The results are in! VISIT FLORIDA recently announced the results of the cultural tourism marketing campaign, Culturally Florida, which was initially launched in October of 2001. The campaign, a joint effort of the Department of State, VISIT FLORIDA, and American Express, which promoted Florida’s cultural destinations, brought over 79,000 visitors to Florida and over $46 million in tourist revenues.

“The Culturally Florida campaign has been a true success story in many ways,” said JuDee Pettijohn, Division of Cultural Affairs Director. “This public/private partnership directly exemplifies how the arts are good for business. In addition to our wonderful beaches and entertainment industries, the campaign shows firsthand how the arts in Florida are an equally important tourism draw. It has been our pleasure to work with Governor Jeb Bush’s Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development, American Express Corporation, VISIT FLORIDA, the Florida Arts Council, The Florida Historical Commission, and hundreds of our state’s cultural destinations.”

The Culturally Florida project was a comprehensive effort to reposition Florida as a unique destination, which offers tourists more than beaches and theme parks. Representatives of Florida’s local arts agencies, museums and convention & visitors bureaus formed a steering committee that guided the process, made decisions and gathered the information for the promotional elements.

The Culturally Florida campaign involved the following:

• A four-color travel planner was inserted in editions of Travel + Leisure and Food & Wine magazines. The travel planner was a scaled down version of the more comprehensive 120-page guidebook.
• The 120-page guidebook was the primary fulfillment piece that was mailed to consumers and travel agencies wanting more in-depth information about Florida’s arts, cultural, historic and heritage offerings.
• 100,000 top-producing travel agencies received copies of the travel planner and a special newsletter introducing Culturally Florida.
• 135,000 American Express Cardmembers (located primarily in top producing visitor markets in the Northeast and Midwest), selected on their spending habits, age, income and card usage at arts/cultural activities, received the travel planner and a personalized letter.
• VISIT FLORIDA introduced a website dedicated to the program, www.culturallyflausa.com, which included all the information from the guidebook, plus additional detail. The website averages more than 1,000 visitors daily.
• VISIT FLORIDA introduced the program to travel writers through mailings and at receptions in Fort Lauderdale, New York and Chicago.

The results of the campaign are very impressive. Despite the fact that the campaign was launched right after the events that occurred on September 11, a remarkable 59% of the 135,000 American Express cardmembers who received the direct mail piece traveled to Florida in the five-month period following the campaign (October 2001 through March 2002).

Tracking results from American Express show that 79,806 of these targeted cardholders spent $46.6 million in Florida on their American Express Cards. And that amount only takes into consideration those expenditures within Florida and on the card – purchases outside the state such as airline tickets or air/hotel packages purchased through a travel agent are not included since those transactions occurred outside the state.

This amount also does not include the economic benefit to the state created through cash expenditures or the use of other credit cards. A 59% success rate is extraordinary considering that even under normal circumstances, a 40% success rate is considered a good rate. Additionally, the program generated 219,302 inquiries from consumers wanting more information about cultural opportunities in Florida.

VISIT FLORIDA is a unique, not-for-profit corporation that markets Florida tourism on behalf of the Florida Commission on Tourism, a private/public partnership. It was created by the Florida Legislature in 1996 to promote Florida tourism worldwide. For more information about the Culturally Florida project, contact Kerri L. Post, Vice President of New Product Development, VISIT FLORIDA 850/488-5607 ext. 355 or kpost@flausa.com.