South Florida Magazine

  A County Tourist Development Council meeting was recently held with the following members of council: Mayor Craig Cates, James Bernardin, George Fernandez, Julie Fondreist, Commissioner Sylvia Murphy, Michael Shipley, Gayle Tippett,  and Jimmy Weekley.  Chairperson of the District Advisory Diane Schmidt was present as well as Vicki Tashjian, Patti Stanley and Russell Yagel. Local businesses: Tinsley Advertising - Clinton Barras, Shirley Wilson - FloridaKeys.com, Andy Newman, Carol Shaughnessy and Julie Boteri.  Staff included Christine Limbert-Barrows, Stacey Mitchell, Kelli Fountain, Maxine Pacini and Ammie Machen. 

Mr. Newman presented a public relations report on handling of the hurricane to those present.  It was stated that a red hurricane banner was added to Fla-Keys.com to provide visitors with hurricane info.  He stated that one of the news clips used for recovery was used by over 700 news stations.  He also played the video produced by the TDC called "Coming out of the Dark" by Gloria Estefan.  The mayor thanked the agency for all of their hard work during and after the hurricane. Eric Gitlin presented a breakdown of the fall media campaign totaling almost $7,200,000. Stacey Mitchell shared a revenue projection and that revenues are coming in stronger than anticipated.  87% occupancy on Key West during Fantasy Fest however the figures do reflect recovery workers who are still staying at hotels. Newman PR presented a report: UK marketing affiliates: Hedonist Guide, Wanderlust Blog, Live Share Travel and Captivate, Lonely Planet, The London Evening Standard, The Sunday Times and Rough Guides. Guild of Travel Writers Awards - David Ezra and Beth Higham. World Travel Market 2017. Visit Florida World Travel Market Cocktail Reception. France Media included Plongee Magazine Tele Magazine and Plume Voyage.  Plans in the works for a Zurich meeting. Plans to map the FL Keys in German Language for travelers from that market and Canadian Traveler outreach via News Talk 1010 and The Informed Traveler KX 94-7. Plans for a 20 page fashion model photo shoot with a fashion magazine.  Travel Massive event for travel influencers was held in November to generate storyline ideas.  NBC News Today broadcast from Margaritaville, Travel Writers Convention, PBS Art Loft Project, Twitter Chat Promotion, Key Voices Blog, LGBT Blog, Fishing Tournament Calendar Promo, Events including: Holiday Event Roundup, News Years Eve, Orange Bowl Swimming Classic, Uncorked Food and Wine Festival, Baygrass Festival, Keys Holiday Fest, Celtic Fest, Stock Island Fest, Fantasy Fest, Southernmost Marathon, Holiday Fest, AquaX, Key West Triathalon, Powerboat World Championship, Key West Burlesque Show, South Florida Symphony and local Fishing Tournaments.  January and February 2018 out of state tv spots include: Dallas,Columbus, Philadelphia, Chicago, New York, Washington DC, Boston, Detroit, Toronto, Atlanta, Charlotte and Houston.  Ads in Bridal Guide and Coastal Living in Jan and Feb. Italian advertising in Dove Magazine.  Tinsley Advetising: PPC click expenditures: Google Adwords: $9,000.00  Bing: $500.00 and Yahoo Gemini $900.00 The top 10 paid keywords were: