BEST PRACTICES
BEST PRACTICES/TOURISM
TOURISM INDUSTRY BOOSTS LOCAL BUSINESS
Charlotte Bireley is the director
of tourism and marketing for
Visit St. Lucie, St. Lucie County’s
official destination marketing
organization. Bireley has been
leading the tourism marketing
efforts for St. Lucie County
since 2009.
AND KEEPS TAXES LOW
CHARLOTTE BIRELEY
TCBusiness.com 51
For decades, Treasure Coast locals and
visitors alike have observed those hopeful
individuals walking on stretches of our
65-mile coastline, equipped with their
metal detectors and headphones, yearning
for that joyous tone that indicates
metal might be waiting for them under
the surface. Out comes the sand sifter to
see if centuries old gold, silver or other
precious treasures might appear. And, it’s
not unusual to see real treasure hunters
just offshore aboard vessels aptly named
Aarrr Booty or Sea Reaper when the seas
are calm and the visibility is good. These
hunters are in the water probing areas
around 300-plus-year-old shipwrecks and
limestone reefs, hoping to catch a glint of
shimmer and uncover millions of dollars
worth of treasure. After all, it’s happened
before. Most people think these stories are
for the movies, but here on the Treasure
Coast, it’s real.
The story of the Treasure Coast began
in 1715 when a fleet of Spanish ships —
loaded with gold, silver, jewels and other
treasures — was anchored just offshore
about to make its way back to Spain. This
was before the Weather Channel, so little
did the explorers know a hurricane was
headed right towards them. Most of the
ships sank, scattering the treasure onto
the ocean floor. To this day, these treasures
are still found by lucky beachgoers or divers
— giving the region its well-deserved
name.
Fast forward to 2017 and 2018. Tourism
is Florida’s number one industry, welcoming
126.1 million visitors that spent $112
billion supporting 1.4 million Florida jobs.
Tourism keeps taxes low, saving every
Florida household $1,549 a year in taxes.
This influx of visitors and spending is likely
what allows Florida to tout its “no state income
tax” mantra. Tourism is the economic
driver that creates the quality of life Florida
residents deserve.
And here on the Treasure Coast, tourism
contributes to the quality of life for local
residents as well. It supports local businesses,
and sales tax from visitor spending
helps pay for local services such as public
safety, schools, roads/bridges and environmental
projects.
For years, the Treasure Coast tourism
agencies have partnered together,
leveraging their budgets and resources
to promote the region in shared and/or
emerging markets that would
otherwise be unattainable.
It made sense for the agencies
not only to partner to
extend their budgets, but also
because the three counties
have similar features, such as
uncrowded beaches, acres
of land conservation teeming
with wildlife, vibrant arts
and culture scenes, fantastic
water activities ranging from
boating to fishing to kayaking
and a fascinating history that speaks to the
coast’s unique name. It is all of this along
with a laid-back, small town, old Florida
atmosphere. It’s perfectly packaged, it just
needed to be branded, funded and marketed
to travelers that don’t know it exists.
TOURISM BRAND
When the tourism leaders learned that
Visit Florida, the state’s official destination
marketing organization, could fund
regional tourism programs, the Treasure
Coast tourism offices didn’t hesitate to
jump on the opportunity. “ I was listening
to the chief marketing officer at a
Visit Florida conference a year and a half
ago,” says Nerissa Okiye, tourism manager
for Martin County, “when the subject of
regional tourism marketing came up. I instantly
texted my St. Lucie and Indian River
colleagues across the room and said, ‘Hey,
we’re already doing this!’ But I knew we
needed to do it more, so I literally emailed
the CMO the next day.” That’s when the
Treasure Coast tourism brand started into
development.
“The brand development process was
an easy process for us,” states Allison Mc-
Neal, director of tourism for Indian River
County. “The three of us have worked together
for years, so we already had a vision
of what we wanted and needed; we just
didn’t have the resources or the funding
to make it happen. Visit Florida did that
for us, and today we have something we
should all be proud of.”
Visit Florida played and continues to
play a crucial role in the Treasure Coast’s
tourism marketing efforts. After the brand
and first campaign was finalized, the
three agencies applied for and received a
regional marketing grant from Visit Florida
to launch its first campaign in the Atlanta
market in May. Palm Beach International
Airport, the region’s closest commercial
airport offering daily non-stop flights from
Atlanta, also joined in the campaign as the
Treasure Coast’s official airline partner. The
new campaign touts the Treasure Coast as
a special and authentic Florida experience
that’s a little off-the-beaten path.
The three Treasure Coast tourism offices
are optimistic that this cohesive marketing
approach will bring more exposure,
visitors and economic impact to the area,
especially in the low and shoulder season
months when the local businesses need it
most. “We recognize how valuable tourism
is to our communities and to the quality of
life of our residents,” says Charlotte Bireley,
director of tourism and marketing in St.
Lucie County. “ So from a strategic standpoint,
we are aiming to build a sustainable
model that will keep our local businesses
successful year-round. This is the beginning
stage of it. We know why the Treasure
Coast is special, and we know that visitors
can have real authentic Florida experiences
here … and through our marketing
strategy and messaging, we are aiming to
keep it that way. v
QUICK TOURISM STATS BY COUNTY:
ST. LUCIE
• $801.6 million economic impact
• Supports 7,965 jobs
(Visitor Tracking and Economic Impact Study)
MARTIN*
• $792.2 million economic impact
• Supports 7,271 jobs
INDIAN RIVER*
• $948.2 million economic impact
• Supports 8,209 jobs
(*Visit Florida Tourism Economics)
/TCBusiness.com