Vice President Citrus County Chamber Marketing Plan Budget

1. CHAMBER PUBLIC WORKSHOP
COMMUNITY DESIGN MARKETING PLAN
ECO TOURISM DEVELOPMENT
November 18, 2006
Presented by:
Amy Virgo, CTA

2. Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Mission Statement
• Marketing Strategy
• Co-op Marketing
• Marketing Plan
• Advertisement/Media
• Campaign
• Operations Expenses
• Grants

3. Introduction
• Citrus County Chamber of Commerce has facilitated visitors and inquiries for over 25 years and it
is well documented in 2005 that the Chamber of Commerce received 1,536,717 hits on their
website and over 900 inquiries per month to request information on tourism; in addition over
36,177 people visited the Chamber locations and 11,702 were related directly to tourism. Since
March 2006 over 7,700 telephone calls were received by the Chamber offices and over 2,600
were tourism and special events requests. To date, 21,085 people have walked in to the Chamber
locations requesting tourism information and 6,940 people received information.
• The operational cost for facilitating the Tourism Division of the Chamber had been partially paid by
the Tourism Development Council (TDC) under contract since 2001 and when the TDC cancelled
the contract in 2006 (expired September 30, 2006) with the Chamber of Commerce to fulfill
tourism requests the Chamber of Commerce formed a new division to support advertising and
promotion for Citrus County that includes an online reservations system with an automated
booking engine so Citrus County vacation packages can be sold online and utilizes tracking
mechanisms that analyze marketing for strategic planning.
• These statistics along with the Chambers historic prominence as the County’s authority on tourism
and tourism related issues supports the Chambers position of maintaining and strengthening the
proven “Chamber” brand as the first “Top of The Mind” contact that visitors communicate with
when acquiring information about Citrus County and why the Chamber of Commerce Tourism
Development Services Division can step up to the plate with a marketing plan for 2007
advertisement and promotion for the fourth and first quarters of the year so that numerous
deadlines for advertising, trade shows and promotions are not missed.

4. Mission Statement
• The Citrus County Chamber Mission Statement clearly supports a vision of a community working
together: “An organization of businesses unified in its effort to advance the economic growth of the
region, promote the interests of the business community, provide leadership on key commerce
issues and preserve the county’s quality of life.”
• Citrus County Chamber of Commerce Tourism Development Services has a vision of a
community working together for tourism and to market the experience of travel, which is the major
motivation for travel. Part of this vision is responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the
environment and sustains the well being of local people while providing a quality experience that
connects the visitor to nature.
• The mission of our new division is “To be the leader in the economic development of Citrus
County by attracting and servicing visitors, generating income, jobs and tax revenues which make
the community a better place to live and visit.”

5. Marketing Strategy
• To develop a community design marketing plan net rates must be established from hotels and tour
products that promote Citrus County community natural assets and festivals. Net rates will create
vacation packages that can be sold before and after county festivals that are promoted by Citrus
County businesses, cities and organizations.
• In addition, this enables tracking mechanisms that began with inquiries and reservations and
proceeds to placement of media and print ads. The tracking mechanisms will analyze whether
utilizing certain media and print ads generated bed tax revenue.
• A special project funding should be established so that the Citrus County community can promote
their festivals and activities that generate bed tax revenue. For discussion there are a number of
high profile events in the City of Inverness and should be supported with special project funding
as it is well documented that a number of people requested hotel accommodations.

6. Co-op Marketing
• The Chamber will develop and promote a marketing campaign supporting Fiscal Year 2007/2008
budget. A campaign will aggressively promote Eco Heritage Tourism for the mid-week/off-season
period targeting Elderhostel, Student Educational Tours, and the Geo-tourism traveler.
• Citrus County would be established as a location that is conveniently traveled to by car and
motorcoach. One way this will be accomplished is by working with Chamber of Commerce,
TDCs, and CVBs in major feeder cities such as Ft. Myers, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tallahassee,
West Palm Beach, Gainesville, Miami, Panama City, and Tampa.
• The Chamber’s agency will provide an open-door policy of communication in the agency’s local
corporate office for co-op marketing opportunities with travel industry and nature-based
businesses located in Citrus County. In addition, local businesses will provide net rates so that
dynamic packaging can be developed and sold online, which would expand room revenue that
increases bed tax revenue to benefit community services.

7. Marketing Plan
• Consumer marketing programs, promotions and special events attract individual leisure, groups
and business visitors to Citrus County from all over the world. Cohesive and compelling programs
help increase hotel room occupancy and daily use of Citrus County travel provider services.
Primary marketing strategies focus on expanding Citrus County brand to visitors:
$ Within driving distance
$ Within other identified key markets
$ Staying with friends and relatives
$ Coming in the off-season (to increase hotel occupancy April – November)
$ Defining market segments
• Travel provider participation drives the success of Citrus County’s marketing objectives.
Customized packages help Citrus County travel providers reach targeted audiences.

8. Marketing Plan
• The Tourism Division works with tour operators, travel agents, airlines and other segments of the
professional travel trade worldwide to expand tour programming to Citrus County. Staff develops
and promotes a wide range of programs including:
$ Eco Tourism
$ Leisure
$ Individuals (FIT)
$ Special Interest
$ Incentive
$ Groups
• With the continued interest by the travel trade in packages, the Tourism Division will capitalize on
Citrus County’s extensive nature-based activities:
$ Birding
$ Boating
$ Canoeing/Kayaking
$ Eco Tours
$ Festivals
$ Fishing
$ Golf
$ Heritage
$ Manatee/Dive
$ Nature Trail/Bicycling

9. Advertisement/Media
• Leisure Campaign
• Television: 30-second spots
• Orlando
• Tampa
• Tallahassee
• Jacksonville
• Ft. Lauderdale/Palm Beach
• Print Media (to be decided)
• Newspaper Advertisement (to be decided)
• Out-of-Home Media (continue annual contract)
• Outdoor Bulletin Boards (continue annual contract, increase to 4 more billboards)
• Internet Advertising
• Citrus County Chamber of Commerce link
• Visit Florida.com link
• Florida Magazine.com link
• Audubon.org website link
• 20 Additional website links (to be decided)
• Leisure Print Co-op Opportunities
• Florida Monthly (to be decided)
• Misc. print (to be decided)
• E-Marketing (to be decided)
• Promotions (to be decided)
• Direct Mail out (to be decided)

10. Campaign
• A community working together to create a sustainable Florida community by educating and
developing product that connects the visitor to nature and to the local community.

11. Grants
• Fish & Wildlife Non-game Wildlife Grants Program
• PADI AMERICAS
• The Nature Conservancy
• Collins Center for Public Policy (sustainable Florida)
• Green Globe
• Progress Energy
• Visit Florida
• Visit Florida Downtowns & Small Towns
• Florida Department of State Guide to Grants
• SWFWMD
• Florida Humanities Council
• John F. MacArthur Foundation

12. Summary
• Division of the Chamber of Commerce. Overall in convention and visitor bureaus across the
country 7.3% are divisions of Chambers with the balance being divided among city, county and
state agencies. Among small bureaus, i.e., bureaus with budgets $500,000 annually, 18.2% are a
division of a chamber of commerce. It is generally found in smaller communities where tourism is
a significant component, sometimes the only component of a chamber.
• Background information: In the last twenty-five years, communities which are interested in raising
their profile, improving their public image, and attracting visitors have found that competitive forces
require an aggressive public relations and sales oriented marketing effort. A non-profit Convention
and Visitors Bureau (CVB) (less commonly called a Visitor and Convention Bureau or VCB), has
been the standard organization created to promote a city, county or region. While there are norms
within the more than 400 CVBs in the U.S., there are many variations that have been developed
to meet the needs of particular communities. Two relevant tourism trends, both involving the
benefits of partnering, are the development of public/private partnerships and the expansion from
single-community organizations to multi-community organizations.

13. Summary
• The purpose of a Convention and Visitors Bureau is to enhance the economic vitality of the region
by marketing the destination to visitors, meeting and convention planners, tour operators,
motorcoach operators, and travel agents and therefore improve the quality of life for residents in
the community. The role and responsibility of a Convention and Visitors Bureau, within the
community, is significant and may include:
• Promoting the history, cultural, retail, restaurant, and recreational attractions of the destination
• Developing a marketing campaign to attract new visitors and convention delegate to the
destination
• Working with local, regional, state, and national and international media outlets
• Implementing print, radio, television, and new media marketing campaigns
• Conducting telemarketing, direct mail, and public relations programs
• Coordinate cooperative advertising programs and attend consumer and trade shows

14. Summary
• Servicing the needs of groups coming to the destination such as accommodations, transportation,
etc.
• Servicing the needs of visitors coming to the destination such as developing and sending visitors
guides, maintaining information centers, full-time inquiry response
• Creating and advocating for new tourism product development
• Convention and Visitors Bureaus are non-profit organizations primarily funded with public funds
• Convention and Visitors Bureaus can be supported by membership or sponsorship investment
and most offer pay-to-play marketing opportunities
• Convention and Visitors Bureaus are consumer centric; chambers of commerce are member
centric.
• Both the Chamber of Commerce and the Convention and Visitors Bureau are vitally important to
the economic climate of a community while providing different and complimentary roles and
responsibilities.
Study done by Tourism Development Associates, April 2004