So here's how the BP oil spill tourism story seems to have gone: First there was the oil spill itself. Then Florida Governor Crist hysterically insisted that Panhandle tourism was getting devastated, and that he needed tens of millions of dollars from BP to promote the state. Then we did a basic Orbitz search and showed that Florida tourism wasn't declining much at all. Then Crist got his tens of millions of dollars, and Florida tourism officials launched a broad-based social media campaign with part of the money.
Then those officials cajoled a reporter into publishing an article about what a great job they did because Florida tourism... didn't decline much at all. Thank goodness we had them doing that kind of work—and showing all of us "a great model, a great best practice for responding to tourism crisis"—or else who knows what might have happened?
So given the choice between "there was never much of a risk in the first place" and "we can prove that a bunch of retirees hooked up their RV's after they saw Florida's Facebook page"...what do you think happened to end Florida's tourism crisis in the face of BP oil?
[Photo: Euku / Wiki Commons]
Related Stories:
· Florida tourism saved by social media. Really. [Fortune / CNN Money]
· Oil Spill Travel [Jaunted]
· Travel Advertising [Jaunted]
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