After Hurricane Ian made landfall in September 2022, local restaurants struggled to bring in enough diners to support themselves during the 2023 summer season. To drive visitation during the Summer of 2023 when businesses needed it most, the Lee County VCB focused on the local, 60-mile-radius drive market to bring in residents on day trips to visit the Fort Myers area to savor the tastes of our shores.

Our qualitative objective was to drive business to struggling coastal restaurants and communities. We set out to inspire regional residents by reminding them one of the best ways they can help the community recover happens to be one of the best things about living in our area — a day trip to coastal communities. 

Industry partners were provided a campaign overview and toolkit to promote the campaign on their own channels. Additionally, local leadership implemented toll-free Sundays on the Sanibel Causeway for the duration of the campaign to make it even easier – and cheaper – for locals to visit our island communities. Our Sun Saver Passport, a digital collection of mobile-exclusive discounts, was also promoted to help drive patronage at local businesses.

Using our campaign budget of $113,000, we reached approximately 179 users per dollar spent. The creative elements were developed in-house using existing assets, so did not require additional funds. We spent the campaign budget on digital, social, print and broadcast media placements to promote local restaurants to a regional audience, as well as promoting the campaign through Lee County VCB emails and e-newsletters.

Here's a look at how our local news outlets supported our campaign initiatives.