In the last five years, airlines have increased direct seats by 27% and are launching new direct
flights from the UK to the USA. With low-cost transatlantic flights disrupting the industry and
driving down prices it opens the USA and Florida to a widening group of travelers – with growth
capacity within the market.
○ Low Cost Airlines - Norwegian has been rapidly expanding its suite of low cost USA
routes from Gatwick and now serves two airports in Florida. Around the world low-cost
airlines are outstripping every other sector in aviation. This has opened the long -haul
market to cost conscious travelers, such as Generation Y.
○ Legacy carriers are going head to head with the low -cost disrupters so as not to lose
market share. This is most pronounced as British Airways goes head to head with
Norwegian on routes out of Gatwick with the national carrier putting leisure configured
metal more used to Caribbean routes in direct competition on routes such as Ft. Lauderdale.
● Additional New Service to Florida – creating further opportunities for our region: British
Airways – Gatwick to Ft Lauderdale – start July 2017; Aer Lingus – Dublin to Miami – start
September 2017; Wow Air (Iceland) – feeds from all UK regional airports – to Miami – started
2016; Norwegian – Gatwick to Orlando & Ft Lauderdale - started 2016; Thomas Cook –
Manchester to Miami – started 2016 (already service to Orlando)
● A further key factor influencing the market can be allied to increased codeshare agreements
between British Airways/American Airlines and Virgin Atlantic/Delta, which are assisting
secondary destinations and aiding dispersal beyond the traditional gateways, making it easier for
both tour operators and independent travelers to expand their programs, as well as their supporting
marketing investment.
● In Ireland, Aer Lingus has continued to extend and build on its inspired program of route
development allied to the U.S. customs preclearance program and new lounge. This unique facility
has significantly influenced consumer destination choice and market share growth from Ireland
and the UK via its fast expanding feeder services from regional airports.
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Travel Trade Outlook
Barometer Report - ABTA’s Travel Trends Report 2017, shows that the UK traveler is becoming more
currency conscious and gives more importance to value-for-money and added extras due to changes on
pound strength. To protect themselves against currency fluctuations, holidaymakers are opting more
frequently for all-inclusive holidays. Due to the wider availability of new aircrafts and the increase of
airlift to long haul destinations, Brits are taking more long-haul city breaks with over half (53%) having
taken one in 2016. There is also an increased trend for healthier holidays and unforgettable experiences>
Almost one in ten people (9%) took an activity holiday in 2016, and is likely looking to increase this year.
Travel Trade Ecosystem
The UK continues to move towards the availability and convenience of booking holidays online directly.
The UK travel trade remains a key booking source – whether through high street agents, online site or call
center. A recent ABTA Consumer Holiday Trends report stated that holidaymakers continue to shop on
the High Street, with 20% of bookings being made by those travel agents. Online travel agencies continue
to grow in popularity. The proportion using online agencies to book an overseas holiday climbed from
23% to 30% last year. Around 35-45% of all overseas holidays are booked through a trade provider.
In researching holidays, UK consumers look at an average of 27 websites before making their travel
decisions. Therefore, travel agents are thriving in this environment where consumers are overloaded with
information (‘digital fatigue’) and customers want to speak to a person / company who has the knowledge
and experience to help them make the decision.
Distribution - In recent years several company takeovers, acquisitions and consolidations are leading a
change in the trade landscape such as the acquisition of Gold Medal and Travel 2 from Emirates-owned
DNATA and the merger of TUI and TUI AG Germany.
● High-end Tailor-made Companies, such as Audley Travel & Elegant Resorts, will provide
inspiration using traditional means of print and online, but due to the complexity of their programs
and high levels of service anticipated by its customers they do not convert sales via an online
booking engine.
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○ The experienced call center is relied upon to close the sale and upsell on air, hotel and
attraction experiences. This highlights the way in which luxury companies are not only
surviving but thriving – offering value-added service, information, knowledge confidence
and security for their customers.
● Mass Market – some operators, such as TUI and Thomas Cook, rely upon UK agents to rack their
brochures and have an online presence to support Business to Business (B2B) sales. However,
long haul bookings via the web are a small proportion of converted sales (approx. 15% of their
overall USA business per the USA Product team at Thomas Cook).
● Virgin Holidays, meanwhile, continues to expand its retail presence and over the last five years
has introduced and opened over 110 dedicated travel stores across the UK. This partly indicates
the strength and trust of their brand while soliciting the opportunity to attract high street business
in traffic hot spots around the country.
Booking Outlook
Consumers in the UK and Ireland have maintained significant trust in the High Street travel agent sector.
An escalation in demand from multiple demographic sectors has led to a revival of the central role played
by travel agents and tour operators in the UK and Ireland holiday market as holidaymakers seek the
confidence and protection of booking with an agent or operator rather than direct or online. Long haul
specialist, Kuoni will develop under new owner Rewe, while Thomas Cook may offload its present
partnership with Co-Operative Travel leading to wider diversification in the independent sector.
Significantly, we expect Dubai-based DNATA Travel to extend investment beyond its Gold Medal and
Travel 2 group operations with further acquisitions.
Conversely, enhanced online booking engine technology combined with integrated, destination led
marketing initiatives largely driven by the OTAs has lead a prominent charge for U.S. share growth from
competing destinations in the highly competitive short break market sector. Powerful campaigns largely
underpinned by airline tactical fares have grown online conversion.
Overcoming Challenges – We must push ‘value’ during low season and continue to promote the
destination and keep Florida’s Paradise Coast top of mind.
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Media and Social Media - Over one third of Britons are influenced by some form of social media in their
holiday decision-making, rising to half of 20-24 year old’s. Instagram and Facebook are particularly
influential thanks to their emotional connection with friends and contemporaries.
The rise of influencers and Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) with their visual storytelling goes hand in hand
with the increase of digital influencers in our media landscape. They continue to use these types of social
platforms to reach celebrity status and become one of the most influential marketers and communicators
to the millennial generation.
Ireland has traditionally had a strong and highly competitive media landscape. Radio is hugely popular in
Ireland. Listenership surveys show a consistent 85% of adults listen to a mix of national, regional and
local radio every day.
Target Markets
Travel Market Potential:
● There were 70.8 million visits overseas by UK residents in 2016, 8% more than in 2015.
● UK residents spent $57 billion on visits overseas in 2016, 12% more than in 2015.
● The most frequent reason for overseas visits was for leisure/ vacation.
● UK residents travelling abroad for holidays are considered among the highest spending consumers.
Geographic
● Primary- UK & Ireland
● Secondary- Opportunities as needed
Demographic Family Market – Florida’s core International target market, ages 35-64
● Retired Market due to UK pension reform, ages 60 – 80
● Luxury Market ○ Primary: Upscale/Luxury market - High-Net Worth individuals, couples and families ○ Secondary: Honeymoons, weddings, special occasions & anniversary trips
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Activities:
● Experience Seekers – (Younger audience 25- 40) demographic groups featuring
○ Great Outdoors / Beach / Adventure (continue to build on the attention of National Parks
and featuring Everglades National Park and highlighting the 100th year anniversary of the
U.S. National Parks
○ Culinary - featuring the area’s numerous awards and celebrity chefs
○ Golf market (PGA & LPGA) & other sports and soft adventure
○ Football (Soccer), Pickleball
Measurable Objectives
● Increase visitor numbers from the UK and Ireland to Florida’s Paradise Coast by 2%
● Increase length of stay and local spend of visitors from the UK and Ireland to Florida’s Paradise
Coast by one day
● Promote year-round travel to Florida’s Paradise Coast, with focus on May to October – the slower
season to show a 1% increase in UK visitation
● Continue to solicit a direct UK flight into Southwest Florida International Airport
● Increase awareness of Florida’s Paradise Coast through PR, promotions and working with target
trade partners in at least three new publications
● Increase and diversify product offerings to at least three new UK/Ireland tour operators to Florida’s
Paradise Coast
Strategies
Overall Strategy: We will work with our Paradise Coast tourism industry partners and the UK tour
operators/OTA & airlines to effectively invest our marketing dollars and reach most the consumer
distribution channels with a clear call-to-action to encourage immediate and ease of booking.
Specific Strategies:
● Raise awareness of and interest in Florida’s Paradise Coast amongst a defined target consumer,
with disposable income and a propensity to travel
● Focused communication of key messaging and reasons to travel to Florida’s Paradise Coast to
drive consideration and conversion to booking travel to the region
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● Generate new, fresh and innovative content for Florida’s Paradise Coast both in print and online
media
● Develop an Experiential marketing approach to educate the travel trade on the diverse experiences
within Florida’s Paradise Coast to boost travel sales
● Promote the Florida’s Paradise Coast new online travel training site (created in partnership with
Brand USA) to increase knowledge and awareness of the region and participation amongst the
travel trade
● Encourage engagement through storytelling of Florida’s Paradise Coast experiences using imagery
and video through social media channels
● Continue discussions with key airlines flying into the USA to solicit a direct flight to Southwest
Florida International Airport
● Ensure the ‘brand’ of Florida’s Paradise Coast is top of mind and always at the highest level with
any of our activities.
Tactics
● Identify the key tour operator partners who can communicate through their sales channels the most
effective messaging about Florida’s Paradise Coast experiences by featuring our tourism industry
partners
● Develop a brand partnership consumer channel promotion by teaming up with a relevant consumer
brand partner to gain exposure through their customer databases using a competition, in-store retail
space, newsletters, online/print campaigns
● Plan and host a themed luxury tour operator ‘experiential’ fam trip to Florida’s Paradise Coast,
inviting high-end operators, working in partnership with an airline and local industry partners.
Possibly theme around Pickleball championships or food experience.
● Create a VIP Sales/PR mission to UK and Ireland – with theme story to inspire trade and consumer
connections.
● Ensure that Florida’s Paradise Coast has maximum exposure at major tourism industry events such
as World Travel Market, IPW, IAGTO NAC etc.
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● Coordinate a stand out, signature event during World Travel Market, in partnership with Visit
Florida to create a buzz around our region and ensure that Florida’s Paradise Coast is well received
and top of mind with leading decision makers
● Hold regular meetings and attend networking events with key UK airline partners to continue
discussions about direct flights into the Paradise Coast region
● Work cooperatively with Visit Florida and key tour operator partners to maximize budgets and
have a combined share of voice in the marketplace and clear call to action on all campaigns
● Schedule individual training sessions with leading travel trade partners, and attend regular
networking opportunities in in the UK to educate and stimulate a fresh and ongoing presence.
● Encourage and organize group and individual travel trade and journalist fams.
● Create and implement a social media advertising campaign, using mixed formats – imagery and
video - to drive consumers to the Paradise Coast website and encourage “likes” on the UK
Facebook page.
● Create engaging content on the UK social media channels and harness of the power of hashtags
and influencers to gain more traction
● Solicit individual media visits to Florida’s Paradise Coast in concert with Visit Florida to stretch
our budget and reduce cost. Target journalists that match our customer profile and segments, such
as the luxury market and experience seekers.
● Generate an ongoing stream of positive news stories and content through a proactive media
relations campaign
● Create and distribute quarterly newsletters to the trade and media to keep Florida’s Paradise Coast
top of mind with new or enhanced hotel offerings, special events, online training and other “what’s
new” features.
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UK- Ireland Marketing Plan Implementation Schedule
DATE EVENT/ACTIVITY LOCATION/MARKET
Oct Sales calls & planning for upcoming events trade & consumer UK & Ireland
Oct/Nov Consumer promotion with UK/Ireland Consumer Brand - with Tour
Operator call to action
UK & Ireland
Nov WTM and co-host of the Visit Florida major Trade Event - Paradise
Coast Signature Event
London
Nov/Dec Incentive for Online Training - Discovery Program UK & Ireland
Dec Agents Training UK & Ireland
Jan/Feb Social Media Promotion - Engagement UK & Ireland
Jan Pre/post huddle fams - individual Paradise Coast
Feb/March Co-op Marketing Campaigns UK & Ireland
March/April Agents Training UK
April VIP Sales & Media Mission/Tour UK & Ireland
March/April Co-host Visit Florida key client events UK & Ireland
May Visit Florida Tour Operators & Media Luncheon & Meeting UK & Ireland
May IPW Denver, CO
June IAGTO North American Convention (NAC) Oregon
May or June VIP Senior Tour Operator fam (aim for pre-or post IPW or IAGTO-
NAC)
Paradise Coast
July VISIT USA & Brand USA Independence Day events London
Year
USA Discovery Program online training with Brand USA
UK/Ireland & other
International markets
Year Media calls & outreach meetings UK & Ireland
Year Planning and distribution of quarterly newsletter All Regions
Year Memberships: Visit USA UK/Ireland/IAGTO UK & Ireland
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UK/Ireland
Event Schedule O N D J F M A M J J A S
Trade Shows &
Events
Training
Events &
Brand USA
Discovery
Program
PR & Media
Events
PR & Media
Social Media
Campaign
Social Media
Co-op
Marketing &
Advertising
Memberships
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EUROPEAN PLAN FOR 2017-18
European German speaking and Benelux Region - Prepared by DiaMonde
__________________________________________________________________________
ACCOMPLISHMENTS 2016/17
In 2016-17 DiaMonde marketed the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades CVB (NAP) by an accomplished
combination of Business to Consumer (B2C) and Business to Business (B2B) activities, through
selected traditional strategies and an increasing amount of online and social media channels.
Tour Operator Cooperation: We intensified our existing relationships with tour operators (TOs) and
jointly engaged in strong marketing activities. We focused on travel agent (TA) education with
traditional, mainstream TOs and on a creative B2C approach with TOs that demonstrate innovative
marketing approaches. The TO segment reported a room night increase of 8%.
Tour Operator B2B Accomplishments:
● Contact and trainings with 19, 700 Travel Agents associated with TUI: (Roadshow & e-
learning); DER Touristik: (ad in TA magazine, TA educational event); Kuoni (inspiration flyer);
TUI Belgium: (TA event)
To B2C Activities:
● CANUSA: Online campaign (195 booking requests and 3% booking increase)
● CRD: Florida beach event with personal attendance (70 consumers)
● America Unlimited: NAP microsite, NAP video with YouTube promotion
● Tour Consult: Online promotion, 2 newsletter inclusions (6,500 consumers)
● FAIRFLIGHT: Advertising in dedicated Florida brochure (5,000 copies), brochure distribution at
consumer shows Leipzig (60,000 visitors), Dresden (30,000 visitors)
We identified 29 new TOs in the respective markets with an emphasis on nine - long-haul, seven - golf
nine - luxury travel and four - vacation home rentals. We established relationship and generated
additional exposure:
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Long-Haul TOs:
● Argus Reisen: Product Placement (online, 2 hotels, 5 Fly & Drives). Completed first marketing
campaign (NAP landing page, NAP flyer feature, social media, newsletter inclusion). 210 room
nights can be reported in 2017
● USA-Reisen.de: First joint online marketing campaign with Naples area(NAP) dedicated
newsletter sent to 60,000 consumers. Result: 100% room night increase
● Enjoy America: Product Placement (online, four Fly & Drives). Secured first personal visit to
NAP and social media activities
● Ruck-Zuck-Urlaub: Secured NAP included as only west coast destination in Fly & Drive
● Erlebe-Fernreisen: Product Placement (online, one hotel, three Fly & Drives)
● Cruising Reisen: USA portfolio since 2017. Product placement (online, Fly & Drives)
● DIAMIR Erlebnisreisen: Group and FIT travel; established USA portfolio in 2017. Product
placement (online, 3 Fly & Drives). Reported first 10 room nights
● Riksja Travel (NL): Secured inclusion of NAP (online, one hotel, seven Fly & Drive) in Amerika
Online and Amerika Kids portfolio (sub brands)
● Go America: Secured first visit to NAP. Product Placement (online, two hotels)
Golf TOs: Identified the following Golf TOs: Gruber Golf (Austria), Classic Golf, Golfsportreisen.de,
Fairway Golf, Junker Reisen, H&H Golf Reisen, Sam Golf Time. Contact established, product placed.
Expansion of portfolio to follow.
Vacation Homes: Identified the following vacation home operators as key partners: Florida Experts,
Esprit Villas, Fewo-direct, Interchalet. NAP is featured. We established contact and expanded
destination feature (online) when possible.
Luxury TOs: Identified the following luxury TOs as potential partners: Art of Travel, Design Reisen,
Edeltrotter Luxusreisen, Feinreisen, Gern Reisen, I travel Individual Travel, Landmark GmbH,
Reiseservice Graw, RTC Rose Travel. We established first contact and product placement is to follow.
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Online Travel Agencies (OTA) cooperation: We researched alternative online distribution channels
and secured online exposures. We identified two OTAs and two rating portals: Expedia, booking.com,
Trip Advisor and Holidaycheck.
We identified Expedia as key partner and realized first major online marketing campaign. Resulted in
room night growth from 5,344 to 9,081 (July – June). On TripAdvisor, we placed additional NAP
content. Holidaycheck will offer this option in fall 2017.
Travel Agent Education and Activities: Trained, introduced and presented NAP to a total of 6,536
TAs, compared to 4,364 last year in German and BENELUX region.
● Sales Calls: 389 TAs were visited personally, NAP presented
● DiaMonde Events: nine events in Germany, NAP presented to 259 TAs.
● TA events and workshops: nine selected events, NAP presented to a 5,947 TAs
● Fam trips: 159 TAs and 8 Product Managers visited NAP
● Held destination trainings with our TO specialists in their regional sales offices: 15 trainings, 72
agents trained.
Trade & Consumer Shows: We participated in 15 consumer shows (1,232,379 visitors total) with
brochure distribution through Visit USA, Visit Florida or TOs in Germany and BENELUX, plus TTW
Zurich. We also attended the 3 major trade shows ITB, IPW and Vakantiebeurs.
B2C Marketing & Communication: We also increased our B2C approach and communication through
tailored marketing campaigns, newsletter communication, increasing interaction with the Germanic
blogger community and increasing social media efforts, where we are pioneering with NAP.
Marketing
● Air Berlin campaign: Fall 2016 and spring 2017 campaigns completed
● In addition to our own branded NAP newsletter which is sent bi-monthly to 2,600 TAs and 650
consumers in Germany, we secured three NAP dedicated B2C newsletters with Bellinghausen
(NL, 360,000 consumers each) and usa-reisen.de (GE, 60,000 consumers), four B2C newsletter
inclusions (81,500 consumers total) and three B2B newsletter inclusions (35,000 TAs total) with
selected industry partners.
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Social Media
● Facebook: Increased from 7,540 to 8,708 fans. Second campaign to follow in August.
● Facebook closed user group (TA): Reached 220 members in the first year. two dedicated
mailings to increase followers was sent via Infox to 25,000 TAs each.
● DiaMonde B2B Facebook fan page: 670 fans. NAP content was shared regularly.
● Instagram: NAP CVB team is provided with German hashtags on a regular basis. Additionally,
inclusion of NAP content into DiaMonde Instagram account.
● Pinterest: NAP dedicated sub pin wall under DiaMonde was updated regularly.
Media
● Creative campaigns Luxusinsider: Luxury B2B online magazine. Online feature and four
newsletter inclusions to position NAP as luxury region and target high end TAs.
● Creative campaign Insiderei: Creative website featuring worldwide local tips with unique visitor
rate of 150,000/month and 33,500 newsletter subscribers, targeting the millennials. three local
interviews taken.
● Media Events: Attended two media events with Visit USA with 304 journalists in total
● Media Fam Trips: NAP welcomed eight German and Dutch journalists. All visits resulted in
media exposure.
● Press releases: two sent out; artificial reef & culinary highlights
● Media Exposures: nine features in Germanic key media and seven blog entries were achieved
CURRENT SITUATION 2017
● Economic growth & low unemployment in Germany drove demand for travel in 2017
● Overall growth in long-haul travels. 7.8% of all Germans are long-haul travelers. 6% growth of
outbound travel in the Netherlands. Belgium has many outbound travels and large budgets.
● Germans still mainly book their holiday through TAs (61%), but 39% switch to ONLINE Travel
Agents (OTAs) or book directly via TO websites and TO specialist websites
● There is a trend towards preferring to travel to safer destinations
● Millennials seen as new key market segment for travel to Florida
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Demand for US destinations:
● 2 million German travelers to USA in 2016. Perceived as safe destination.
● USA remains top long-haul destination for Germans
● 3% growth expected from Austria to USA in 2017. Top port of entry in Florida is Miami
● 8.34% decrease of Dutch travelers to the USA (2016: 395,916; 2015: 432,355)
● 12.5% decrease of Swiss visitors to US (2016: 470,000; 2015: 536,000)
● High repeater business to USA ex Belgium and Luxembourg
● Positive outlook 2018: Increase of flight routes to USA from Germany. New direct flight to
RSW ex Munich and Cologne.
● Exchange rate becomes disadvantage to the Euro-based traveler. TOs without advantage of pre-
purchased currency any longer. Not relevant for Swiss traveler
● 3% decrease in number of German guests to Florida (2016: 482,000; 2015: 499,000)
There is no clear picture of how the USA market will be performing in the balance of 2017. The
Paradise Coast destination is perceived as save but there are challenges from a strong US Dollar and
current political situation. So far, German TOs hardly admitted any decline in bookings or revenue but
report stable figures and moderate growth.
TARGET MARKETS
Demographic:
Primary: Families; & Best Ager
Secondary: Luxury Travelers; Millennials
Activities:
Golfers, beach, water sports, golf as well as nature and eco activities.
In line with the target groups preference of traditional booking channels
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Positioning:
NAP is very well positioned in the travel trade of the respective markets. We have been increasing its
exposure with the key traditional TOs and TO specialists, continuously trained reservation and travel
agents on NAP and manifested a strong brand awareness and destination knowledge among trade
partners. While maintaining and intensifying these achievements, we plan to map out new marketing and
communication channels.
OBJECTIVES
Overall Objective: Increasing brand awareness and subsequently growing visitation numbers from our
designated markets.
● Increase room night production with traditional and specialist TOs by 3%
● Intensify relationships to newly identified TOs & OTAs by 2%
● Stronger focus on Luxury segment to maintain primary customer focus
● Increase online exposure, distribution and communication
● Stronger focus on B2C communication and activities by 5%
● Intensify Social Media Activities and grow FaceBook followers by 1,000
Marketing Rationale
We have established, maintained and intensified relationships with the key traditional TOs and TO
specialist. NAP is very well positioned, exposure has been expanded, destination knowledge is given
and room night production increased. We will maintain and even increase this achievement through
relationship farming, and designing promotions and marketing campaigns in line with our objectives and
always try to secure all paid activities at reduced costs or with additional exposure.
While focusing on traditional TOs to target the TA community (distribution via TA, marketing to TAs
and TA education), we will cooperate with TOs and TO specialist with a more innovative approach to
increase our B2C activities and communication. In addition, we will intensify the relationship and
increase exposure with TO specialists and OTAs that we have just identified as potential key partners in
the long-haul, golf, luxury and online segment.
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We will increase our focus on the B2C channel in the future. Consumer activities will continue to
include attendance at travel shows and communication through dedicated newsletters.
Social Media is one of the most important communication means to reach the B2C segment. We will
increase our social media activity, while focusing on Facebook, intensify the established relationships to
the Germanic blogger community and partner with Influencer.
Strategies:
● Maintain our educational approach to TAs and TOs through selective activities and promotions,
while strengthen additional and new communication channels to potential multipliers such as the
Facebook closed TA user group
● Maintaining and intensifying our social media activities, we will make a further innovative
approach and realize our first Influencer campaign
● Intensify our cooperation with selected OTAs. We will maintain our relationship and plan,
negotiate and execute marketing activities and sales promotions
● Intensify our relationship to the partners we had just identified in FY 16/17, both OTAs and TOs
with emphasis on long-haul, golf, luxury travel and vacation home rentals, with the goal to
generate additional print or online exposure and increase room night production
● We will increase our efforts to this segment and identified TOs to position NAP as a luxury
destination, increase destination awareness and knowledge in this segment. We aim to conduct a
luxury TO dedicated fam trip in 2018
● Focus on 4 identified key partners (OTAs and rating portals), strengthen relationship and plan,
negotiate and secure at least 1 major online campaign. We will continue securing new, and
increase existing online exposures in a diversified travel environment
● We will continue communication through branded NAP B2C newsletter and will increase brand
awareness through at least 3 tailored B2C marketing campaigns. We will also intensify our
established relationships to the blogger community and generate authentic, measurable online
exposure. We expect to welcome at least 5 bloggers or key media to NAP in 17/18, resulting in
measurable exposure
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● Focused use of Facebook. We expect growth to 11,000 followers on our Germanic NAP fan page
and 500 TAs in the Facebook closed user group. For a new and innovative approach, we will
also complete at least 1 Influencer campaign
TACTICS
Travel Trade & Consumer Activities:
● Promotions: We will negotiate and secure dedicated promotions for NAP through TOs or
specialized marketing campaigns. These promotions will cover both target groups, B2B and
B2C, and all channels of communication. (s. FY 17/18 budget plan)
● Trade and consumer shows:
○ On behalf of NAP, we will personally attend (incl. full coordination of appointments): ○ ITB Berlin, Germany, March 7-11, 2018 (5 days, at Visit Florida stand) ○ IPW Denver, USA, May 19-23 (5 days, own CVB stand)
We will arrange brochure distribution for 7 B2C shows in Germany, Austria and Belgium. We will also
secure attendance at dedicated USA workshops and educational seminars organized by TOs, Visit USA
committees and/or Visit Florida.
● Trade and Consumer Communication: We will be communicating product news, travel tips
and stories through quarterly NAP branded e-newsletter to 3,300 trade, media contacts and
consumers. Additionally, NAP will receive complimentary features in monthly DiaMonde
newsletter sent to 10,000 TAs and travel industry contacts in Germany and Luxembourg. To
liaise with the Dutch consumer, we will cooperate with Bell Marketing for newsletter
distribution.
● Familiarization Trips: We will secure at least two dedicated travel trade group overnight fam
trip to NAP, either on own or in cooperation with TOs or another non-competing Florida CVB.
This project includes negotiation of complimentary airline seats, careful selection of potential
agents and coordination of itinerary with support and as directed by the CVB. For 2018 we will
focus on target group luxury.
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● Travel Industry Training: Travel industry trainings will be secured and held every two years at
all mainstream and specialist TOs for their call center agents and regional sales offices. During
regular visits and dinner events to/for potential TAs, NAP will be presented along with other
partners in the DiaMonde portfolio, allowing for extensive exposure and reduced costs
● Fulfillment: We will handle all B2B and B2C fulfillment, also resulting from website inquiries,
from our office in Stuttgart at no additional cost
● Lead Management: We will source business leads for NAP on a proactive basis and – after
intensive screening and ROI evaluation – present opportunities with strong potential to the
Executive Director for further assessment and approval
● Liaison with Industry partners: We will maintain strong relationships with all relevant
industry partners, to include (but not solely) Visit USA committees, Germanic Brand USA
office, Germanic Visit Florida office, airlines, press offices and other non-competing Florida
CVB representations
Social Media:
Facebook is still the most relevant social media channel in the Germanic markets, reporting the highest
number of users. Therefore, our social media efforts will be mainly Facebook related, followed by
Instagram and Pinterest.
● Facebook: We established the Germanic Facebook page in 2011 and can now report a fan base
of 8711 followers. To reach our goal of 11,000 fans within the next 12 months, we will be
implementing Facebook advertising campaigns, both on own and with TOs. Generating
interaction among the fans is of highest priority, therefore we will manage content proactively to
encourage ongoing posts and shares
● Facebook closed user group (TA): To reach our goal of 500 members, we will promote this
group via all e-communication, printed promotion cards for distribution at TA events, and during
personal interaction with the trade. Additionally, we will distribute 2 dedicated e-newsletters to
25,000 TAs through Bell Marketing
● DiaMonde Facebook fan page (670 followers): NAP content will be regularly shared and
posted on this site
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● Pinterest: We will continue to generate and manage NAP content on our NAP dedicated
Pinterest wall (sub wall of DiaMonde Pinterest page)
● Instagram: We will report relevant German hashtags to the CVB social media department for
incorporation on the CVB’s already existing US Instagram site. We will promote this Instagram
site in all our e-communications and advertising campaigns (on coop with marketing agencies or
TOs with social media affinity)
● Rating Portals: We will continue to monitor the 2 identified portals of highest relevance,
Holidaycheck and TripAdvisor, and take action when necessary
Public Relations: We will service the three target groups as follows:
Traditional journalists:
● Stories: Responding to the increasing lack of time in this target group, we will provide
journalists with tailored stories. This will allow us to secure exposures by providing the type of
assistance journalists really require in today’s environment
● Press releases: As directed by the CVB’s PR department and where content is relevant for the
designated markets, we will write and distribute German press releases to a database of 2,000
media contacts and manage all outcome
● Fam Trips: We will secure at least 5 individual media familiarization visits to NAP (tailored for
journalists and/or bloggers with own flight arrangements), securing appropriate and measurable
media exposure
● PR events: We will also attend available USA/Florida specific PR functions during trade shows
and dedicated USA/Florida PR and blogger events (organized via Visit USA and/or Visit
Florida), including the complete of follow up. An overview of secured print and/or online
publications and the applicable media value will be submitted in the monthly reporting
● Advertising: On a reactive basis, we will negotiate and secure dedicated advertising
opportunities through tour operators (B2C) or via Brand USA in travel or lifestyle magazines and
supervise the ad layout, content and print documentation in close cooperation with Paradise
Advertising
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Bloggers: We will continue to proactively research relevant blogs, evaluate potential and actively liaise
with screened blogger. We will support with relevant information on NAP’s offerings to generate
complementary exposure and in return offers assistance with arrangement of experiences for blogger’s
personal visits to NAP
Influencers have gained an increasing impact on the Germanic media community. For an innovative
approach and complete our social media activities, we will realize our first Influencer campaign in
cooperation with the marketing agency Primematter, and target millennials
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BRAZIL/LATIN AMERICA PLAN - AVIAREPS
____________________________________________________________________
ACCOMPLISHMENTS - TRADE
Trade shows
With focus to reinforce the relationship with the trade, Paradise Coast was present once again at WTM
Latin America. For the first time, PC participated in Visit USA São Paulo and Rio, and TBN, a travel
agent trade show in Rio’s countryside.
Training Sessions
A total of 11 large training sessions were made this past year, and contacting and training around 1800
travel agents. There is a new schedule of training pending approval of the CVB to be done at the end of
September with Agaxtur Trend and Trade Tours.
Sales Calls
We have done 194 sales calls to both travel agents and tour operators this past year. By the end of this
fiscal year this number should surpass 250 sales calls.
Co-op
As discussed with the CVB, we opted for not doing co-ops this year and instead invested more in educating
and training the travel trade.
Fam Tours
Two FAM tours were held; one in partnership with AVIANCA/Ancoradouro and the other with Brand
USA. In total, 15 agents participated in these FAM trips to Florida’s Paradise Coast.
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ACCOMPLISHMENTS - PUBLIC RELATIONS
Summary
In this fiscal year, the main goal was to generate a good awareness of Paradise Coast among the media.
To reach this objective we worked with several media outlets, calls to journalists, and constant delivery
of press releases, to ensure a strong presence of the destination.
Throughout the year, it was clear that the clear majority of travel outlets in Brazil now have knowledge
and receive constant information about the destination.
It is our job now to keep engaging the media and make them more interested in Florida’s Paradise Coast.
Results
All the planning made with the PR team from Paradise Coast worked very well and we were able to
generate relevant content in the best media outlets in Brazil, with quantity and quality on the coverage in
every month.
The Media FAM that took place in October 2016 was extremely successful, with great feedback from all
participants and the content generated on this trip by the journalists was worth more than $600,000 US
dollars in media value.
New Tool and New PR Team
To generate better results for Paradise Coast, AVIAREPS has hired a new PR tool that has a database of
+50,000 Brazilian journalists/bloggers and several features to improve the communication process with
the press.
AVIAREPS staff had also grown and is now very well-structured to better deal with all Paradise Coast
PR demands. We now have Tomás Penna – PR & Marketing Manager who will supervise all the PR
activities on a regular basis, especially in the more strategic aspects. Luise Sanches – PR Senior Executive
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now joins the PR team. Luise is an experienced PR & Tourism professional who joined AVIAREPS more
than three months ago, and will be responsible for all the daily PR activities. Caroline Sierra – PR Intern
rounds out the PR team. She joined AVIAREPS more than five months ago, will assist in all PR activities,
especially press releases and reports.
CURRENT SITUATION
Economy
The recession is beginning to end in Brazil and we are seeing indicators that the economy is growing
again after consecutive years of contractions.
It’s expected that the GDP will grow by 0.9% in 2017 and by 1.8% in 2018, per BBVA Research.
The overall economic and political outlook has improved, but still not immune to future political
turbulences until the October 2018 presidential elections and it is still likely that Michel Temer remains
in power until then.
Air Lift
The Brazilian market currently has 94 non-stop weekly flights to Florida from 12 different cities in Brazil.
We have followed announcements of new flights to Florida: Delta Air Lines inaugurated a direct flight to
Orlando in 2016, Azul Airlines started a new frequency from Recife to Orlando and Avianca Brazil
launched a new daily direct flight from Sao Paulo to Miami. Additionally, ANAC (Brazilian National
Aviation Agency) has announced several changes in flight policies, allowing airlines to have more
flexibility and apply its global policy also in the country.
Changes in Traveler’s behavior and Visa Policies
Brazil remained the top market in Florida from Latin America in 2016/2017. A strong recession has made
travels to the USA less affordable, but nevertheless, Brazilian travelers kept traveling and spending in
large amounts, being the 7th market in international visitor spending.
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Despite a few rumors, there were no significant changes for Brazilians to obtain an American visa under
Trump’s administration. The status of the visa is still the same, such as the procedure for most applicants.
Travel Trends
Young families are more eager to travel. Recent surveys shared at the TMS Family Travel Conference
held in Amelia Island (Florida) reveal that millennial families – parents between the ages of 18 and 35
with younger children – are more willing than ever to roam the globe with kids in tow.
The niche of Destination Wedding and Honeymoon had an exponential growth in the last couple of years.
Some agencies declare an increase of 1000% in requests for these kinds of packages. The US has a very
low share of this market. Other niche markets like luxury, gastronomy, lifestyle, fishing, sports and special
events are showing a significant growth as well.
Families will travel in big groups in 2017-18, and those families will have other relatives in their travel
plans, per Virtuoso research. Families will travel with grandfathers, cousins and other relatives and will
seek: 1. active and adventure trips 2. beach resort stays 3. celebration travel and mother/daughter or
father/son trips 4. touring (guided or private) 5. educational trips. Families are also looking for vacations
where they can reconnect unfettered by electronic devices.
Strategies - Trade
It is important to keep in mind that the economic crisis that Brazil went through is over. The Brazilian
economy is recovering and people continue to travel abroad, especially to the USA, with 94 weekly direct
flights into Florida alone. The main strategy is to educate and train travel agents on all the highlights
Florida’s Paradise Coast has, and keep them informed of new offerings. We will focus on:
Training events with the objective of contacting a minimum of 2,500 agents
Training sessions are an essential part of incentivizing sales. If all actions we propose are activated, we
will work with a minimum of 2,500 agents in the next FY.
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Training in São Paulo and metropolitan area will continue, but it is of extreme importance to reach all
markets in Brazil. Partnership with Tour Operators for more distant markets will be essential to reach
agencies currently sending clients to the US.
Training Sessions Out of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro
We will develop a schedule of trainings in Partnership with Tour Operators and Brand USA that will
cover all the regions of Brazil. Airline companies are opening new frequencies from varied markets
into the US and we must be prepared for this demand by having key agents trained in the product. A
minimum of 60 agents per market will be invited to participate in each training sessions and cost will
be shared.
Brand USA is putting together a schedule of trainings for partners that will be interesting to consider
joining these activities. They are planning on reaching 7-9 cities in trainings of 60-80 people each, with
the objective of covering the most important tourism markets in Brazil.
Brand USA proposes these training cities:
● Cuiabá
● Campo Grande
● Fortaleza
● Maceió
● Manaus
● Florianópolis
● Vitória
● Recife
● Natal
● Ribeirão Preto
● Countryside cities in São Paulo state.
● Gran São Paulo area, such as Guarulhos, ABC and Alphaville.
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Monthly sales calls
Sales calls including follow-up calls, introductory calls and visits for maintenance of product
knowledge, prospecting of new partners for development of packages and increasing visitation to
Paradise Coast.
Participation in Trade Shows
We recommend participation in the following Trade Shows:
· WTM Latin America - #1 tourism trade show in LA
· Visit USA - excellent opportunity to capacitate over 600 agents
· FESTURIS - southern region trade show with the potential to reach travel agents from LA.
Paradise Coast is already registered for it (NOV/17).
· Feirão Flytour – The Flytour B2C Fair is exclusively directed to sales of room nights in the
destination. Paradise Coast is already registered for it (OCT/17).
· João Pessoa Tourism Festival – opportunity to reach travel agents from the northeast region
of Brazil, which has been growing in numbers of tourists sent to the USA
Additionally, AVIAREPS is recommending participation in additional training/educational trade shows
conducted by partner Tour Operators:
● 1st MMT North America Destinations Workshop – This event will take place in the end of
September, but payment is not due until October. The event will include:
○ 0ne table to present the products offered.
○ Seminars, business meeting with travel agents.
○ Banner of table, logo in all the communications of the Workshop.
○ Lunch for the exhibitor representative.
○ Graphic material informed.
○ Coverage of the main tourism market media (Panrotas and Travel3).
○ Announcement in a magazine special edition for the Workshop at Travel3 .
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○ Closing reception sponsorship
○ Training of up to 400 travel agents
● 1st Orinter USA Destinations Encounter – The objective of this event is “induce Orinter clients
to think outside the box by discovering new US experiences, new routes, different itineraries and
new possibilities of travel to offer to their own clients”.
○ Training of 300 people in two days of event
○ 2 nights of accommodation with full board -1 single room
○ Transfers Airport / Hotel / Airport (event will be in Santa Catarina)
○ Opening reception
○ Seminar
○ Matchmaking meeting
○ Logo in all communication of the event
○ Exposition on specialized trade media
○ 1 full page in the special brochure
○ Farewell party
Two FAM Trips to Paradise Coast
As in FY 2016-17, two FAM Tours will take place in FY 17-18. Again, we will aim for partnerships
with airlines and Tour Operators to maximize budget. Azul Viagens is interested in doing another FAM
in the beginning of 2018 to promote the products they added to their portfolio.
RCA Operator has also indicated the desire of having a FAM hosted in partnership with Paradise Coast.
The idea is to link participation in the FAM with a sales campaign where top selling agencies will send
a representative to personally learn about the destination.
Two Co-Ops with main Tour Operators
We recommend two Co-Ops for the next FY. With the recovery of Brazil’s economy, we can promote
Co-Ops that will include B2C actions to complement all B2B actions we will do.
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The other operators will be identified based on results of sales current and market objectives. We
suggest the following Tour Operators*:
● Trend
● Schultz
● Teresa Perez
● MMT
● Flytour
Co-Ops will include:
● Trainings in main markets the Operator works with;
● Product Developments;
● Sales campaign based on RN grow (if FAM approved);
● Social media actions;
● B2C actions matching the Operator’s portfolio.
*The selection of the Tour Operators will be made jointly between AVIAREPS and Paradise Coast.
KPIs for 2017-2018:
● Minimum of 2,500 agents trained
● 2 Co-Ops
● Growth of 15% in room nights
● Minimum of 15 sales calls per month
● 2 FAM tours
● At least one Press Release per month for Trade Media
● Product Development in at least two new tour operators
Strategies - PR
Raising engagement and awareness for Paradise Coast will be our primary focus to reach those who have
seen, read or heard about the destination but have never visited it. We will also highlight the fact of
Paradise Coast is affordable luxury and is a good value for money.
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Influencers still play a big role in driving awareness as people identify with the influencer and generate
positive word-of-mouth awareness, buzz and advocacy. Brazil has a large celebrity/blogger/influencer
community and Paradise Coast can take advantage of them and successfully engage with those who fit
with the brand.
For 2017/2018, it is also important to work in new opportunities on both print and online as they are
always key drivers in the market.
Tactics
Press Releases
Press Releases will be translated and distributed to our mailing database in concert with the direction from
the CVB. Press Releases will be also produced to highlight Paradise Coast news and topics that could
generate interest for the Brazilian media. It remains important to receive travel and tourism information
from the CVB that could be useful for the PR agency pitches. Press Releases will be distributed at least
once a month and individual media pitches will be done constantly per news.
Press Trips & Individual Trips
Press Trips are still a great way to spread the word in the market and to keep a good relationship with the
mainstream media. Our suggestion is to organize at least one group press trip during the fiscal year. Some
outlets and individual journalists prefer to only accepts invitations for individual press trips. Our
suggestion is to supplement the individual press trips with at least one group media trip (or also supporting
media based on the demand.
Working with Bloggers
The idea is to keep working closely with bloggers that can drive readers to consider Paradise Coast as
their next holiday destination. AVIAREPS proposes to take a TV Show with a family focus to Paradise
Coast to highlight how easy and joyful is to travel with kids. A Janela Laranja is a Brazilian travel blog,
YouTube Channel, social networks influencer and travel content provider founded in 2006.
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This would be managed by Marcio Nel Cimatti (elected the best travel blogger in Brazil in 2013) to share
travel experiences pointing out the best attractions, accommodations, gastronomy and practical
information for single and family travelers. The articles, high quality images and videos are published
daily. Additionally, A Janela Laranja produces web series, special projects and a weekly guide with
attractions for kids. “As Laranjinhas”, the first three seasons were produced in New York, Amsterdam
and Toronto. The main goal is to engage Brazilian families to explore the world with their kids by sharing
a real travelling experience with two- young girls (known as “As Laranjinhas”), Vitória and Giovana, 8-
and 5-years-old. These three editions already reached 235.00 pageviews, 339.500 Facebook outreach with
12.500 likes, 174.300 views and 438.000 minutes watched on YouTube videos and 87.600 Instagram post
impressions.
“As Laranjinhas in Paradise Coast” would present: 20 written posts (main attractions, getting there, dining
and hotels options and shopping) + seven videos. Posts and videos would be published at
AJanelaLaranja.com and on its YouTube channel and shared at main social networks. The web series “As
Laranjinhas in Paradise Coast” will also be presented as a TV series on Travel Box Brazil that includes
18 channels reaching more than 2 million subscribers after being published on the internet.
The blog monthly audience: average 180.000 page views/month and 90.000 unique visitors. 2.900
published posts. Social Media followers: Facebook – 40.000; Twitter - 32.000; Instagram – 30.700.
YouTube Channel: more than 1.160.000 views and 200 videos. The readers profile (source Navegg
Analytics): 92% upper class; 91% graduates; 75% of visitors are from Brazil’s South and Southeast
regions.
Working with Influencers
• Bring a marathon runner to participate in the annual Naples Marathon on February 18th, 2018, and
spend additional days there for tourism to highlight lifestyle and healthy segments in Paradise
Coast. Brazil has many digital influencers in the sports and outdoor activities segment and running
has been more and more diffused on social media as a way of life. Some of these sport influencers
are used to travel to run the marathons around the world – and report it on their social media
profiles.
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• Invite at least one influencer in the fashion and luxury segment, as many of them are used to
visiting Florida and we would be able to push the story of extending the holidays to Paradise Coast
to relax and enjoy gastronomy, shopping and leisure there.
Individual Media Meetings
AVIAREPS will keep meeting individually with key media to strengthen the relationship with them to
reinforce the brand and create new spontaneous stories for Paradise Coast. We suggest to meet personally
with two journalists per month.
Special Projects
AVIAREPS proposes to produce a special guide about the destination that would be distributed attached
with the Panrotas newspaper. Panrotas and AVIAREPS would work in all relevant content from Paradise
Coast and properly adapt it to the Brazilian media. 6,000 colored guides would be printed to be distributed
to the trade and media throughout the year.
Key Points of Interest for PR:
- Growth of coverage for Paradise Coast
- Improvement (quantitative and qualitative) in terms of media relations in the country
- Traffic growth on the official tourism website
- Direct brand awareness to Paradise Coast
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Calendar -Trade
Activity Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep
Sales
Calls
Trade
Shows
MMT
Workshop
(2017)
- Flytour
Fair
- Orinter
Encounter
- João
Pessoa
Tourism
Festival
FESTURS WTM Visit
USA
Training
FAM
TOURS
Co-Ops
Calendar - PR
Activity Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep
Press Releases
Press Trips &
Individual
Trips
Working with
Bloggers
Working with
Influencers
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Individual
Meetings
Special
Projects
Proposed Budget Trade
Activity Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep BUDGET
Trade
Shows
15,000 5,000 5,500 5,000 34,000
Trainings
different
markets
20,000
FAM Tours 7,500 7,500 15,000
Co-ops 14,000
Out of
pocket
5,000
TOTAL 88,000
*Trade Show budget for participation only. Costs related to travel from PC participants not computed.
*Travel costs for trainings/trade shows for AVIAREPS representative included in the Out of Pocket expenses.
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Proposed Budget PR
Activity Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep BUDGET
Press
Releases
Press Trip
&
Individual
Trips
6,000 6,000 12,000
Working
with
Bloggers
6,000 6,000
Working
with
Influencers
4,000 4,000 8,000
Individual
Meetings
5,000
Special
Projects
18,000 18,000
TOTAL 44,000
Final Considerations
2018 is prospected to be a positive year for the Brazilian economy. Tourism markets are recovering
well, with positive numbers since the beginning of 2017.
It is of great importance to keep investing in the market as new destinations take a few years to establish
a presence and share of mind with Brazilian agents and tourists. Although we will keep investing in
effective trade strategies, we strongly recommend an increase in investment into PR and media for the
final consumer. All the PR efforts will increase the number of visitors and will contribute to develop
the Paradise Coast brand as a destination of choice for Brazilians. It is also important to showcase
different places and creating desire in Brazilians to extend their trip to other Florida’s destinations are
key on the PR side.
Co-Ops and trainings are efficient only if the travelers buy the packages. If we don’t promote and
educate the consumer, the investment in Co-Op will, most likely, show average results.
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NATURE/ADVENTURE TOURISM PLAN
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Overview
We are blessed on Florida’s Paradise Coast with an abundance of unspoiled ecosystems that sustain
hundreds of species of birds, flora and fauna and adventures too countless to mention. The benefits for
our visitors and to our community are:
● Connecting visitors to our sensitive eco systems in Southwest Florida
● Demonstrates our commitment to improved water quality and wildlife populations
● International recognition that Florida is a major player in this growing activity
● Shows we are much more than a beach and golf destination
● 40% of our visitors do a nature activity
● 50% did not plan it prior to arrival
● Eco travelers tend to spend more and stay longer than traditional visitors
● Tourism is a multi-billion-dollar industry in SW Florida
There are numerous places in the world to experience nature and adventure travel:
● Costa Rica
● Palau
● Belize
● Florida
Within Florida, we have an abundance of these activities in Collier County for visitors and residents alike
to explore and enjoy:
● The Everglades
● Rookery Bay
● Big Cypress
● Fakahatchee
● Corkscrew
● Naples Zoo
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● Conservancy
● Paradise Coast Reef
There are several levels of nature activities including Active Tourism, Ecotourism and Adventure
Tourism. Each has its own special features and followers, but they also share some similarities that satisfy
several types of travelers.
Active Tourism:
This activity involves responsible travel to foreign areas requiring physical and mental participation from
the visitor following the guidelines for sustainability, protection of biodiversity and conservation of
culture. Elements include recreation, education and is usually conducted under strict supervision.
Ecotourism:
As defined by The International Ecotourism Society (TIES), ecotourism is “responsible travel to natural
areas that conserves the environment and sustains the well-being of local people”. Ecotourism is primarily
defined by the location of the activity and features travel to relatively undisturbed areas to enjoy and
appreciate nature, promote conservation, resulting in low visitor impact.
Action Tourism
This is a little more intense activity and Includes sport such as biking, cross country rallies, speed boat
riding, bungee jumping and extreme sports. It emphasizes excitement and amusement such as amusement
and recreation parks, does not require close involvement with nature and attracts a younger audience.
Similarities and Differences in These Activities:
Active and Eco Tourism both share a high respect for Nature and Biodiversity and stress limited impact
on the ecosystem. Visits to an area to enjoy these activities should include both education and
interpretation. Participants in these activities seek authenticity, uniqueness and immersion in the
environment.
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The differences between these activities are that Active Tourism is possible almost anywhere, urban or
rural. Examples are cultural, cuisine, music, dance, handcrafts and cultural activities. Eco Tourism is
more location specific and includes hiking, biking, walking, canoeing, kayaking. This activity follows the
aims of responsible travel, conservation of nature and benefits to local citizens. In contrast, Action
Tourism involves activity that often includes physical exertion and is more entertainment oriented.
All three activities are a good match for the visitor experiences available on Florida’s Paradise Coast:
● Ecotourism Activities: ○ The Everglades, Big Cypress, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary ○ Hiking, biking, walking, canoeing, kayaking
● Active Tourism: ○ Dolphin Explorer tours ○ Everglades Area Tours ○ Team building activities
● Action Tourism: ○ Jet Boat ○ Air Boats ○ Jet Skis ○ Scuba Diving
We have promoted Ecotourism in Collier County for many years, and it has been embraced by our visitors.
That activity will continue to attract larger numbers of participants in the future through ongoing
promotion. We also promote Active Tourism activities and we project those activities will attract many
more participants in the future as those opportunities expand. Action Tourism is not yet heavily offered
in our area, but development should be encouraged to appeal to a younger demographic of travelers.
Accomplishments:
Ecotourism is a major part of our brand of “Naples, Marco Island, Everglades, Florida’s Paradise
Coast”. We have developed the following:
● Paradise Coast Blueway Paddling Trail in 2009
● Green Tourism Micro-site in 2010
● Founding members of the Florida Society for Ethical Ecotourism
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Target Market:
Ages 35-64 with a Household Income (HHI) of $150,000 + with interest in history and Heritage. They
enjoy attending events, indulge in nature activities and enjoy the arts
Our Nature Tourism Activities:
● Eco- Adventure Tours
● Air Boat Rides
● Canoe & Kayak rentals and tours
● Fishing & Boating rentals and tours
● Birding
● Shelling
● Eco Sightseeing Tours
● Photography tours
● Fresh and saltwater fishing
● Bird Watching
● Manatee watching
● “Muck-abouts”
● Camping
● Cycling
● Hiking
● Walking Tours
● Driving Tours
● Boat rentals and tours
● Artificial Reef Fishing and Diving
Strategies:
● Promote eco, active and adventure activities and special events to new and repeat visitors.
● Connect with special activity consumers through channels they use the most to gather information
on future travel destinations
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● Identify projects to better direct visitors and residents on where and how to access natural based
activities
● Identify travel writers, bloggers/influencers that have a keen interest in nature tourism activities
● Create and promote vacation packages to connect several nature activity providers into a multiple
day visit to our area.
● Identify broadcast personalities to bring their programs to Collier County to film one or more
episodes on the “best kept secrets” of our area that include our nature based activities.
Tactics:
● Create activity specific videos and stories for use on our tourism website www.paradisecoast.com and on
our destination FaceBook page and Twitter platforms.
● Place digital ads with embedded video on activity specific websites to attract their followers to our area
such as Florida Fishing, Scuba Diver, Audubon, National Geographic Traveler, etc.
● Support Wayfinding projects such as the Fakahatchee Strand signage program along their trail system and
community welcome signs promoting our Brand message “Welcome to Florida’s Paradise Coast” and our
prominent awards such as “Welcome to the Happiest and Healthiest Community in America”.
● Research for activity specific bloggers or influencers with a large following to come to our area and post
their stories, videos and photos of their visit.
● Work with our eco providers to develop and post on our website vacation packages that combine air boating
with kayaking or fishing in the Ten Thousand Islands during a multiple day visit. Or combine a Charter
Captain for offshore fishing with a local restaurant to cook their catch.
● Work closely with our contracted Public Relations firm to connect with TV personalities with a large
following such as Samantha Brown with PBS, and fishing and nature personalities like Roland Martin to
promote our fishing, spearfishing and scuba diving on our Paradise Coast Reef activities.
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ARTS, CULTURE & HERITAGE MARKETING
Strategies & Tactics:
● Arts & Culture section of the CVB website: Includes expanded partner listings, descriptive
information, images, hyperlinks and special offers. The Web Page also links to various arts &
culture related web videos and articles.
● E - Newsletter: We distribute a consumer e-Newsletter to promote the Celebrate the Arts Month
in November and feature arts and cultural activities again in February. Content centers on arts,
culture and history events with hyperlinks to the digital Arts, Culture & Heritage events in our
community.
● Arts, Culture & Museum Grants: Encourages these organizations to plan and submit grant
applications for special events and promotions that will attract visitors to their facilities to
encourage overnight stays in our hotels. The grant guidelines encourage special event advertising
and promotion of their events in our visitor feeder markets and to link to our CVB events web
pages for destination information. Encourage packages that include hotels with event tickets,
dining and shopping discounts to attract out of market visitors
● United Arts Council cooperation to increase distribution of their printed Cultural Arts Calendar
of Events and to expand the reach of their digital event calendar for wider awareness of the arts
and cultural events in our community.
● Organized Tours: Solicit for one or more Collier area transportation partners to assist the CVB
staff to organize and actively offer tours of our County and nonprofit museums and art gallery
clusters. Offer these tours on our tourism website and at our area Chamber Visitor Information
Centers.
● Public Relations Programs: Identify cultural publications that will provide an opportunity to
increase the branding message via use of half page full color arts and culture advertisements in
cooperation with area arts and culture organizations.
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Heritage Marketing
● Paid Media: Allocate up to $100,000 in Heritage market advertising and promotional support of
area heritage and historical events: ○ Work with Collier museums and nonprofit museums to place targeted heritage advertising
utilizing these allocated funds ○ Support the Collier County Museums major events with social and digital media placement
on heritage websites and other websites and publications with followers interested in
history
● Naples Depot Visitor Center: Promote this new location at the Naples Depot Museum to inform
visitors of the many visitor activities available in the County. This new center will be in a vintage
baggage car on the parking lot at the Depot that has been restored to its “Orange Blossom Express”
condition.
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AIR SERVICES MARKETING SUPPORT
Overview
Air service is the most commonly used transportation mode by our visitors. So, it is imperative that we
continue to foster partnerships with our local and regional airports and regional destination partners to
identify new or expanded air service that we can attract to our area. 1. Of the visitors arriving by air, over 60% fly into Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW),
followed by Miami International Airport (MIA), Fort Lauderdale Airport (FLL), Tampa
International (TPA) and Orlando International Airport (MCO). 2. RSW is the largest commercial airport serving the Southwest Florida region, and is the primary
focus of our commercial air service marketing efforts. 3. Naples Municipal Airport is our secondary focus for commercial air service, although we currently
only have General Aviation flights to and from this airport. We work closely with the Fly Naples
team to attract interested commercial carriers to consider Naples for regional service. We have
been successful in attracting several carriers in the past few years, but they have not been
adequately financed to sustain the service. We will continue to meet regularly with the Naples
Airport Authority staff to identify other air service opportunities for the future. 4. We have instituted promotional campaigns with the Punta Gorda Airport Authority and our
regional tourism destination partners in Lee and Charlotte to support the Frontier and Allegiant
Airlines flights. These efforts have focused on selling more tickets from our primary feeder
markets and have proved very successful. We will also work this next year with the Allegiant
Vacations group to expand and grow their network of contracted hotels in Collier County and to
build room night production from Allegiant customers. 5. In addition to Naples Municipal Airport, our area is also served by three other General Aviation
airports including, Marco Island Executive, Everglades City Airpark, and Immokalee Regional. 6. Each General Aviation Airport in our area serves the private aviation needs of their communities
and offers additional economic development opportunities and to serve as ports of entry for
executive jet travelers to our area.
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Strategies and Tactics:
● Attract new domestic scheduled and chartered flights from the western US markets of Los Angeles,
San Francisco, Portland and Seattle
● Attract new International service from UK, Europe, Scandinavia and South and Central America.
● Encourage expanded air service from our primary fly-drive markets, including Miami, Ft.
Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Tampa, and Orlando, Punta Gorda and Sarasota
● Work with receptive tour operators located in Miami and Orlando that represent the major air
carriers into Southwest Florida to expand the number of Collier County hotels featured in their
travel programs (i.e. US Air Vacations, Allegiant Vacations, Delta Vacations)
● Distribute our Official Visitor Guides and maps at RSW, Punta Gorda, Naples Municipal Airport
and Collier County Airports
● Include mentions of the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Punta Gorda airports in marketing materials
to show their close- proximity to Collier County
● Maintain the current and create new co-op programs with Lee VCB, RSW Airport and VISIT
FLORIDA marketing teams in support of current, new and expanded air service to our area.
● Attend air service trade shows such as Routes with the RSW airport, Lee VCB, VISIT FLORIDA
and Brand USA marketing teams
● Apply for air service grants through VISIT FLORIDA
● Budget: $300,000 for FY 18 in marketing support for new or expanded air service to our area
● Add $50,000 additional funding in each of the next five fiscal years for marketing support of new
or existing air service
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DESTINATION STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES,
OPPORTUNITIES, THREATS
Exploit Our Strengths
● Year-round warm climate featuring sunshine, water activities and relaxation
● We are a slower-paced, unique destination offering a peaceful, serene environment
● Over thirty miles of award-winning soft, white sand beaches
● A “Foodie” paradise featuring over 50 locally owned, one-of-a-kind restaurants and award winning chefs
and cuisine
● World-class resorts and amenities offering an affordable luxury visitor experience plus a large variety of
price points to fit every traveler’s needs and budget
● Unique boutique shopping opportunities from bargains to designer brands
● A wide range of arts, culture and performance offerings
● International Airport (RSW) with direct service to and from 48 domestic markets, 16 different carriers,
seven international feeder markets and five carriers, with capacity for future expansion for new or added
frequency of service
● Easy access to I-75, US 41 and other major roadways
● A strong, integral part of the Florida Brand in International and domestic markets
● Strong brand acceptance and recognition in our community, in our leisure feeder markets and with group
meeting planners and sports event organizers
● Strong working relationship with Chambers, Economic Development and other stakeholder groups in
planning for future community growth and infrastructure
● Home to the world-famous Everglades, Everglades National Park and the 10,000 Islands
● Recognized as the # 1 “Happiest and Heathiest Community in the U.S.” and a “Blue Zone Community”
● Year-round employment opportunities supported by increasing visitor spending
● Strong community support for new or expanded amateur sports event facilities
● Perceived by our visitors worldwide as a safe destination
● 96% customer satisfaction rating in testament to our high customer service levels
● Abundant adventure and nature based tourism activities and opportunities
● Largest Artificial Reef system in the U.S. offering fishing and diving opportunities
● Clean, manicured landscapes with nearly 80% of land in preserve status
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Exploit Our Strengths (Cont.)
● Numerous community, neighborhood and regional parks and green spaces
● Close to Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Orlando, Sarasota for easy day trips
● Destination offers numerous unique off-site venues for group meeting attendees
● Fully Accredited Tourism Bureau by Destinations International since 2006
Minimize Our Weaknesses
● Higher than average airfares into Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW)
● Limited direct flights from the U.S. West Coast and from UK and South America
● Higher than average transportation cost from RSW to Naples and Marco Island
● Visitors find their visits more expensive than expected, especially in “high season”
● Sports event facilities are at capacity and have limited opportunity to accept new, or to expand current event
size in the future
● Continuing perception as a retirement community and limited family activities
● Limited entertainment and nightlife hours and options
● Limited public transportation options from nighttime activities to hotels
● Limited culturally diverse activities and infrastructure
● Traffic and parking options in high season perceived as a visitor detractor
● The number of our group meeting venues, capacity, availability and pricing are limiting the ability for the
destination to attract more of this business
Implement Opportunities to Overcome Weaknesses
● New direct commercial air service to RSW will make us more accessible to visitors
● Local transportation providers are showing interest in offering affordable airport transfers in the future
● New local transportation options like “Beach Bugz” and “Slider” offer visitors new ways to access nightlife
and their hotels
● New hotel development in community is driving more developer interest
● New social media enhancements will attract more visitors in the shoulder periods
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Implement Opportunities (Cont.)
● Increased group meeting demand encourages expansion and enhancement of resorts and hotels, and new
infrastructure to service that demand
● Our Community Relations/Advocacy Plan is enabling us to change perceptions of the importance of tourism
with our citizens, media and elected officials
● Realigned duties and shared responsibilities will help the CVB staff better serve the demand for services
for our visitors, the media and to meeting planners.
● Our diverse visitor base will drive new creative approaches to communicate with a wider universe of
potential visitors in next year
● The close-proximity to the Southeast Florida airports in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Palm Beach enables us
to claim them as additional entry points to our area
● Our abundance of “Happy Hour” activities gives us a new opportunity to promote fun, relaxing activities
in our dining and entertainment clusters
● With our new Blue Zone designation, we can promote certified hotels, restaurants and spas as part of our
Wellness Tourism offerings to health-minded travelers
● Encourage County and private museums, art galleries and performing arts venues to create a Museum,
Gallery and Theatre printed and digital map for distribution in Visitor Information Centers and Concierge
Desks in hotels and on line
Mitigate Threats
● Natural and manmade disasters can discourage new and repeat visitation and threaten our “safe destination”
reputation
● Water pollution, algae blooms and ground water runoff has a negative impact on our natural estuaries, our
eco-systems and discourages visitation
● Epidemics and diseases such as Zika are a challenge to future visitor growth
● Summer rains and mosquitos, spring wildfires, winter droughts and cold snaps all hinder outdoor activities
and travel during those situations
● Homeland Security mandates continue to discourage International visitation
● Recent terror incidents in Florida, other states in the U.S. and in Europe can discourage travel worldwide
● Non-traditional vacation and accommodation rentals limits our potential tourist tax revenue
● International currency exchange rate fluctuations affect visitation demand
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COMPETITIVE DESTINATIONS
LEE COUNTY– FORT MYERS & SANIBEL
Tourist Tax Collection: $39,694,021
Economic Impact: $3,035,179,670
Visitation: 4,808,677
Visitor Spending: $3 billion
Marketing Budget: $18 Million
Messaging: That’s Islandology, Plan Your Escape
MIAMI DADE COUNTY
Tourist Tax Collection: $26,254,847
Economic Impact: $24.4 billion
Visitation: 15,724,200
Visitor Spending: $25.5 billion dollars
Marketing Budget:
Messaging: “It’s so Miami” moving to “Found in Miami”
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SARASOTA COUNTY
Tourist Tax Collection: 20 Million
Economic Impact: 2,827,895,700
Visitation: 2,468,200
Visitor Spending: $1,713,876,200
Marketing Budget: $7 Million
Messaging: “Visit Sarasota County Beaches and
Beyond.”
PALM BEACH COUNTY
Tourist Tax Collection: $42 Million
Economic Impact: $7.1 Billion
Visitation: 7.35 Million
Visitor Spending: $4.55 Billion
Marketing Budget: $15 million
Messaging: Real experiences. From real people.
BROWARD COUNTY
Tourist Tax Collection: $61 Million
Economic Impact: More than $14 billion
Visitation: 14 Million
Visitor Spending: $11.4 Billion
Marketing Budget: $30 million
Messaging: Hello Sunny
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MONROE COUNTY – FLORIDA KEYS
Tourist Tax Collection: $17 Million
Economic Impact:
Visitation: 4,436,066
Visitor Spending: $4,127,027,833
Marketing Budget: $10.5 million
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MEASURING RESULTS
Our Research Partners
In our ongoing effort to measure the effectiveness of our marketing efforts, and to report those results to our many
audiences, we carefully monitor and measure our outcomes through the variety of sources:
● Research Data Services, Inc.
● Smith Travel Research, Inc.
● Google Analytics
● VISIT FLORIDA Research Department
● Florida Gulf Coast University Research Department
● Collier County Tax Collector
● Collier County Office of Budget and Management
● Clerk of the Circuit Court Finance Department
● IDSS Database Management System
● Sales & Marketing Technologies, Inc
● Adara Analytics
● Arrivalist Research
RESULTS TRACKING INITIATIVES
Our ongoing research initiatives include:
● Focus group research – Provides insights into our target audience and markets, reveals trends and
provides a measurement of the resonance of our brand messages with our customers. Both Group Meeting
Planners and consumer groups are utilized
● Inquiry analysis – The source, timing, cost, of telephone, email, online and mail inquiries is analyzed
monthly, quarterly and annually
● Online tracking and analysis – Click-through rates of ads, engagement rates, completed video views,
unique website visitors, time spent on site, the various other websites a customer views prior to making a
buying decision, and when that person arrives in the destination
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● Third-party research – Whether from the State of Florida, travel trade associations, or through paid
third parties (such as Smith Travel Research and Destinations International, we continually review and
analyze data and trends. Additionally, quarterly tourism industry roundtable discussions are held with our
destination accommodations and attraction partners to gain current information on trends and changes in
customer behavior
● Media data – A broad and growing number of sources are constantly considered to qualify and quantify
our selection of media used to reach our targeted customers
● In-market quantitative studies – Monthly face to face interviews with our visitors provide ongoing
analysis and in-depth information about travel purchases and favorite activities enjoyed while in market.
● Conversion studies – Provides insight into visitor activities after they have visited the destination and
helps determine which advertising and promotional approaches have been the most beneficial in
influencing their decision to visit
● Tourist development taxes – The ultimate measures of the effectiveness of our efforts is the tourist tax
collected for overnight stays in paid lodging within Collier County. Additional indicators that show
demand for travel to our community include Average Daily Rate (ADR), Revenue per Available Room
(RevPAR), in-market visitor spending and other in-market measures of visitation spending and economic
impact
● Accommodation Studies- Occupancy, Average Daily Rate (ADR), RevPAR and future visitation studies
are performed monthly
● Google Analytics measures website activity, and the effectiveness of advertising campaigns that drive
inquirers to our various websites
● Arrivalist – a new analytics tool that allows us to track consumer behavior from the time that they have
viewed our ad through the time of visitation in the destination and when they return for a repeat visit. We
can see which digital platforms and creative messages are most effective and change out those that are not
performing well. We can also determine the buying cycle duration and to assist us in timing advertising
campaign flights
● Choozle Insights – A digital tool that provides us with knowledge of influencers and preferences of our
target demographic (i.e. what types of cars they drive, what other kinds of websites they visit, etc.)
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IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULES
FY ’18 Themed Consumer e-Scapes Calendar
October
Email #1 – Breweries and food in Collier County (est. Oct 4th)
Focus (Millennials and those interested in Food & Drink festivals in our target demographic)
Link to: Millennial long format content video and feature story video on craft breweries
Email #2 – Celebrate the Arts in November (est. Oct 18th)
Focus (People interested in Arts)
Link to: Arts/Culture long format content video and feature story video Sugden Theatre
November
Email #1: Golf in Paradise (est. Nov 1st)
Focus (Golfers and Golf spectators)
Link to: Golf long format content video and feature story on the Booker Family, the first family of golf
Email #2: Downtown Historic Naples Restaurants, Shopping and Events (est. Nov 15th)
Focus: Foodies and Shopping.
Link to: Long format dining video and feature story on shopping
December
Email #1 – Sports in Paradise (est. Dec 6th)
Focus (Sports enthusiasts and Sports organizers)
Link to: FBU event information and sports articles on website
Email #2: Winter in Paradise – focus on accommodations (est. Dec 6th)
Focus (Cold weather markets)
Link to: Accommodations content video and Special accommodations story video
January
Email #1: New Year/New You (Fitness activities in Paradise and Healthy dining options) (est Jan 2nd)
Focus: (People interested in Health and Fitness, healthy eating)
Link to: Upcoming fitness events and feature story on top healthy dining options
Email #2: ECO trips in the Everglades (est Jan 16th)
Focus: (People interested in Eco – hiking, swamp buggy, airboats, camping, etc.)
Link to: Long format Eco video and Oyster House feature story video
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February
Email #1: Romance in Paradise/Valentine's Day – (Naples chocolate stroll, Norman Love, dining) (est.
Jan 30th)
Link to long format Spa video and the long format dining video
Email #2: Arts & Culture focus (est. Feb 13th)
Focus: People interested in Arts & Culture
Link to: story on Sugden Theatre
March
Email #1: Fishing in Paradise (include fishing the Paradise Coast Reef (est. March 6th)
Focus: Fishing enthusiasts
Link to Fishing overview story and Flats Fishing the Everglades video and written story
Email #2: Stress Awareness Month in April – Spa offerings, fitness opportunities (est. Mar 20th)
Focus: People interested in Spas and pampering
Link to: Spa long format video and Salt Cave story and video
April
Email #1: Pickleball Capital of the World (est. April 3rd)
Talk about Healthy vacation – include playing pickleball for fitness
Link to: Pickleball written story
Email #2: Pet Friendly in Paradise for National Pet Month in May (feature pet friendly dining and
shopping) (est. Apr 17th)
Focus: People traveling with pets
Link to: Article on pet friendly dining destinations
May
Email #1: Families & Value Season (hotel packages & Dining discounts) (est. May 1st)
Focus: Families
Link to: Family long format video and Golisano Children's Museum story and video
Email #2: Taste of Paradise (Naples Restaurant Week) (est. May 14th)
Focus: Foodies
Link to: Long format dining video and Oyster House story and video
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June
Email #1: Beach – Shelling and Sunsets in the Summer (week of June 1st)
Focus: Families and Couples
Link to: Green Flash story and family long format video
Email #2: Taste of Paradise (National Culinary Arts Month in July, Hot new restaurants) (week of June
19th)
Link to: Dining long format video and Oyster House story and video or other dining story
July
Email #1: Kids in Paradise (week of July 3rd)
Focus: Families
Topic: Summer learning is fun at attractions
Link to Golisano Children’s Museum story
Email #2: Wellness in Paradise (focus on healthy eating, spa offerings and wellness opportunities (est.
July 17th)
Focus: Those interested in health and wellness
Links to: Spa long format video and articles on wellness spas and healthy restaurants
August
Email #1: Beat the Heat Attractions - exploring cultural institutions (week of Aug 1st)
Focus: Families and couples in drive markets
Links to: Schedule of sunsets for month of August
Email #2: Watersports (week of Aug 15th)
Focus: People interested in watersports
Link to: Pro Watercross video
September
Email #1: Romantic Getaways (Empty nesters) (est. Sept 4th)
Focus: Empty nesters
Link to: Spa long format video and accommodations long format video
Email #2: Stone Crab Festival e-blast (est. Sept 18th)
Focus: Foodies
Link to: Stone Crab article and Stone Crab video
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FY ’18 Targeted Meetings e-Scapes Schedule
October – Association Planners
Markets: Florida, Washington DC, Chicago, NY, Philadelphia
November – Insurance Planners
Markets: Insurance cities: Connecticut, Boston, Omaha
December – Medical Pharmaceutical planners
Markets: NY, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Houston, Atlanta, Miami, Washington DC, Minneapolis,
Boston
January – Financial Planners
Markets: NY, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Dallas, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, Minneapolis
Focus on 5th Ave area, millionaire population, upscale, resorts, low-key, dining, gold
February – Large Corporation/Business Owners
Markets: NY, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Dallas, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, Minneapolis,
Toronto, Milwaukee, Columbus and Cincinnati
March – Incentive Planners
Markets: NY, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Dallas, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Pittsburg,
Columbus, Cincinnati
April – Medical Planners
Markets: NY, Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, Florida, Texas, Washington DC, Milwaukee, Minneapolis,
Indianapolis and Ann Arbor
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May – Corporate Meeting Planners
Markets: Corporate meeting planners in the U.S.
June – Incentive Planners
Markets: NY, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Dallas, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh,
Columbus, Cincinnati
July - Insurance Planners
Markets: Insurance cities: Connecticut, Boston, Omaha
August – Large Corporation Board/ Business Owners
Markets: NY, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Dallas, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, Minneapolis,
Toronto, Milwaukee, Columbus and Cincinnati
September - Financial Planners
Markets: NY, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Dallas, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, Minneapolis
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FY-18 Themed Social Media Schedule
October, 2017
● Stone Crab Festival
● National Seafood Month
● Events: Stone Crab Festival, Evening on Fifth, World Habitat Day
November
● Taste of Paradise
● Thankful
● Events: Panther, Bacon, and Film Festival, Naples Classic Half Marathon, Festival of Lights,
Taste of Paradise
December
● Holiday Cheer
● Winter Packages
● Events: Celebration of Lights, Boat Parades, Naples Christmas Parade, QBE Shootout
January, 2018
● New Year/New You
● Fitness + Healthy Dining Options
● Events: Naples Winter Wine Festival, Swamp Buggy Winter Classic, Naples New Year’s Art
Fair
February
● Romance in Paradise
● Chubb Group Classic
● Events: World Wetlands Day, Everglades Seafood Festival, Naples National Art Festival, Blues
Brews BBQ Festival, Chubb Classic
March
● Spring in Paradise
● Celebrate the Arts
● Events: Marco Island Seafood and Music Festival, Naples Craft Beer Festival, St Patrick’s
Parade, Marco Island Seafood Fest
April
● Pickleball
● Pet Friendly Destination
● Events: Naples Balloons over Paradise, Pickleball US Open
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May
● Affordable Luxury
● Golf Getaways (FL Golf Month)
● Events: Arts Naples World Festival, The Great Dock Canoe Race
June
● Outdoor Adventure
● Fishing Month
● Events: World Ocean Day, National Culinary Month
July
● Family Fun
● Learning Vacation Opportunities
● Events: 4th July Parade, American Sprint Triathlon
August
● Relaxing Days
● Leisure/Eco Activities
● Events: Summer Jazz on the Gulf, Naples Grande Grill & Chill Weekend
September
● Taste of Paradise
● Stone Crab
● Events: National Wildlife Day, EVP Amateur & Juniors National Champions
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2017-18 Destination Marketing & Advertising Budget
Media Total $3,760,000
• Planned Media Placement 3,610,000
• Contingency for unplanned media 150,000
Digital Total $400,000
• Social Media Posts & Platform Mgt. 186,800
• Website/landing page updates 9,000
• Vendor communications / Ad ops 166,700
• Database Updates 12,500
• Contingency for unplanned digital 25,000
Production Total $840,000
• Photo & video shoot for Leisure 325,000
• Photo & shoot for Meetings 125,000
• Fall/Winter campaign 50,000
• Spring/Summer campaign 20,000
• Niche Marketing campaigns 20,000
• Social media content development 97,000
• E-Scapes (2 x Consumer & 1 x Meetings) 75,000
• Special Event support 15,000
• Golf promotions 15,000
• International advertising 30,000
• Meetings advertising 30,000
• Sports advertising 8,000
• Miscellaneous: 20,000
o Client requests
o Collateral Updates
• Contingency for unplanned production 25,000
Media, Digital & Production Total $5,000,000
Agency fee (10% of Total Above) $500,000
Total Destination Marketing Budget $5,500,000
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DESTINATION MARKETING BUDGETS
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