“Do not come right here.”
These are fairly presumably the final three phrases you’d ever count on anybody working within the tourism trade to say. Besides right here in Florida, the place “skip the sunscreen” or “pet that alligator” may also be robust contenders.
However, “do not come right here” is each the catchphrase and the title of a brand new tourism-themed podcast the three Treasure Coast counties launched this fall.
And the title however, the purpose truly is to persuade extra folks to trip in our communities.
Is it reverse psychology? Effectively, kind of. In a snarky and sarcastic manner.
Charlotte Bireley, St. Lucie County‘s director of tourism and advertising, mentioned she and her counterparts in Martin and Indian River counties have been pooling their assets on tourism advertising efforts for years.
Typically, that takes the type of media promoting buys or guided excursions for journey journalists. However the trade’s droop caused by the COVID pandemic impressed some out-of-the-box pondering.
“We knew as soon as the rebound in journey began occurring, we would have liked to face out,” Bireley mentioned. “We would have liked a artistic method.”
A constructive signal:Indian River County’s tourism rebounding; bed tax on track to reach pre-pandemic levels
COVID’s affect:Martin County tourism declines amid pandemic; January visitors could bring business back
Rebounding numbers:Summer could be bright for Treasure Coast hotels after record-breaking May
In relative phrases, the Treasure Coast would not draw the massive crowds of vacationers its neighbors to the south do. Markham & Stein, a Coconut Grove-based promoting agency, recommended utilizing the “highway much less traveled” method within the new marketing campaign.
“There was undoubtedly some apprehension,” Bireley mentioned of the preliminary response to the counterintuitive slogan. “, journey is constructive.”
Nevertheless, tourism officers within the three counties managed to push previous their reservations and the “Do not Come Right here: Tales of the Treasure Coast” podcast was born.
The primary episode debuted Sept. 21, with host Joshua Flores interviewing representatives from the Mel Fisher’s Treasures museum in Sebastian, the House of Refuge in Stuart and the St. Lucie County Regional History Center in Fort Pierce.
Two different episodes have been produced since then, with a fourth scheduled for launch later this week or early subsequent week.
Bireley mentioned the purpose is to supply one podcast per 30 days over the following yr. She mentioned the format will bear some tweaking over time.
“It is undoubtedly going to be an evolving mission,” she mentioned.
I feel some tweaking is a good suggestion.
I watched the video variations of the primary three podcasts, that are available on YouTube. Every of them lasted barely longer than half-hour, which looks as if a reasonably affordable size.
There was some good data in every episode about issues for vacationers to see and do alongside the Treasure Coast. The newest one, coping with excursions of supposedly haunted locations, was significantly topical for the Halloween season.
Nevertheless, the format wasn’t fairly what I anticipated. With “do not come right here” as a tagline, I used to be anticipating the reveals to be a bit edgier.
Except for an occasional reference to the theme in Flores’ intros and signal offs, the remainder of the content material is easy.
Flores asks his company severe questions, and so they give him severe solutions.
Since a lot of the company are collaborating to advertise their companies, it is likely to be tough to get them to play together with a extra irreverent format.
Nonetheless, if the purpose is to make the Treasure Coast podcasts stand out, then it will make sense to go along with one thing rather less NPR-ish.
That mentioned, a podcast looks as if a good way to unfold the phrase in regards to the Treasure Coast’s charms.
In line with Insider Intelligence, about 117.8 million people in the United States are monthly podcast listeners. That a rise of greater than 10% over final yr’s numbers.
It is a crowded market, with many people and teams, together with different tourism organizations, testing the medium.
Bireley mentioned the three counties evenly break up the $12,000 value of a three-month marketing campaign to advertise the podcasts. That marketing campaign will embrace promoting on Spotify, YouTube and social media websites.
Though the early phases of the promotional marketing campaign targeted on folks residing within the area and elsewhere in Florida, different goal markets embrace the Atlanta metro space and the northeastern states.
“Anybody can begin a podcast,” Bireley mentioned. “The laborious half is getting listeners.”
She mentioned there is not a particular purpose when it comes to viewers dimension. As of Nov. 2, the podcasts had been downloaded 260 occasions. Nevertheless, Bireley mentioned she did not have numbers for individuals who watched on YouTube, as I did.
“It is actually simply one other manner for us to inform our story,” she mentioned.
It is a daring technique, and for the sake of our native companies, I hope it pays off.
In an ideal world, the Treasure Coast’s facilities ought to promote themselves with out the assistance of any advertising slogans or methods.
The true world works a bit in another way, although. If the Treasure Coast is not selling itself, it runs the chance of falling behind different communities up and down Florida’s expansive shoreline.
Perhaps as we get deeper into the winter months and extra snowbirds are filling up native roads, retailers and eating places, “do not come right here” will tackle a extra literal which means for me and others who reside on this slice of paradise full time.
Till then, let’s hope folks watching the podcasts will take the slogan within the spirit during which it is supposed.
We actually do need you to return right here. Simply deliver your wallets. And sunscreen. And by no means ever attempt to pet an alligator.
This column displays the opinion of Blake Fontenay. Contact him by way of e-mail at [email protected] or at 772-232-5424.
