Sunshine Matters

As the state’s official source for travel planning, VISIT FLORIDA provides visitors with two key resources for discovering all there is to see and do in the Sunshine State.  The first is VISITFLORIDA.com, the most trafficked destination marketing organization website in the country.  The second is the VISIT FLORIDA Magazine, the state’s premier travel planning publication.

The most significant driver for traffic to the website and readers of the magazine is VISIT FLORIDA’s highly-successful domestic advertising campaign, Your Florida Side Is Calling.  For every $1 spent on tourism marketing, VISIT FLORIDA generates more than $177 in tourism spending and $11 in new sales tax collections.

In an effort to better understand the role the website and magazine play in converting viewers into visitors, VISIT FLORIDA commissioned a conversion study designed to measure the impact of these two tools and overlay those results with the advertising effectiveness research to see the comparative impact.  The study revealed that, of the 4.5 million visitors to the website during the survey period (excluding residents/relocators), 78% subsequently traveled to the state – representing 3.5 million visitors.  Among those website visitors who had not decided to visit the state prior to going to the site, 56% subsequently traveled to Florida.  This totaled one million visitors whose direct spending equaled $3.4 billion.

Research Details

The conversion study, which spanned a 13-month time frame, was conducted by Strategic Marketing and Research, Inc.   The firm utilized intercept surveys on VISITFLORIDA.com and e-mails sent to magazine requestors, as well as follow-up e-mails sent later to see if any travel had taken place.  The surveys also determined what actions on the website most correlated to travel.  Over 6,000 interviews were conducted, combined through all the phases.

In viewing the table above, trips among website visitors and publication requestors are different than those visitors who were impacted by VISIT FLORIDA’s advertising efforts.  They are less likely to travel with children, but tend to stay longer, use paid accommodations more often and spend more.  This difference in spending is important when calculating the impact of the website and publication.

The demographics of the group also vary.  The publication requestors were the oldest group, who tended to have higher income than the general population from the advertising awareness study.  Those driven to the website were slightly older, had the most education and highest income, and were more ethnically diverse than publication requestors.  The advertising aware group was the youngest, significantly more ethnically diverse and had the lowest household income, although still quite high.

Website Evaluation

When studying those website visitors who had subsequently traveled to the state, the top five activities on the website that correlated to travel were:

1. Viewed event information
2. Viewed detailed listing information on accommodations
3. Clicked on a link from the site through to another business
4. Watched a video on the site
5. Viewed a map

Of those that traveled to Florida after going to the website, a third planned their trip more than four months in advance, nearly a quarter planned 3-4 months in advance and less than a quarter planned in under a month.

There were approximately 5.1 million unique visitors to the website during the months the study was conducted.  Just over 13% were Florida residents or people who indicated that they were relocating to the state.  Another 51% had already decided to visit Florida and were using the website to gather information for planning their trip.  More than 36% were still considering whether they wanted to visit the state and were looking for information to help in the decision-making process.

Of the 4.5 million visitors to the website (excluding residents/relocators), 78% subsequently traveled to the state – representing 3.5 million visitors.  Their average trip expenditures were $3,298, resulting in $11.5 billion in direct spending generated by visitors to VISITFLORIDA.com.  Among those website visitors who had not decided to visit Florida prior to going to the site, 56% subsequently traveled to Florida.  This totaled one million visitors whose direct spending equaled $3.4 billion.

Publication Evaluation

The top five things requestors were looking for from the VISIT FLORIDA Magazine that correlated with travel were:

1. Event information
2. Hotel and accommodation booking information, including prices, availability and packages
3. Florida beaches, islands and coasts
4. A list of Florida hotels and other accommodations
5. Florida attractions and activities

The level of travel among publication requestors was quite high, at 65.9%.

As a result, there were almost 65,000 trips generated from the publication requestors.  When residents/relocators are eliminated, roughly 60,000 trips were generated from publication requestors.  The Out-of-State and Potential Visitors who requested a magazine generated more than $200 million in spending to the state (including the decided and undecided).  When only those who had not already decided to visit the state in advance is calculated, the impact is roughly $9.6 million.

This study shows that both the VISIT FLORIDA Magazine and VISITFLORIDA.com are incredibly successful tools for converting potential Florida travelers into visitors who spent at least $13 billion in the Sunshine State last year.  VISIT FLORIDA remains committed to constantly enhancing the content and features of both products in order to continue providing our visitors with the most cutting-edge travel planning resources possible.