From Jennifer Sorentrue: "Why you might see more tourists from Orlando [Miami and Atlanta] this summer"

If you visit this blog with any regularity you know I'm a big fan of VisitFlorida, Discover the Palm Beaches, and other tourism efforts for Palm Beach County in particular. The 'off-season' for too long has been the sound of a door slamming shut for hotels, restaurants, and retail. Remember walking into my favorite bike shop with the long line of rental bikes and seeing long faces, 'the season' was over. But does it have to be that way?

During the summer months our good friends in Atlanta, Orlando, and Miami are hot too. However you can be hot somewhere else just a few hours away (need we talk about All Aboard Florida?). Even though Lake Worth doesn't have one single solitary large hotel to speak of we do have that artist vibe that tourists will be attracted to and other cool stuff too. 

Jennifer Sorentrue reports on an "out of the box" effort to attract tourists here from Miami, Orlando, and Atlanta with 30-second TV commercials. Here's an excerpt from the article:

     As Florida’s tourism season enters its slower summer months, local tourism leaders on Thursday unveiled a new marketing campaign designed to persuade visitors within driving distance of Palm Beach County to hop in the car and come here. [emphasis added]
     Discover The Palm Beaches, the county’s tourism marketing arm, will launch three new television commercials next week targeting travelers in Miami, Orlando and Atlanta. The cleverly worded commercials touch on the downside of big city living — Orlando’s busy theme parks; Miami’s bustling business districts; and Atlanta’s congested highways and bump-to-bumper traffic jams.
     “We are great admirers of these great cities,” said Jorge Pesquera, Discover’s president and CEO. “But there is something to be said about playing on these issues.”
     The 30-second commercial aimed at Orlando-area residents begins with images of crowded tourist districts.
     “When the whole world comes to your town for summer vacation, where do you go to get away?” a woman’s voice asks, before the video jumps to footage of a couple relaxing in Adirondack chairs on a secluded beach.

Very clever. Oh, and by the way, here is the link to the Lake Worth VisitFlorida page. Here's my contribution to the Lake Worth tourism page: