Sunshine Matters

This week marks the start of VISIT FLORIDA’s year-long commemoration to honor the 500th anniversary of Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon’s arrival on Florida’s sunny shores.  His discovery in 1513 paved the way for 500 years of exploring the Sunshine State by billions of visitors from all around the world.

Secretary Detzner and his team at the Florida Department of State have done a tremendous job organizing a host of official activities and events tied to the 500th anniversary.  With so many of these historic and cultural programs available to the public, VISIT FLORIDA has focused on leveraging the commemoration to increase visitation to the state in 2013.

To that end, we developed a Viva Florida 500 campaign that includes a multitude of resources and opportunities for the Florida tourism industry to promote their destination’s activities.  Here are just a few:

• A “Share Your Florida Story” Facebook Timeline that combines Florida’s historical events with our visitors’ shared memories of their Sunshine State vacations to create an interactive story
• Participation in a year-long sweepstakes promotion featuring different vacation prize packages every week for a grand total of 500 prizes to honor the 500 years of Florida visitors
• Placement in special Viva Florida 500 editions of American Heritage and Florida Travel + Life magazines that target Florida-friendly audiences likely to respond to commemoration events and opportunities

As part of the Share a Little Sunshine platform, VISIT FLORIDA produced two PSAs featuring Ponce de Leon himself asking Floridians to invite their friends and family to visit the state this year.  In addition, VISIT FLORIDA’s content and PR teams have created special opportunities for our Partners to tell their local story through the VISITFLORIDA.com website, a Viva Florida 500 press room on PitchEngine and during media missions and receptions in key U.S. markets such as New York, Boston, Chicago and Dallas-Fort Worth.

We’ve even developed downloadable thank you cards, tabletop displays and FAQs that industry businesses can use to ensure our visitors know how much we appreciate their being a part of our 500th anniversary commemoration.  To learn more, check out the Viva Florida 500 Partner toolkit or contact our Industry Relations team at Partner@VISITFLORIDA.org.

Perhaps known best for our beautiful beaches and exciting theme parks, the Viva Florida 500 commemoration provides the Florida tourism industry with an historic opportunity to expand travelers’ perceptions of the state.   By offering visitors a whole new reason to explore the Sunshine State in 2013, we can continue to increase the economic impact of travelers to Florida.