Sunshine Matters

In order to get a jump start on our Fall marketing campaign, VISIT FLORIDA partnered with JetBlue Airlines to create a unique regional co-op program featuring Florida’s West Coast Beaches.  For the last two months, the airlines has been promoting offers from two of Florida’s key markets New York and Boston on JetBlue to St. Petersburg/Clearwater, Bradenton, Sarasota, Ft. Myers, Marco Island, Naples and the Everglades.

As part of the program, JetBlue has been messaging to their nearly 7 million social media followers with airline ticket fare deals to Southwest Florida.  VISIT FLORIDA also utilized our JetBlue partnership to air an in-flight sizzle reel on all 200 aircraft for the entire month of September that showcased breathtaking imagery of the participating Southwest Florida destinations.

To support the program, the VISIT FLORIDA Promotions Department worked with WCBS-FM in New York on the ‘Florida’s West Coast Beaches Trip-A-Day’ contest in September.  The promotion generated $210,000 in media value and 4.4 million impressions.

Finally, VISIT FLORIDA closed the loop through our own Share a Little Sunshine in-state platform, encouraging Floridians with families in the East to watch for these special promotions and visit the Sunshine State this Fall.

VISIT FLORIDA’s ‘Stay an Extra Day’ campaign last year marked our first-ever Fall marketing effort.  Adding a Fall campaign on top of our traditionally heavy Summer and Winter efforts, allowed the state to have a presence in market with consumers year-round.  The Fall campaign ushered in a record 21.7 million visitors traveling to the Sunshine State in the fourth quarter of 2013 – representing the largest fourth quarter visitation number Florida had ever seen.

For more details on VISIT FLORIDA’s regional co-op marketing programs, please contact Mallory Brooks at mbrooks@visitflorida.org.