Monday, September 13, 2021

Franklin County Wins Top Tourism Marketing Award from Visit Florida



Franklin County has received the State’s highest tourism marketing award for the Florida’s Forgotten Coast mobile app. Visit Florida, the state’s marketing entity, presented the prestigious first place “Henry” award in the rural marketing category to the Franklin County TDC, receiving the award was Chairman Ricky Jones and TDC Director John Solomon during the annual Governor’s Conference in Hollywood Florida on September 8th.


The mobile app was the idea of Commissioner Jones who wanted an immediate way to convey important information, particularly in emergency situations, to residents and visitors alike. TDC Director John Solomon was tasked with the creation and design of the mobile app which is downloadable from Floridasforgottencoast.com or in your mobile providers App store.


In this digital world we live in we needed this as a way to communicate with our visitors, but quickly realized that we could use this a way to advertise and promote our area as well. Although we didn’t do it with an award in mind it is nice to receive this award for a job well done” said Commissioner and Chairman of the TDC Ricky Jones

Launched in November of 2020, the mobile app includes a push notification feature that notifies app users of important weather-related information such as double red flag beach alerts or emergency information within the county.

The app also helps visitors access information about area amenities, events, lodging, restaurants, shopping and outdoor recreation opportunities with just a click on their phone. The app also includes an itinerary builder for visitors and a passport game to encourage exploring all aspects of Franklin County.

The mobile app is a major step forward in the promotion of Franklin County as a tourism destination,” said Solomon, who says that since it launched in November 2020, the app has become a popular tool when planning your trip or visiting the Forgotten Coast. We saw a big jump in downloads the day after the award ceremony as well” notes Solomon “It has been great for our visitors as well as our residents and we’re delighted it has received recognition from Visit Florida”.

This is the Franklin County TDC's first Henry award though it is the 4th Flagler award the Franklin County TDC has won in the past two years winning 2 bronze and 1 silver award last year.

The Flagler Awards were established in 2000 by Visit Florida to recognize outstanding tourism marketing in Florida. Annually, the Flagler Awards honor many of the countless individuals and organizations that help maintain and improve Florida’s position as one of the world’s most popular travel destinations. The awards are open to all individuals, private businesses and not-for-profit organizations offering a product or service that promotes tourism to or within the state of Florida.


As in previous years, the 2021 Flagler Awards drew entries from Florida’s tourism partners, large and small. Working independently, a panel of judges evaluated the creativity, innovation, production quality, and effectiveness of each entry. Based on the judges’ cumulative scores, awards were presented to the top three entries in each category: the Bronze Award for the third highest scoring entry, the Silver Award for the second highest scoring entry, and for the highest scoring entry in each category, the Henry Award.




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