The Tide Has Turned

When The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel (Lee County) experienced the most intense red tide outbreak in nearly half a century, images of contaminated water and dead sea life scattered across beaches went viral across mainstream media. As a result, the number of visitors to Southwest Florida drastically dropped, taking a major yearlong toll on the tourism industry.

Once the red tide subsided, we worked to communicate across all channels that the waters of Fort Myers & Sanibel were back to normal. We implemented a variety of PR tactics to showcase the destination’s beautiful water in real time and encourage visitors to come back and enjoy the upcoming activities. Tactics included distributing a multimedia news release across the wire, hosting a national satellite media tour (SMT) in Fort Myers Beach, coordinating monthly group press visits, and executing media tours in primary and secondary markets.