Selling Florida Short
By John F. Berry - Florida Trend's Editors page - MARCH 1996 ISSUE
I was watching an old movie the other night on the New York super station WWOR,
which always makes me feel a little nostalgic for my hometown ("Baby battered in the
Bronx! Stay tuned at 10").
But what really got my attention was a series of ads targeting winter-weary New
Yorkers. First came a spot for the Bahamas showing a beautiful girl on a white beach. Then
came one for the Barbados showing a beautiful girl on a white beach. And finally came one
for Florida, and guess what? It, too, showed a beautiful girl on a beach.
The ads were totally lacking in originality, and without hearing the sound
track, no one could tell one from the other. To be sure, beaches and clear water are
pretty much all that the islands have to offer. But doesn't Florida have something more to
pitch than the same old product every other warm weather resort has to sell?
That's the subject of this month's important cover story. Florida's tourism
industry is in trouble. Florida still pulls in around 40 million tourists a year, but
they're spending less and leaving sooner. The dramatic growth of the '70s and '80s is long
gone, and the Florida industry is now losing market share to more alluring destinations.
What's gone wrong? The Florida Legislature, in its usual wisdom, has penny-pinched tourism
promotion for years, despite the industry being the main economic support under the
state's economy. But the problem hasn't been just an insufficient investment in
advertising. What money the state has spent hasn't been spent very well.
That is why initially I was attracted to the idea, now before the Legislature,
of spinning off tourist promotion from the Commerce Department into a new public-private
partnership, which would be overseen by the Florida Commission on Tourism. And I still
support the idea in theory. But I'm troubled by early indications of the strategy the
Commission on Tourism would use to sell the state.
As the cover story points out, the fastest growing segment of tourism worldwide
is among travelers who desire cultural and environmental stimulation, not just a beach or
a theme park. Yet in its proposed marketing plan, the Florida Tourism Commission totally
ignores this growth market. The plan literally contains not one word about marketing
Florida's cultural and historical assets, even though these are now arguably the most
important draws Florida has to offer. Just look at the stunning success achieved by the
Art Deco district on South Beach, which apparently is now visited by more tourists than
any Florida theme park except Disney World.
Under the Tourism Commission's marketing plan, the image of Florida that would
be beamed to the world's tourists would be much like the generic advertising that is going
out now Ñ only there would be more of it. The unspoken implication of these messages is:
If you don't want to fry on a beach, whack a golf or tennis ball or ride through some
ersatz theme park adventure, then there isn't much for you under Florida's sun. That's
just not fair to the Florida tourism industry as a whole and sells short the stunning
diversity of travel experiences the state has to offer. The explanation for this strategy
appears to fall with who's calling the shots. The commission is dominated by theme park
and hotel chain executives, who represent a huge, but comparatively stagnant, segment of
the industry, and one that is not particularly focused on Florida. Granted, the big
attractions bring lots of people to the state, but what's good for Disney or Universal
Studios Florida isn't necessarily what's good for Florida, or even for the Florida tourism
industry as a whole. By putting a Disney theme park in France, for example, the company
took away European visitors from Florida. Whether it's Disney, Sea World, Universal or
Busch Gardens, the interests of these corporate entities are to keep tourists on their
property, whether that property is in Central Florida, Tokyo or L.A.
If Florida turns over marketing the state to the biggest players, it runs the
risk that these corporations will further define Florida as just more beach resorts and
theme parks, which is exactly the wrong message to be sending at a time when more and more
tourists are looking for unique destinations. Beaches and theme parks? Been there. Done
that. Contrast the approach to be advocated by the Tourism Commission with that taken
recently by Connecticut, which proudly trumpets its historic sites and bosky countryside
as well as its amusement parks and beaches. In the South, North Carolina currently is
preparing a campaign that stresses the state's environmental charms. The Tourism
Commission, in addition to representing the Florida industry as a whole, must take strong
stands on issues like urban sprawl and environmental degradation, which threaten to erode
further the quality of the tourist product Florida is selling. Even though "the real
Florida" remains a well-kept secret up North and abroad, many enterprising travelers
do nonetheless uncover our charms. When James Yenckel, the thoughtful and independent
travel writer for the Washington Post, visited Tampa Bay last year, he went away with an
entirely new image of Florida. "As a first-timer, I was repeatedly delighted by what
I found," wrote Yenckel. "In three very full days, I sampled a wealth of
cultural, scientific and historical attractions. Unlike many of the frothy enticements of
Orlando, about an hour to the north, they stimulate the mind and nourish the spirit rather
than simply entertain."
"Return to your senses," intones the voice-over in the beach bunny
commercials. But the sense that Florida really should be communicating to the world is a
sense of place.
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