County Rethinking Tourism Marketing Efforts

One of the oldest pieces of wisdom in the business world is you have to spend money to make money. For tourism development, that means advertising and marketing, but in St. Johns County that could be a problem.

The county’s tourism marketing contract with the St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & T he Beaches Visitors and Convention Bureau expires Sept. 30 and the county is faced with a gap in advertising and marketing efforts promoting the county as a vacation destination.

At a recent County Commission meeting, Jaime Locklear, county director of purchasing said since 2022 three requests for proposals for tourism marketing services were issued and all three were rejected.

“We are currently out for solicitation for an interim marketing management firm to prevent a gap in services,”: she said. The interim agency would provide services for up to six months at a cost of $250,000.

Commission Chair Sarah Arnold agreed that the county cannot let the tourism marketing efforts lapse.

“We do have to put in place some kind of stop-gap measure,” she said.

Locklear said the RFP for selecting a management firm rather than a direct marketing firm was posted at the end of August and is intended to be a multi-year contract for services.

Speaking during the public comment period, Susan Phillips, VCB president and CEO, said her organization understands the process underway.

“I appreciate all that all of you have done for us and done for our tourism community,” she said. “We are a little bit concerned because of the timing. We are certainly going to do everything we need to do. We’re here to do our very best job.”

Several residents and local tourism business owners spoke out for the VCB, including St. Augustine Sailing owner Rose Ann Points.

“Tourism is the lifeblood of our company,” she said. “The VCB has been instrumental in helping us.”

St. Augustine City Commissioner Cynthia Garris said he came to support the VCB and its efforts to promote tourism in the county.

“I have seen the wonderful work they do on marketing and how it impacts our city,” she said. “We need to do whatever is necessary. We need to bring the city alike like it has been.”

Garris said while many visitors come to Florida for the Orlando-area attractions, heritage tourism is also a big draw and that brings a lot of people to St. Augustine.

“We have to step up and do what’s necessary so we don’t lose the desire to come to St. Augustine and marketing is essential to that,” she said.

Commissioner Christian Whitehurst said the tourism industry is made up of hundreds of small businesses and the county has a role to play in promoting tourism.

“Government has an opportunity here to be a true partner with the private sector,” he said. “This is important to me that we get it right. We’ve got to help our friends in the small-business sector.”

County Administrator Joy Andrews said she is confident a solution will be found.

“We understand the urgency and it’s absolutely unacceptable if we have to go through a six month period with a gap in service,” she said.