New billboards advertise the Keys.
Looking for a place to go this summer? Count down the miles to the Florida Keys.
The state tourism-marketing agency has put up 19 alluring billboards in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties that show motorists how many miles they have left to go to reach the Keys.
That’s 105 miles from the Interstate 95 billboard near Linton Boulevard in Delray Beach, 74 miles from one on the Sawgrass Expressway near Sunrise Boulevard in Sunrise and 53 miles from one on the Palmetto Expressway at U.S. 27 near Hialeah.
Visit Florida hopes that’s close enough to get people thinking about making the trip south.
The posted mileage is only to North Key Largo at the entrance to the Keys. Add 112 miles to the number on the billboard to get all the way to Key West.
Visit Florida’s Keys to Summer campaign is designed to help the Florida Keys economy and tourist spots rebound from the hit they took following Hurricane Irma’s devastation in September. The motto of the $200,000 campaign: “The only Keys you need this summer.”
Visit Florida President Ken Lawson said “there’s no better time than this summer to hop in a car, take a trip” and explore the Keys.
Drivers stopping to fill up their gas tanks could also see video advertisements for the Keys on gas pump screens. Other advertisements are taking place on social media, and a publicity road trip is being staged this week at spots in the Keys.
While South Florida tourism leaders would love to see residents have a “staycation” at resort in their counties this summer, they aren’t begrudging the Keys any tourist publicity it can muster up — even if it’s on billboards in their counties.
“We’re all friendly competitors. We all want to see Florida succeed,” said Glenn Jergensen, executive director of the Palm Beach County Tourist Development Council.
He knows South Florida benefited during the past tourist season — Palm Beach County tourist tax collections are up 12 percent this year — as tourists sought alternatives to the Keys and other hurricane-damaged areas.
“Our winter successes in all of the Palm Beaches were certainly to the detriment of the Keys, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean,” Jergensen said.
“They were impacted by those hurricanes [Irma and Maria] and tourists still wanted to take vacations.”
lbarszewski@SunSentinel .com, 954-356-4556 or Twitter @lbarszewski