Florida’s New Image Problem

An entire small town leveled by a hurricane. Dead fish on Florida beaches. Those recent images were presented worldwide. Very bad news, raising new questions about the future of the state’s No. 1 industry: tourism.

But what about another even bigger multi-billion-dollar enterprise: commercial real estate?

The last figures from Visit Florida showed tourism spending from out-of-state visitors generated $112 billion a year. The state’s commercial real estate industry has an even higher figure. It contributed $184 billion to the state’s economy, the third most of any state, according to an article last year in Florida Trend Magazine.

Florida’s troubles began with Hurricane Irma, which clobbered the Florida Keys and parts of Lee and Collier counties last September. Then came the toxic red tide and blue-green algae on both coasts. Killing thousands of fish washed ashore.

The latest: Hurricane Michael – a near-Category 5 storm with winds up to 150 MPH that pounded Panama City and reduced the tiny beachside Mexico Beach to rubble.

No real answer to either question is obvious. But the negative images do show a perception problem outside of Florida, where it’s sometimes believed the entire state was devastated instead of specific areas.

Past Studies Show Little Or No Lingering Issues

The short answer to hurricane damage: Past post-hurricane studies have shown some slowdowns but not generally long-lasting impacts except in such far more major storms as Katrina in New Orleans.

A study by International University’s Metropolitan Center found short memories when it comes to hurricanes, partly because of the state’s newcomer populations who have never been through them before.

Meanwhile, what is the state doing about responding to an image crisis?

Florida’s Response To Image Issues

There have been several.

The mistaken perception that the entire state was impacted by red tide and hurricanes is a major theme from Visit Florida, the state’s public-private tourism promoter. That is a distinction that Visit Florida attempts to make with its $1 million yearly for crisis response. After Irma, that figure was raised to $4 million to assist in post-hurricane marketing. The figure will almost certainly be raised again this year.

Also, local convention and visitor bureaus, hotels and others are using their websites and social media channels to update potential visitors on rolling out the welcome mat. Among their good news: cough-inducing red tide that lingered for a year and toxic blue-green algae that killed thousands of fish appear to be finally on the wane.

Even in smaller regional counties there are efforts to blunt the storm’s impact. The Lee and Collier County area, where one in five jobs is dependent on tourism, is spending $250,000 from an emergency tourism fund for a “Return to Paradise” theme. It includes ads on travel websites and social platforms to advise that visitors are safe from the red tide scare and the impact of hurricanes — at least for now because the season is not yet over