Florida still has local treasures to promote

Maybe the way to save Visit Florida isn’t so much to stress tourism marketing but to talk up tourism management.

On Wednesday, Gov. Rick Scott was in Palm Beach County urging business and community leaders to speak up for Visit Florida, the state’s imperiled tourism marketing agency.

Legislation in Tallahassee, which seeks to abolish Visit Florida, cleared one House committee earlier this month.

In his remarks to those gathered, the governor drew an apt analogy to Coca-Cola. Even though it’s one of the most recognized and successful corporate brands, the governor pointed out the soft drink company still funds a rich advertising budget.

“And the reason they do it,” the governor told a packed house at Sancilio & Co. Inc.’ s Riviera Beach facility, “is because it works.”

It is diffifficult to argue against that reasoning. Unless you are standing in a 90-minute line to board Space Mountain, or the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train or Soarin’ in Disney World.

What does one have to do with the other?

It’s a hard sell to the public that you want to spend tens of millions of their tax dollars to invite more tourists here when there are already 100 million-plus people coming to visit every year.

In fact, the governor let on that 2016 is likely to set a new record for Florida tourism, with somewhere between 110 million to 115 million visitors last year.

And that’s during a year where the state arguably had the worst ever streak of bad headlines — from the scary Zika outbreak to the shocking shooting at the Orlando Pulse nightclub to an isolated but still PR-damaging algae invasion on a few beaches.

Now, yes, you can make a convincing argument that you need Visit Florida’s marketing muscle to keep the state competitive in a world where you are up against the Eiffffffffffffel Tower and the Great Wall.

“It’s a potential disaster, in a nutshell,” said Jorge Pesquera, president and CEO of Discover the Palm Beaches, of the plan to dissolve Visit Florida. “If you don’t promote, then you’re out of sight.”

Which brings up the tourism management concept — the idea that the goal isn’t simply to draw more people to our theme parks, which the new Star Wars and Avatar and Harry Potter attractions will do anyway.

But, rather, it’s to emphasize the less-traveled paths in Florida, to spread the tourism wealth. Both Pesquera and Visit Florida’s top offifficer said so at Wednesday’s meeting.

“It’s not just about people going to Disney,” said Ken Lawson, Visit Florida’s new president. “It’s about enjoying Florida.”

Pesquera said that strategy is a win- win for Palm Beach County.

It’s an opportunity to promote lesser-known features about the county that could draw more people here, from Wellington’s equestrian events to Jupiter’s marine treasures.

“That’s exactly what Visit Florida does,” Pesquera said. “They support efffffffffffforts to get the word out about places that are unique, but don’t get as much promotion. These are places we have to tell the world about.”

And a part of the Visit Florida mission that Floridians need to be told about.