Meek: $25 Mil From BP Not Enough to Encourage Tourism, Give $75 Mil More

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, a candidate in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate, said $25 million set aside for advertising to lure tourists to Florida in the wake of the recent disastrous oil spill is not enough.

Meek told reporters Thursday that he sent a letter to BP CEO Tony Hayward, asking for $75 million more to address efforts to encourage tourism.

Meek’s staff reportedly did research that found it would cost $100 million to advertise in such cities as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago in a 12-week campaign to reassure visitors that Florida is safe.

“We have to push back on the perception that we have oil on the beaches — and BP needs to pay its fair share of that,” Meek said.

The initial $25 million was secured by Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running as an independent in the Senate race.

Florida’s tourism board had projected that a marketing campaign would cost about $35 million as potential tourists are repeatedly bombarded with news that a huge amount of oil — 210,000 gallons of it per day — is headed for the Florida coast.

A Chicago native, Bridgette has been a journalist since she first wrote for her seventh grade newsletter. Today, that passion is just as strong. She has written for several newspapers, including the Houston Chronicle, the Houston Defender, the Marshall News-Messenger (Texas) and the Springfield News-Sun (Ohio).

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One Response to Meek: $25 Mil From BP Not Enough to Encourage Tourism, Give $75 Mil More

1. Bruce Turkel says:

   4:14pm May 25, 2010 at 4:14 pm

   Like politics, money is the lifeblood of marketing. After all, without the budget to get your message out to as many people as possible, even a cogent, compelling marketing strategy can fall flat. And so I applaud Representative Meek for raising as much money as possible.

   Once we have the money, it’s important to remember that we still need have something to say. Simply telling consumers that Florida’s beaches are oil free won’t work. First of all, thanks to the economy and the competition, consumers had to be convinced to visit BEFORE the oil spill. Second, few consumers are going to believe anything the government or Visitor Industry tells them about the condition of our waters. And third, thanks to an appalling lack of knowledge of geography, once it’s announced that oil has made landfall anywhere in Florida (most likely in the Panhandle) many consumers will assume our entire almost 1,200 miles of coastline is fouled.

   Let’s hope that as much time, effort and passion is put into building a cohesive marketing strategy as is invested in raising money.

   Reply