- April 29, 2024
-
-
Loading
Loading
A strategic plan that reframes the way Flagler County is marketed to tourists will come before the Flagler County Board of County Commissioners next month.
The plan is the result of three months of research into the area’s current tourism climate starting in March and a collaborative effort from Elaine McLaughlin, a consultant hired by the county, and Georgia Turner, vice president of tourist development at the Flagler County Chamber of Commerce & Affiliates.
The result of this effort is a five-part plan to improve Flagler County’s tourism industry and a recommendation that the county increase its budget for tourism by about $100,000 in the next fiscal year.
“We’re trying to play to our strengths with this plan,” Turner said. “We have a lot of offer, and we need to make sure people know about it.”
The Tourist Development Council approved the plan’s recommendations Aug. 15, and its implementation is now contingent on approval from the County Commission. The plan will come before commissioners Sept. 1, and if passed, it will take effect Oct. 1.
The first step toward increasing tourism revenue, Turner said, is fine-tuning the area’s name. In the past, tourism efforts have launched marketing under the name “Flagler County.” But this plan would emphasize “Palm Coast and the Flagler Beaches.”
“That doesn’t mean we won’t market the entire county,” Turner said. “But when people come to Florida, they come for the beach.”
Connotative advantages derived from including the words “coast” and “beaches” in marketing efforts could catalyze Flagler County’s tourism revenue, Turner said. “Even though in the past we’ve marketed as ‘Flagler County,’ we aren’t losing the benefits from that, because we’re keeping the word ‘Flagler’ when we rebrand,” she said.
Turner said it’s also helpful to include Palm Coast in branding efforts because, as Flagler County’s largest city, it shows up more often on maps. Much of the county’s tourists are in-state visitors who are looking for local, quiet getaways as inexpensive ways to vacation in today’s economy, so the new branding would appeal to those visitors as well.
The plan also calls for increased media coverage and third-party endorsements. Under this plan, the county will try to commission travel writers and journalists to visit and write about their experience to get more third-party recommendations.
Similarly, the plan calls for an increase in web-based and social media marketing. Turner hopes to improve Flagler County’s website and be sure that the area can be found on resources like TripAdvisor.
The plan would also focus on product development, or pulling together the resources available in the county to be sure that visitors have easy access to them. Finally, the recommendation suggests that the county makes sure employees in tourist sectors — such as those who work at the front desks of hotels — know which amenities to recommend to visitors.
Turner said that in a state that has historically had an economy heavily influenced by visitor revenue, the tourism industry is increasing in strength after its setback from the Great Recession.
“We’re marketing ourselves as the quiet part of Florida,” she said. “People want what we have to offer; it’s just a matter of letting people know we’re here.”
Letter of support for the new plan
“Tourism, through special events and athletic tournaments, plays a key role in the economic sustainability of the business community in Palm Coast and the Flagler Beaches. Conservative estimates of the impact of the athletic tournaments held in June of this year indicate that over 10,000 guests visited Palm Coast and that these guests generated close to $1 million in sells in our local economy. ... This recommendation (for the tourism plan) capitalizes on prior, effective marketing strategies of ITT, the identification of Palm Coast on maps and area news channel, and the new metropolitan statistical area, Palm Coast-Daytona-Port Orange.”
— Luciana Santangelo, director of Palm Coast Parks and Recreation
