Boats sit after being pushed ashore by floodwaters from Hurricane Helene on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in St. Petersburg. | Mike Carlson, AP
Published on November 18, 2024 at 3:08 pm
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Visit Florida, the state’s tourism agency, has added $1 million to an effort to counter fallout from media coverage of three hurricanes that hit the state this year.
Trying to show that not all of Florida was hit by the hurricanes and that affected regions are reopening, the Visit Florida Executive Committee on Friday agreed to bump up a post-storm marketing effort to $6.7 million.
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“We really want to get awareness in a way to demonstrate that the state really remains unaffected by recent hurricanes,” Visit Florida Chief Marketing Officer Brett Laiken said. “We are sensitive to those who are impacted. But we’ve got to make sure that people understand the state, it’s as great as always.”
Visit Florida, which received $80 million in this year’s state budget, anticipates $1.65 million for the campaign will come from local tourism agencies, Laiken said.
The campaign started by focusing on areas of the state not directly affected by the storms. It will expand to feature what is open in storm-impacted areas.
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The agency, using Nielsen audience measurements, estimates Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton generated nearly 900,000 media reports and online mentions globally. The vast majority of the coverage — more than 80% — was in the U.S., followed by reports in the United Kingdom and India.
Visit Florida said Hurricane Debby, which hit rural Taylor County with 80 mph sustained winds on Aug. 5, resulted in 96,423 reports and online mentions.
Hurricane Helene, which made landfall Sept. 26 in Taylor County with 140 mph sustained winds after causing damage in other coastal areas of the state, created 309,274 media reports and mentions. Helene also drew coverage because of damage in Georgia and North Carolina.
Hurricane Milton, which made landfall Oct. 9 in Sarasota County with 120 mph sustained winds, accounted for 493,235 reports and mentions.
