It seems like trying to put the genie back in the bottle, but full credit to members of the Florida tourism industry for attempting to manage the coronavirus crisis as cases in the state steadily creep towards 600,000 and 10,000 deaths and tourism numbers plummet.
The vibrant, upbeat PSA campaign “Keep Florida Open” calls upon visitors and residents alike to practice basic safety measures to reduce the spread and consequences of COVID-19, and to support the state’s economic recovery.
The goal of Keep Florida Open is to encourage tourism, hospitality, and businesses throughout the state to communicate “the need for us all to responsibly and safely conduct ourselves in order to stay open and keep businesses viable.”
To date, the campaign has launched in a number of major cities throughout the state and by key economic industry partners, including the cities of Kissimmee and Miramar, South Fort Walton and Kissimmee’s destination marketing organizations, the Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of the Palm Beaches, and more than 100 individual small businesses.
Major media partners have also signed on to support, providing out of home media space, including highway billboards between Miami and Palm Beach County – the state’s pandemic epicenter. Additional campaign partners will be announced in the coming weeks.
Tourism is Florida’s number one industry, with visitors spending more than $94B annually. In the first quarter of 2020, tourism in Florida fell 10.7 percent, and the numbers projected for the second quarter will fall far short of where they were a year ago.
South Florida-based creative agency Lombardo launched Keep Florida Open to bring partners together for the good of our communities, businesses, residents, and visitors.
“About 50% of Florida’s economy is supported by small businesses,” says Rita Lombardo, Principal. “As an agency, we knew we had to step up on behalf of our communities.”
Florida hotels lost nearly US $3.5 billion in revenue between March 1 and May 30 alone. Most Florida restaurants lost more than 90 percent of their sales within the first few weeks, forcing many of them to lay off their entire hourly staff.
The campaign, which has been created in both English and Spanish, features colourful illustrations of celebrated Florida experiences, paired cleverly with health and safety messages.
“As we join with partners to help share the message, we’re excited to help set the stage for righting the ship. Small businesses need our help right now,” says Lombardo.
On the campaign’s website, KeepFloridaOpen.com, any business or organization that desires to participate can easily find resources and receive a free Campaign Toolkit that contains messaging and assets, including print ads, emails, in-store/on-premise signs, social media, press material, all of which can be customized with destination branding, upon request.