April 14, 2021 In Tinsley Blog

The Florida Keys experience epic comeback after the COVID shutdown.

by Dorn Martell

On the morning of March 24, 2020 a roadblock went up on the only road leading into The Florida Keys. The lifeblood of The Keys, the tourism industry, was completely shut down. The roadblocks were up for over two months and places like world-famous Duval Street were completely void of travelers. It was predicted that it would take years to get back to the occupancy and room rates of the pre COVID world. But Tinsley had a plan to keep The Florida Keys & Key West top-of-mind during the lock-down in anticipation of meeting pent-up demand after travel restrictions were lifted.

It is now one year later, so how are The Keys doing?

According to The Miami Herald, “A year after the Keys did what no other place in Florida could do — put up barriers to keep people out — the lifeblood of tourism has returned. The crowds are back. Tax revenues are up.” “In October 2019, for instance, the county collected about $1.8 million in tourist development taxes. In October 2020, that rose to nearly $2.6 million, by July it shot up to 3.2 million” according to data provided by the tax collector’s office.

“We’re busier now than in 2019,” said Richard Strickland, Director Key West Airport.

Smith Travel Research reported that the Florida Keys led the nation in occupancy at 95% and led the rest of Florida in both room rate and RevPar.

Our strategy of “Keeping our distance. Remaining connected.” really worked. We created digital post cards so the tourism industry could reach out to past guests. We ran “PSA” messaging during the lockdown to encourage wearing masks, hand washing and social distancing instead of going silent. We wanted people to know that The Keys have safety protocols in place and that The Keys have plenty of open spaces and room to spread out. And as The Keys reopened in June, we announced the re-opening in all media while continuing to encourage responsible behavior, in-county, on pole banners, digital billboards and signage at the airport.

It’s been a tough year and our hearts go out to those who have suffered, but the future looks bright and we are honored to be an integral part of the recovery of The Florida Keys & Key West.

November 24, 2020 In Tinsley Blog

THE BEST TOURISM MARKETING IN THE STATE – AGAIN

by John Underwood

Once again, Tinsley Advertising dominated the Annual Governor’s Conference on Tourism. Held in Tampa, Florida on Thursday, November 19, 2020, the Agency walked away with five (5) Flagler Awards for our creative work produced in 2019 (pre-Covid advertising efforts) for The Florida Keys & Key West. The multiple awards won were more than any other DMO or tourism-related business received in the state.

The Flagler awards included three (3) Henrys (the top honor) for our thirty-second “Twisted” television spot promoting direct flights to the destination, a print campaign promoting the variety of fishing in the Florida Keys & Key West and for our out-of-home taxi promotion in the UK. The agency also took home two (2) more Flagler awards in the Local Marketing and Direct Marketing categories.

The annual Flagler Awards are named after developer and railroad pioneer Henry Flagler and were established by Visit Florida in 2000 to recognize excellence in the Florida tourism marketing industry. To date, no agency has won more awards for a Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) than Tinsley.

We continue to be thankful for our long-standing partnership with the Monroe County Tourist Development Council that has allowed us to create award-winning work that has been extremely successful for this remarkable travel destination.

September 29, 2011 In Tinsley Blog

Tinsley and The Florida Keys & Key West Recognized for Outstanding Tourism Marketing

By Dorn Martell

We wouldn’t be lying if we said Henry Flagler hangs around our office. In fact we have a whole wall of “Henrys” and are pleased to announce that we just added three more to our collection.

Named for Henry Flagler, the Flagler Awards were established in 2000 to recognize outstanding tourism marketing in Florida and we are fortunate to have won every year since. In this year’s competition, we were finalists in four categories and won the top honor in three.

We won a Henry in the category of Resource/Promotional Material Consumer for our fabulous new LGBT Brochure, which compliments our Best of Show win at the Addys for our Gay and Lesbian marketing.

Our New York Transit poster campaign also won a Henry in the Out-Of-Home category for these memorable pieces: “You’re not a sardine, get out of this tin can”,
“Please step to the end of the line” and “Call in and say you caught something”.

For Print Advertising we won a Henry for these ads:
(For our fishermen) “Big eyes, full lips, drives men crazy. Angelina is that you?”
and “More fans than all of Facebook” (promoting our amazing reefs).

We also won Silver for our Direct Marketing pieces: “The Earth is your Recreational Vehicle”, and “There’s nothing like the end of the road to turn you around.”

We thank the Monroe County Tourist Development Council and its Director Harold Wheeler, for being great clients and allowing us to do the best tourism advertising around.

We’d also like to thank old Henry Flagler for building the railroad that connected the Keys to mainland America and brought paradise a little closer to home.

flaglers2011

September 7, 2011 In Tinsley Blog

Tinsley Selected as Agency of Record by The Florida Keys & Key West. Again!

By Dorn Martell

26 years ago, Crockett and Tubbs were prowling the streets of Miami in a Ferrari. Ronald Reagan was urging Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. Parachute pants were the rage and Tinsley Advertising was celebrating a new account win: The Florida Keys & Key West.

Now, the only thing remaining from that indelible period in time is our relationship with The Florida Keys.

Last week, Monroe County’s Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously to approve Tinsley Advertising as the Agency of Record for The Florida Keys & Key West, again. This follows a similar vote by the Tourist Development Council who reviewed a total of five Agencies.

“Tinsley showed a level of understanding of The Keys and a breadth of work that the other agencies didn’t come close to,” said Rita Irwin, Chairman of the Monroe County TDC.

The 50-minute presentation included everything from an innovative “Station Domination” program for New York commuters to behavioral and contextual marketing on Pandora and Facebook. We also proposed a voluntourism campaign that will encourage visitors to donate a small portion of their vacation to help Florida Keys causes. And of course, we showed some cool new TV concepts for Key Largo, Islamorada, Marathon, Big Pine and the Lower Keys, as well as, new water sports and art spots for Key West.

Our 26-year relationship with The Keys has allowed us to do some of the best work in the travel and tourism industry. We have been honored by The Travel Industry of America, Visit Florida’s Flagler Awards, and the Addys, where The Keys won 30 awards in 2011 including “Best of Show.”

We are so happy to have such a wonderful client as The Florida Keys & Key West. It is a partnership that continues to produce great work and the highest daily room rate in the state.

Thank you Monroe County from everyone at Tinsley!

August 25, 2009 In Tinsley Blog

Flagler Awards 2009

by John Underwood

The Agency walked away tonight with three (3) Flagler Awards at the annual Governor’s Conference on Tourism held at The Fountainbleu Hotel. We were actually finalists in four categories and won the three below:

Radio: Tropical Storm Fay
TV: Go Green
Multicultural: The only time we’ll tell you to go straight and Flaming and Fabulous

About The Flagler Awards:
“The Flagler Awards were established by the Florida Commission on Tourism to recognize outstanding tourism marketing in Florida. Every year, the Flagler Awards honor many of the countless individuals and organizations that help sustain and improve Florida’s position as one of the world’s most popular travel destinations. It is a way to recognize the determined efforts of those who use their skill, resourcefulness, creativity and innovative spirit to market Florida to the world, and in doing so help ensure the continued success of the state’s most important industry.”

Thanks to ALL for their hard work. Harold and Rita Irwin (TDC Chair) were in attendance with Harold accepting the “Henrys”.

July 10, 2009 In Tinsley Blog

Tinsley Creates New Keys Co-op Website

By ROB BUSWEILER Free Press Staff

Cooperative advertising with the Monroe County Tourist Development Council has been made a little bit easier.

TDC officials met with members of the Middle and Lower Keys District Advisory Council on Tuesday and Wednesday this week to unveil the new Web site that allows private businesses to piggyback on national and international advertising campaigns. The county’s promotional materials are handled by Tinsley Advertising.

Businesses can get started on the process by going online to www.keysco-op.tinsley.com.

The new Web site allows for businesses to pay for placement in the ad campaigns handled by Tinsley online. The Web site lays out the rates and placement dates for the separate campaigns.

“This streamlined a lot of things,” said Tinsley Account Executive Sharon Joseph.

Businesses can submit their desired ad copy and payment information on one form. The private business information is then placed below the main artwork from the TDC ad. Officials from Tinsley said it gives the small private businesses a national presence at a fraction of the cost.

Tinsley execs also laid out a video presentation that showcased some of their upcoming targets for this year’s advertising campaign.

Those targets included trying to reach the traditional niche markets that the Keys have been successful with in years past, such as families, scuba divers, fishermen and the wedding crowd.

One of the new additions to the market grab is Tinsley’s attempt to try and reach eco-friendly tourists. The video displayed a new television advertisement focused on attracting “green” tourists, which showcased visitors using bicycles and kayaks to get around, in addition to those enjoying the coral reef.

“The ads are very catchy,” said Middle Keys DAC Board Member Vicki Tashian.

The DACs and the TDC have already committed to upping advertising budgets this year, with a greater focus on an internet presence.

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