Goals: Clearly state your marketing goals. What did you strive to achieve using this piece or program?

Results: Which of your original goals did you achieve and how? How did you measure the effectiveness of the piece or campaign? Entrants should provide quantifiable results of their tactics or campaigns. (for example, click through rates or ad equivalency)

Project Analysis: Please provide a brief background on the project and your company efforts to demonstrate good corporate citizenship in the areas of community involvement, environmental, or socially responsible practices.

Objectives and Goals: What did organization set out to achieve in undertaking this project in CSR? What were the goals you set to measure your success?

Results: How did you measure the effectiveness of your efforts and what direct and tangible results did you achieve? Please be as specific as possible and share the full impact of your efforts in CSR.

Leadership: Please list the individual in a leadership role responsible for the project and how would you characterize their commitment to promoting corporate social responsibility in the travel and tourism industry?

Situational Analysis: Please provide a brief background on the initiative and the problem, challenge or issue you were seeking to address in the areas of developing emerging talent and engaging existing talent to meet the demands of your business.

Goals: What did your organization set out to achieve in undertaking this initiative? What obstacles did you encounter?

Results and Impact: What results had the greatest impact on your target audience? Please comment on the process and the outcomes. What measures were used to determine success?

Situational Analysis: Please provide a brief background on the initiative and the nature of the issue you were trying to impact.Florida’s Paradise Coast’s offers beautiful weather, pristine beaches, exceptional dining and outdoor excursions that create a relaxing setting to explore a variety of laid-back, lavish and adventurous properties and events. The destination encompasses “laid-back luxury” with a mix of high-end and approaching accommodations and dining offerings. When COVID-19 hit, in the middle of busy season, the CVB knew instantly it would be our role to deliver our constituents with helpful, truthful information. As the CVB we worked quickly to provide multiple ways for partners to receive updates, including information on city, county and state regulations, resources on federal aid and a safe place for two-way communication to ask questions. We did this by increasing our monthly partner newsletter, Paradise CoastLines, to weekly and hosting "town hall" style webinars twice a month at no charge to partners. In April we provided a PR Checklist of marketing and PR tips for businesses on quick updates they could make to enhance marketing materials. the On July 22, we hosted a "Working With the Media" webinar, offering tips on how to speak with the press and do's/don'ts of an interview. We also worked with local social media influencers with a heavy-Florida following to visit hotels, restaurants and attractions to document the experiences and encourage and inspire their followers to visit. As we navigated the summer months, the CVB launched The Paradise Pledge - a voluntary program targeted to local businesses. By signing the pledge, businesses agreed to follow all CDC suggested guidelines, assuring guests they would feel safe upon visiting. The pledge launched in July 2020 and not only gained traction in the local community amongst business owners, but provided a larger safety assurance from prospective travelers that this was a destination taking the precautions seriously.

Goals: Clearly state your goals. What did you strive to achieve with this initiative?The objective of the recovery mission was to most importantly help constituents feel comfortable and not alone throughout this process. We wanted to offer information in and easy to understand format. We also saw this unexpected downtime for tourism as a window of opportunity to educate partners, which we wanted to do by hosting a media training seminar virtually. Our goal was to see an open rate on the newsletters above 25%, our average open rate on the monthly newsletter. We also hoped to have at least 25 members at the town hall style webinars with update and for at least 100 businesses to sign The Paradise Pledge within the first three months (end of October 2020.)

Results: Which of your original goals did you achieve and how? How did you measure the effectiveness of the initiative?Our happy partners has been the primary way we've measured success. The consistent growth in attendees to the webinars and open rates on the newsletters showed that our audience stayed engaged. Open rates were as high as 34.8% on the Paradise CoastLines newsletters and average attendance of 50+ per webinar for the town hall updates. We also saw an excellent response to The Paradise Pledge, with more than 110 members as of November 2020, pacing slightly ahead of our original goal. As we continue to battle the pandemic, tourism numbers are again beginning to increase in the region. The average daily rate paid by visitors in September rose 14.1%, when compared to the same month in 2019, according to Research Data Services. From the same report, the county saw 59,737 visitors coming from other parts of the state in September, an increase of 48.8% from the same month last year, showing that the local efforts were having an impact.

Goals: Clearly state your marketing goals and audience. What did you strive to achieve using this piece or program?

Results: Which of your original goals did you achieve and how? How did you measure the effectiveness of the piece or campaign? Entrants should provide quantifiable results of their tactics or campaigns. (for example, click through rates or ad equivalency)

Entry TitleFlorida's Paradise Coast

DivisionCrisis Communications/Management - Crisis Communications/Management

CategoryCrisis Communications/Management