Space Coast tourism marketing aims at video, millennials

The Space Coast has been crushing it when it comes to tourism.

And local tourism officials are aiming to keep that momentum with its amped-up marketing push, including one targeting 18- to 34-year-old millennials that focuses on videos and social media.

"We're very optimistic about where we are and where we're going," Space Coast Office of Tourism Executive Director Eric Garvey said.

Revenue from Brevard County's 5 percent tax on hotel rooms and other short-term rentals — a key measure of how the tourism industry is doing — is up 10 percent during the first eight months of Brevard County's current budget year that began Oct. 1. Newly released figures for May show that revenue was up 17 percent that month, compared with May 2015, making it biggest gain so far this year.

Separately, new hotel room rental data from STR Inc. show that the Space Coast outperformed other areas of Florida in key measures of room occupancy and room revenue during the first six month of 2016, with June figures particularly strong. Garvey said the report indicates that the Space Coast is taking market share from other Florida markets.

Space Coast tourism promotion to rise with more money

Titusville pushes 'Launch from Here' tourism campaign

"It's just a great set of numbers," Garvey said.  "We were all doing the happy dance in the office" when the June numbers came out.

The county collected $11.29 million in tourist tax in its last budget year, and is on pace to collect more than $12.4 million this year.

The Office of Tourism uses 41 percent of the tax money for promotion and advertising to market the Space Coast to tourists. The Tourist Development Tax also helps pay for beach improvement, tourism-focused facilities, cultural events marketing, visitor information centers, and Brevard Zoo and Space Coast Stadium upgrades.

Office of Tourism Marketing Director Tiffany Minton detailed the agency's marketing plans this week to the Brevard County Tourist Development Council Marketing Committee, and got rave reviews.

"That's first-class," said Marketing Committee member Tim Michaud, general manager at the 502-room International Palms Resort and Conference Center in Cocoa Beach, Brevard County's largest hotel in terms of room count. "That's a huge change from three years ago."

Here are three things Brevard County is planning to do to attract more tourists in the coming year:

More videos

The Office of Tourism plans to post a new produced video every Thursday on its YouTube channel, as well as staff-produced and tourist-produced short videos each day on its Instagram and Facebook Live accounts.

"Video is king," Minton said. "Everybody wants to see video. The stats are really staggering."

Minton noted, for example, that Facebook, globally, generates 8 billion video views a day on average, which is double the amount of video content users were consuming in 2015.

And millennials — which the Office of Tourism defines as the 75.4 million U.S. residents ages 18 to 34 — are three times more likely than baby boomers to watch a video on their mobile devices.

Brevard tourism officials excited about USSSA stadium deal

The Office of Tourism's two-minute video, "24 Hours in Cocoa Beach," is aimed specifically at millennials, as it follows five millennials from sunrise on Cocoa Beach through a day of swimming, a helicopter tour, watching the cruise ships at Port Canaveral, a visit to Ron Jon Surf Shop, miniature golf, checking out an art gallery, dining, drinking and dancing.

The video doesn't have captions or a voice-over to explain where each of the featured locations is, but refers viewers to a website (www.24HrsInCocoaBeach.com) for more information.

"A lot of these are inspirational," Minton said. "We're trying to inspire" people to check out the Space Coast.

Marketing Committee member Tres Holton, a Palm Bay City Council member, said he likes the "24 Hours in Cocoa Beach" video because it didn't focus on rowdy, beer-drinking spring break crowds, but rather "places to go that are safe."

Holton said that's good, because the Office of Tourism is not trying to attract people who only spend money on alcohol while they are here.

Clean beaches

The Office of Tourism is trying to emphasize a message that the Space Coast beaches are clean. It's doing this both in subtle ways, such as with photos and videos on social media depicting clean water and clean beaches, as well as with plans for a weekly beach report posted on social media and on the Office of Tourism websites.

"That is super-important," Minton said. "That is part of our strategy. This is just telling people we're good."

The idea is to reassure tourists that the recent outbreak of blue-green algae affecting beaches in the Treasure Coast area is not affecting the Space Coast beaches or ocean.

Targeted advertising

The Office of Tourism marketing plan for the coming year includes a number of approaches to target advertising to specific audiences. This includes:

• Targeted advertising to communities where the start of the school year isn't until September to encourage a pre-back-to-school vacation on the Space Coast. The effort includes paid Facebook ads and email marketing.

• Television advertising tied into such streaming services as Amazon, Crackle and Hulu, as well as aligning its television advertising purchases with promotions on Facebook.

• Expanded use of social media and "digital" advertising. Minton noted that the number of people "liking" Florida's Space Coast fan page is up 38 percent since January, and now stands at more than 205,000.

• Advertising in airports in markets like Atlanta that feed into Central Florida and the Space Coast, as well as "wraps" on the exterior of Lynx buses that operate in the tourist areas of the Orlando region.

Tourism leaders applaud stadium deal with USSSA

•  Posting memes on social media to promote the Space Coast — only the Office of Tourism calls them "meteors." An example: An image of a woman sitting on the beach, looking out at the ocean, with the text "Take me to the beach. I need some Vitamin Sea. Florida's Space Coast."

• "Freshening up" of elements and images on billboards along the highways, as well as modernizing the Office of Tourism logo itself.

The Office of Tourism's push for millennials follows a campaign this summer that included a focus on the "endless summer vibes" of the Space Coast and urged visitors to "share endless spaces, sun, selfies and smiles with your family this summer on Florida's Space Coast."

Marketing Committee Chair Bob Baugher, owner of hotels in the Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral area, said he is "extremely happy" with recent and planned Office of Tourism's marketing efforts.

Florida sees record tourism for 4th straight year

"I have had less issues with this staff than I ever had" in the past, under previous Office of Tourism administrations, Baugher said.

Marketing Committee member Wendy Ellis, president of Merritt Island-based Space Coast Advertising Consortium, said she, too, is a fan of the Office of Tourism's latest marketing push.

"I think it's amazing," Ellis said.

Contact Berman at 321-242-3649 or dberman@floridatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter @ByDaveBerman and on Facebook at facebook.com/dave.berman.54