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April roundup includes summer co-op and more
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Spring brings hope, renewal and growth to our destination. Here is a roundup of just a few items the VCB is working on and a few dates to save:
VISIT FLORIDA summer video co-op
We are participating in VISIT FLORIDA’s destination marketing organization summer video co-op program. This program features an eight-week, in-state broadcast schedule airing on Comcast, Spectrum, Cox and Effectv.
Utilizing our "My Fort Myers" targeted TV spots, we expect this effort generate roughly 8.3 million impressions to help influence summer visitation to the area. VISIT FLORIDA is covering 40% of our total investment and spots will run April 8-June 2.
April 10 Events Marketing Funding webinar
The Events Marketing Funding Program opens with a webinar at 3 p.m., Wednesday, April 10. Lee County nonprofit agencies that host multiple-day events may be eligible to apply.
This webinar is mandatory to apply for funding during this cycle. To learn more about the program and to register for the webinar click here. (Please scroll down to “Save the date” for our Attractions Marketing Funding webinar in May.)
Click here to view these events and more on our partner events page. Questions? Contact Alison Giesen at agiesen@leegov.com.
April 11 Global Meetings Industry Day
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Global Meetings Industry Day showcases why #MeetingsMatter to all sectors of our local economy.
This business brings in new visitors who stay in Lee County hotels, eat in our restaurants, shop in neighborhood stores, and enjoy all that Fort Myers’ islands, beaches and neighborhoods have to offer. #GMIDC2024
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April 21-27 National Volunteer Appreciation Week
Thank you to our Volunteer Ambassadors at Southwest Florida International Airport for their selfless service and adding so much value to the VCB.
We look forward to celebrating them at our 34th Annual Tourism Ambassador Appreciation Luncheon, April 12 at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort & Spa.
Have a great April and thank you for all you do!
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Wins for Fairfield Inn & Suites Bonita Springs: Congratulations to Fairfield Inn & Suites Bonita Springs for winning awards for Best Leadership and Most Profitable Hotel at the O'Reilly Hospitality annual awards in March. Tom Albrecht, director of sales, and Ray Moran, general manager, with the awards.
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Cape Coral
Estero
Fort Myers
Matlacha
Sanibel Island
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A Night at the Museum fundraiser: Calli Johnson, Brian Holaway, Leigh Gevelinger and Sam Ankerson at the gala for the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum & Aquarium, March 16. The event raised over $560,000 to support the final stages of post-hurricane rebuilding and major improvements.
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South Fort Myers
Southwest Florida
Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW)
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If you're an industry partner and would like to be considered for a VCB Partner Spotlight, please contact Ray Sarracino, VCB communications director, at rsarracino@leegov.com
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The votes are in! Island Hopper named one of 10Best music festivals by USA Today
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Congratulations to Island Hopper Songwriter Fest for recently being ranked the fourth-best music fest in the USA Today 10Best Readers' Choice Awards.
Island Hopper is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and the dates for the 10-day event are Sept. 20-29. Most shows are free and the music festival will take place on Captiva Island, Cape Coral, downtown Fort Myers and Fort Myers Beach.
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Keep Lee County Beautiful honors Nancy MacPhee
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We are so proud of our very own Nancy MacPhee, the VCB’s product development manager, for winning the 2023 Environmental Stewardship Community Partner Award. The awards ceremony was hosted March 7 by Keep Lee County Beautiful.
Congratulations to Nancy for a well-deserved honor!
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Add your deal to the VCB's new Calusa Blueway Challenge
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If your business is located along the nearly 200-mile Great Calusa Blueway Paddling Trail, post a deal in the Calusa Blueway Challenge. This gamified passport is a collaboration between Lee County Parks & Recreation and the VCB, and is part of a yearlong celebration of the Great Calusa Blueway Paddling Trail's 20th anniversary.
How it works: The Calusa Blueway Challenge will offer points for check-ins at attractions and businesses along the trail. Points collected can be exchanged for prizes, provided by the VCB. Those who complete the challenge will be entered to win a grand prize of a standup paddleboard or overnight stay in the destination.
Launch date: The Challenge will run from April-February 2025.
It's free: As a valued partner of the VCB, there is no cost for your business to participate.
Questions: Contact the VCB's Alison Giesen at agiesen@leegov.com to learn more.
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VCB's Performance Dashboard
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Explore the Symphony dashboard, developed by the VCB in partnership with Tourism Economics. The dashboard combines all our destination data sources to make data insights more user-friendly and interactive.
Key insights:
Destination website sessions in January increased by 384%, compared to January 2023, and increased by 86%, compared to January 2022, with 72% of all sessions being from mobile and 9% from tablet. Source: Google Analytics Average length of stay in January was 3.2 days, with 80.1% of stays including an overnight. This is up from December, which had a 3-day length of stay and 81.2% overnights. Source: Near International visitor arrivals by air to Lee County was 6.6% of total visitor arrivals recorded between January and December 2023, up 1.5 percentage points from 2022 and closely aligning with 2019 levels. Source: OAG Canada was the top international market for January, with an average length of stay of 6 nights. Toronto was the top origin market, followed by Montreal. Source: Near
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April paid media placements
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Our efforts in FY23/24 Q3 are largely to influence summer visitation, as well as to support the groups/meetings business. Here is a snapshot of our paid media placements launching in April.
Consumer:
- VISIT FLORIDA summer video program – co-op broadcast
- Tripadvisor – display, native
- Expedia – display, native
- Vox – rich media
- Pandora – podcast audio, streaming audio & banner
- Spotify – streaming audio
- Precise TV – YouTube preroll
- Shermans Travel – display co-op
- AdTheorent – interactive display
- Conde Nast – custom content, native, social
- Florida Golf Alliance – social
- New York Times – co-op display
- Sojern – co-op display
- Meredith – co-op display
- Garden & Gun – custom content, display, social
Meetings, weddings, travel trade:
- Bridal Guide – custom content, social
- TravelDesk groups – display-meetings (co-op)
- Meetings Today – print
- Skift – custom content
- TravelDesk – travel advisors co-op display
International
- Expedia UK – display, native
- Expedia Germany – display, native
- Skyscanner – native, display
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Threshold 360 offers free filming of your business
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Have you taken advantage of Threshold 360's free filming for industry partners? Don't miss out on this amazing, free opportunity for your tourism business. Questions? Contact the VCB's Jennifer Walla at jwalla@leegov.com
In partnership with the VCB, Threshold 360's videos can be used to promote your business in the following ways:
- Uploaded to your Google My Business page
- Sent to potential visitors and clients
- Used in presentations or group proposals
- Added to your listing on VisitFortMyers.com
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Industry Partners: Host upcoming Guests First Customer Service Training Program at your location
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The Guests First team would like to express its sincere appreciation to our esteemed industry partners (listed below) who graciously opened their doors to host our winter training sessions. If you are interested in being a host location, please click here for more information.
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Domestic sales activities
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Rotating photos include:
- (Photos 1-2) Florida Encounter, Feb. 4-6: Erin Lester, VCB, conducted one-on-one appointments and attended networking events with meeting planners who are looking at Florida for their next conference. There were over 150 qualified meeting planners who attended this show in Miami Beach.
- (Photos 3-4) Rendezvous South, Feb. 26-28: Erin Lester, VCB, Ani Farrell, Crowne Plaza Ft. Myers Gulf Coast, and Tracy Ryan, Luminary Hotel & Co., networked and conducted group meetings with planners looking for a southern conference destination. There were about 120 meeting professionals who attended this show in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
- (Photos 5-7) NYSAE Trade Show & Client Events, Feb. 26-27: Betsy Bush, VCB, Sandra Keneven, Westin Cape Coral Resort at Marina Village, and Tamara Parker, Marriott Sanibel Harbour Resort & Spa, participated in the NYSAE Trade Show & Theater Client Event at which there were over 500 meeting professionals from New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. They also hosted a client dinner the night before the show, in New York City.
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International sales activities
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- (Photo 1) VISIT FLORIDA’s Florida Huddle, Feb. 4-6: Charm Evans, VCB, and Jeanette Faria, Canada VCB team conducted over 40 individual appointments with tour operators, online travel agencies, airline representatives and travel trade media. The two-day event, held in conjunction with Florida Encounter experienced the largest attendance to date with 728 registered attendees. Pictured: Jeanette Faria, Canada VCB team; Karen Smith, Highwire Marketing; Verdell Ekberg, South Seas Island Resort; Charm Evans, VCB; and Susan Cecere, Westin Cape Coral Resort at Marina Village.
(Photo 2) F.re.e Munich, Feb. 14-18: The German VCB team attended the annual five-day consumer show in Munich. This year’s event attracted over 140,000 visitors. (Photo 3) Toronto Outdoor Adventure Show, Feb. 23-25: The Canada VCB team participated in the three-day show, answering inquiries from consumers on the Fort Myers area and recovery as well as outdoor activities and information on accommodations. Pictured: Jeanette Faria and Andrew Ricketts, Canada VCB team.
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Communications team activities
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Rotating photos include:
(Photo 1) Southwest Florida Ag Expo, Feb. 29-March 10: Miriam Dotson, VCB communications manager, was the spokesperson for the Southwest Florida Ag Expo at the Lee County Civic Center. Here is a link to many of the videos in which she promoted the event, in addition to interviews with local media.
(Photo 2) Jackie Kovacs & Patrick Walsh, Outdoor Canada Magazine & CAA Magazine, Feb. 26-March 2: Travel writers Jackie Kovacs and Patrick Walsh got a taste of the great outdoors aboard Endless Summer Charters. Other partners involved with their visit included The Westin Cape Coral Resort at Marina Village, Pinchers, Nauti Mermaid Dockside & Grill, Edison and Ford Winter Estates, Ford's Garage, Tarpon Bay Explorers, J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge, South Seas Island Resort, Mucky Duck and Green Flash.
(Photo 3) Micah Toub, The Globe and Mail, Feb. 28-March 2: Canadian travel writer Micah Toub and his family enjoyed a tour of Norman Love Confections, led by Dan Forgey. Other partners involved with his visit included Pink Shell Beach Resort and Marina, JetBlue Park, Boston Red Sox, Fine Folk Pizza, Captiva Cruises, Popstroke Golf, Ford's Garage and Edison and Ford Winter Estates.
(Photo 4) Glenn Sapir, outdoor writer, March 19-20: New York state-based outdoor writer Glenn Sapir shows off a catch-and-release snook he caught during a charter fishing trip on Pine Island Sound with Capt. Andre Luttana of Go & Get It Charters, based in St. James City.
(Photo 5) Radio interviews during Minnesota Twins spring training: Industry partners, including Dan and Marie Hamilton of Nautical Tiki Cruises and Rick Bauer of Six Mile Cypress Slough, had the opportunity to promote the destination on the air during spring training at Lee Health Sports Complex. Other partners who were on the radio included Captiva Cruises and Palm City Brewing.
(Photo 6) Tamara Pigott, VCB executive director, Fort Myers on Tap event in Grand Rapids, Michigan, March 22: Tamara Pigott promoted the destination in Grand Rapids as part of the "Fort Myers on Tap" event at New Holland Brewing Company's The Knickerbocker. Watch the interview here.
(Photo 7) Fort Myers on Tap event in Grand Rapids, Michigan, March 22: Pam VanDerkamp, New Holland Brewing Company; Jenn Whyte and Rob Whyte, Fort Myers Brewing Company; and Brett VanDerkamp, New Holland Brewing Company. Thanks to the breweries for collaborating to create Mosaic Grouper, a hazy IPA brewed especially for the occasion.
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Communications earned media results
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Visitor Services activities
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It’s been a busy season at our RSW office. Our volunteer Tourism Ambassadors attended Red Sox and Twins games as well as staffed our spring training information booths at both ballparks.
We learned all about our local public transportation system with LeeTran on a FAM bus tour. The volunteers also represented the VCB at the Southwest Florida Ag Expo providing information on what the VCB does for the community.
Many passengers have made their way through RSW and, after some flight delays and cancellations, our volunteers spread smiles with Project Cookie.
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May 16: Attractions Marketing funding webinar
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The Attractions Marketing Funding Program opens with a webinar at 3 p.m. Thursday, May 16. Lee County nonprofit attraction partners are welcome to apply for funding.
To learn more about this program and to register for the webinar click here. This webinar is mandatory to apply for funding.
Click here to view these events and more on our partner events page. Questions? Contact Alison Giesen at agiesen@leegov.com.
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2201 Second Street, Suite 600
Fort Myers, Florida 33901
Toll Free 800.237.6444
Local 239.338.3500
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