In case you’ve lost your sense of smell, then welcome to 2018, when Florida’s red tide has been killing off record amounts of fish (and maybe one gator?) while causing all sorts of headaches for beachgoers and tourism officials (unless they live in Matlacha).
No telling if officials from Visit Florida — a partially taxpayer-funded tourism marketing group — were just tiptoeing around the piles of dead aquatic craniates, but internal emails suggest that the organization was a little slow in responding to the toxic algae bloom that’s ruined the end of everyone’s summer (WFTS obtained the emails through a public records request).
Early last month, Visit Florida CEO Ken Lawson sent members a mass email about red tide after some questioned the organization’s slow response to the crisis.
“I think this is very late to be addressing this issue,” Chris Cullison, owner of the Sandpiper Inn on Longboat Key, told WFTS. Customers and profits at her restaurant dropped nearly two months ago when red tide moved in.
“The crisis was already there for a couple of weeks and a few months south of us before they sent out any information about what they were doing,” Cullison — whose membership costs $285 — added.
Membership with Visit Florida buys businesses online marketing and promotion like placement in official Florida Vacation guides, enhanced web listings on visitflorida.com, sales contacts, access to tourism research, posts on Visit Florida social media pages and other benefits. Paying members of Visit Florida like Cullison say that communication is everything, especially during times of crisis like red tide.
A representative from Visit Florida issued a statement saying that, “The idea that VISIT FLORIDA has ‘waited’ to respond to red tide is 100 percent false,” while suggesting that the group has been in constant communication with partners and worked with Governor Rick Scott to make funds available for areas impacted by red tide.
But that’s besides the point, right?
This article appears in Sep 20-27, 2018.
