Dunbar-McCollum mural wall, Fort Myers

'Blitz' campaign targets Cincinnati, Detroit, Grand Rapids and Minneapolis

We are excited to begin a multi-market "blitz" campaign this month – an impactful effort featuring high-frequency messaging to increase consideration and drive visitation this spring and summer, outside of our peak winter travel season.

The four markets identified for this campaign offer direct flights into Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) and include:

1. Cincinnati
2. Detroit
3. Grand Rapids, Michigan
4. Minneapolis 

Special targeting tactics will be used to reach an audience we have identified as "Family Fun-Seekers." Campaign components include market-specific broadcast news segments, traditional radio, streaming audio and video, digital out-of-home and airport signage, a direct mailer, dedicated emails, paid social, an influencer campaign and PR press trips with visiting journalists from those key markets. This integrated blitz campaign will run through May. 

More on Family Fun-Seekers
Family Fun-Seekers are family-focused, sociable trailblazers. They lead busy lives, so spending time together and making new memories are important to them. They prefer vacations where they can do a lot of activities together as a family, and lifestyle presentation is also a high priority.

Here is the 30-second spot we're running to influence this target audience. 

Later in February, we will be welcoming back the Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins for spring training. This is always an exciting time of year as visitors from up north get the chance to see their favorite baseball teams play in the warm Florida sun.  

Have a great month and thank you for all you do to make our slice of paradise truly wonderful. 

                    Warm regards, 

We'll see you on the midway at the Lee County Civic Center Complex, Feb. 29-March 10

Attention industry partners – Please share with your guests and make plans to join in on the fun at this year's Southwest Florida Ag Expo! Enjoy the midway rides and games, livestock shows, delicious treats, and amazing entertainment daily at Southwest Florida’s best family-friendly event.

Get even more out of your experience with the MEGAPASS, which includes gate admission and access to all mechanical rides for just $25 on any one day of the Expo. This is a pre-sale only exclusive offer.

Rotating images include:

• (Photo 1) StudioRes groundbreaking, Jan. 17: Lee County will be home to the first StudioRes, a new brand being rolled out by Marriott. Marriott CEO Tony Capuano attended the ceremony, along with Mark Laport, CEO with Concord Hospitality, owners of the new hotel. The hotel will have 124 rooms and is expected to open in spring 2025. It will be located at 9251 Hilsman Lane, Fort Myers. 
  
  
• (Photo 2) Grand opening of Crowne Plaza Ft. Myers Gulf Coast, Jan. 17: The property held a ceremony to celebrate its renovation and rebranding. The Crowne Plaza has 169 rooms and is located at 9931 Interstate Commerce Drive, Fort Myers. 
  
  
• (Photo 3) Sanibel Moorings ribbon-cutting ceremony, Jan. 12: The event at Sanibel Moorings celebrated the reopening of all 62 second-floor rooms, and they are now working on completing the remaining 60 first-floor rooms. 

Bonita Springs

• Lakota Creole brings Native American, New Orleans-style fusion cuisine to Bonita Springs
• Rooftop at Riverside food truck park to open Jan. 11 in downtown Bonita Springs
• Naples Coastal Kitchen to relocate to Bonita Springs in new year

Cape Coral

• Hooked Island Grill snags former brewpub for Cape Coral location

Estero

• Crave Cookies launches first SWFL location in Estero
• Job fair to commence in Estero March 7
• San Matteo Italian Restaurant & Bar opens in Estero

Fort Myers 

• Daniels Marketplace shopping center celebrates groundbreaking
• Nordstrom Rack to open Bell Tower location
• Protein Paradise opens in south Fort Myers
• The Spa at Sanibel Harbour Marriott
• JetBlue to start service between Fort Myers and Worcester, Mass. 
• More than 150 SWFL restaurants open in 2023
• City of Palms Park could be home to MLS Next Pro team

Fort Myers Beach

• Margaritaville Beach Resort Fort Myers Beach opens Fins Up! Beach Club
• Tiki on the Beach hotel to rebuild

Sanibel Island

• Chico's celebrates reopening of original store
  
• Redesigned Shell Museum galleries expanding education scope, more shells

Manatee Park

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

VCB's Performance Dashboard 

Explore the new Symphony dashboard, developed by the VCB in partnership with Tourism Economics. The new dashboard combines all our destination data sources to make data insights more user-friendly and interactive.

Key insights: 

• The top out-of-state origin markets in November were Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Detroit and Minneapolis-St. Paul. This is largely consistent with the top origin markets observed in November 2021, before Hurricane Ian. Source: Near 
   
• International visitor arrivals by air to Lee County was 6.5% of total visitor arrivals recorded between January and November 2023, up 1.7 percentage points from 2022 and closely aligning with 2019 levels. Source: OAG 
   
• Destination website sessions increased by 543% for November, when compared to November 2022, with 65% of all sessions being from mobile and 9% from tablet. Source: Google Analytics
  
  
• Average length of stay in November was 2.8 days, with 81% of stays including an overnight. This is up from October, which had a 2.4-day length of stay and 79% overnights. Source: Near
  
  
• Canada was the top international market for November, with an average length of stay of 5.4 nights. Toronto was the top origin market, followed by Montreal. Source: Near
  
  

  VIEW THE PERFORMANCE DASHBOARD

February paid media placements

Our efforts in FY23/24 Q2 are largely to influence spring visitation, as well as to support the groups/meetings business. Here is a snapshot of our paid media placements launching in February. 

Consumer:

• Multi-market "blitz" campaign in Cincinnati, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Minneapolis
• Meredith - Southern Living – print advertorial, digital native article, native and social promotions (part of native content package)
• Shermans Travel – sponsored email

Meetings, weddings, travel trade:

• Wellness Travel University – webinar sponsorship
• Small Market Meetings – print ad (digital magazine)
• Bridal Guide – custom native content
• Honeyfund – custom content
• Northstar Meetings Group – email
• VAX - featured destination native
• Convention South – newsletter feature
• Prevue Meetings – custom content

Sign up for the Cape Coral Quest 2.0 today

A new year calls for new adventures! Start exploring with the latest pass to earn discounts and rewards while also discovering new businesses and landmarks in Cape Coral. Solve riddles, uncover codes hidden on each property and earn points towards fantastic prizes. Click on the image above to sign up for your FREE pass today.

Be part of Guests First winter sessions

Domestic sales activities

Rotating photos include:

• (Photo 1) American Express INTERaction, Dec. 3-6: (From left) Linda Gidge, sourcing manager, AMEX GBT, and Betsy Bush, VCB, conducting their booth appointment. There were over 950 meeting professionals who attended the trade show in Seattle.
  
  
• (Photos 2-3) CCRA Power Solutions NYC, Dec. 5-6: Jennifer Walla, VCB, networked and met with a variety of travel advisors from the greater New York City area who book both leisure and business travelers. 
  
  
• (Photos 4-5) Destination Reps Holiday Client Event, Dec. 5-6: Lauren Hyps, VCB, networking with meeting planners from the greater Chicago area. 
  
  
• (Photo 6) Tallahassee Sales Calls and Holiday Client Event, Dec. 11-14: Erin Lester, VCB, and Nancy Simonsen, Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort & Spa, conducted meeting planner sales calls and hosted an interactive client event making holiday centerpieces.

International sales activities

• (Photo 1) 2023 U.S. Embassy Discover America Sweden Christmas reception, Dec. 5-8: This event was in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy and Discover America Sweden. Attendees were greeted by Ambassador Erik Ramanathan and provided an update on arrival statistics and upcoming events from the chairman of Swedish board. Hanna Johansson, Scandinavian VCB team, spoke with representatives from Polyresor, Travelzmart, Supreme Travel, BIG Travel Concept, Travel News, E-Traveli, Icelandair, SAS and Lufthansa Group.
  Pictured: Helene Hofverberg, senior PR executive, Related; Johnny Gardsäter, chairman of Discover America Sweden; and Hanna Johansson, Scandinavian VCB team.
  
  
• (Photo 2) 2023 Discover America Oslo Evening Event, Dec. 13-14: From left: Christian Tøraasen, Amerikaspesialisten; Hanna Johansson, Scandinavian VCB team; and Anne Iljen Langfeldt, Vilja Reiser, networked and attended an Icelandair presentation on new routes and U.S experience offerings. Johansson also met with travel agents and tour operators from Escape Travel, Vilja Reiser, Carpe Diem, Amerikaspesialisten, Kilroy and Benns, and provided updates on the destination.

February sales events

Communications team activities

Rotating photos include:

(Photo 1) Susan Glaser, The Plain Dealer/Cleveland.com, Jan. 5-9: Miriam Dotson, VCB, and travel writer Susan Glaser experience JWB Grill at Margaritaville Beach Resort at Fort Myers Beach. Some of the other partners that were part of her visit include Island Inn, Love Boat Ice Cream, Heavenly Biscuit on Wheels, Oxbow Restaurant, Lovers Key State Park, Luminary Hotel & Co. and Cabbage Key.

(Photo 2) Chris Ryall, Canadian travel writer, Jan. 18-19: Chris Ryall and guest Sarah Chandler, experience JWB Grill at Margaritaville Beach Resort Fort Myers Beach with Jackie Parker, VCB. Partners involved with his visit included Captiva Cruises, Cabbage Key, Margaritaville Beach Resort, Edison and Ford Winter Estates, Manatee Park and downtown Fort Myers. 

(Photo 3) Glen Turk, Midwest Golfing Magazine, Jan. 28-31: Guest Deb Patton and golf writer Glen Turk shot a round at Eastwood Golf Course in Fort Myers. Turk's visit to the destination is part of the VCB's market blitz that includes Grand Rapids, Michigan. Partners involved with his visit included Sanibel Moorings, Adventure Sea Kayak, Doc Ford's Rum Bar & Grille, Mud Bugs, Tutti Pazzi, Dunes Golf & Tennis Club, Eastwood 77 Bar & Grill, Edison and Ford Winter Estates, J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Sanibel Deli & Coffee Factory, Eggcetera and Sanibel Island Golf Club. 

(Photo 4) TravMedia's International Media Marketplace (IMM) North America 2024, New York City, Jan. 25: Jackie Parker, VCB, met with 24 travel writers, speed-dating style, to discuss potential press trips and network with other destinations. 

Communications earned media results

Communications team earns gold at Adrian Awards

Visitor Services activities

Our volunteer Tourism Ambassadors explored Manatee Park on Jan. 11, and Everglades Day Safari on Jan. 12 on FAMs. We are grateful to our industry partners who host our ambassadors so they can gain firsthand knowledge about these experiences to share with the traveling public at RSW.