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.

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.

Lose Your Baggage in The Florida Keys

By Dorn Martell

It really stinks to lose your luggage, but who doesn’t have some baggage they’d like to get rid of? That’s the theme of our new accommodations spot for The Florida Keys and Key West. The shoot covered the entire destination of Monroe County and included every type of accommodation imaginable. Whether you want to live large in a grand resort or camp out by the ocean, The Keys have something for everyone. But what you’ll find throughout The Keys is what you need most… a place to chill out and let the real world run itself for awhile.

Florida Keys’ Performance Leading the Nation

By John Underwood

Our Client, The Florida Keys & Key West, is dominating the lodging industry in performance results across the country.

According to the most recent report from Smith Travel Research, Inc. (STR), the Keys properties have achieved the highest hotel occupancy among all U.S. markets through first quarter 2014. The Keys have also achieved the highest revenue per available room (RevPar) in the country.

According to STR, Keys lodging averaged 88.1% occupancy from January through March and RevPar (calculated by dividing room revenue by rooms available) for the same period was $262.49, followed by Maui at $257.13.

The Keys have consistently led the state for RevPAR each year since 2008. They have also led occupancy figures 2008 through 2010 and again in 2013.

This is great news for the Monroe County Tourist Development Council (TDC) and the entire lodging and tourism industry We are certainly proud to part of this success.

New spot for Weddings and Honeymoons in the Florida Keys

By Dorn Martell

“The most important promise” is the name of our latest spot for the Florida Keys and Key West. We featured wedding venues from Key Largo to Key West that included lavish resort style weddings, intimate gatherings with a few friends on the pier and even a group of intrepid revelers gathered on a tiny island. The beautiful thing about romance in the Keys is that it is a place where you can fall in love, get engaged, get married, honeymoon or even renew your vows. So the Florida Keys become a life-long focal point for your relationship and the promise to return is the most important promise you’ll ever make to each other.

New Television Spots for the Florida Keys & Key West

By Dorn Martell

Our first new spot, launched this winter, for Key West is all about art. And not the kind of art that’s all about matching a suburban couch. It’s the kind of art that makes you think, makes you feel and definitely gets your attention. In Key West we find that art and life are wonderfully intermingled and that everyone here is part of a massive performance piece.

Our new spot, “Island Made of Art”, is part of a 7 spot package that was shot over several months in 2011. Capturing the beauty and unique environments of the Florida Keys – from the Everglades to the Dry Tortugas – One World Productions and our team shot from ultralights, underwater, from sea planes, power boats, canoes and waist deep in mangroves. We met some very knowledgable and dedicated folks, as well as some truly strange people. But it was all an amazing adventure and we couldn’t be happier with the final product. The music was created by Audacity Recording in Hollywood, FL. Editorial & finishing by I Think Studios.

The results of this shoot are some of the most inspiring images we’ve ever captured. Stay tuned for more new spots over the coming weeks.

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

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!

Tinsley Wins At Regional Addy Awards

By Dorn Martell

Tinsley and The Monroe County Tourist Development Council (The Florida Keys & Key West) were honored to receive FOUR Addy awards at the District Four, American Advertising Federation Awards. This is in addition to the 30 Addys and 14 Golds we received at the Miami Addys including Best of Show for Television. Our regional GOLD ADDY winners are as follows: “Out before it was in” (TV for Key West), “Men Overboard” (print ad), and “Big eyes, full lips drives men crazy. Angelina is that you?” (print ad). We also won a Silver Addy for “A whole new kind of cruising.” (print ad).

This has been a great year for us at the award shows, especially The Education Advertising Awards, The Miami Addys and The District Four Addys. We really appreciate the collaboration between Tinsley and all our clients that has allowed us to produce award-winning advertising over multiple platforms.