A state tourism-promotional campaign for Northwest Florida will start this fall with money tied to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, Visit Florida President and CEO Dana Young said Monday.
The Visit Florida Board in May approved a three-year $10.5 million grant from Triumph Gulf Coast to run a marketing campaign that highlights areas on the Panhandle.
Triumph Gulf Coast administers Deepwater Horizon settlement money.
“We are in the creative process now for the campaign that will come from that,” Young told members of the Visit Florida Executive Committee.
Visit Florida and the Northwest Florida Tourism Council also will provide $500,000 annual matches.
According to Triumph Gulf Coast materials, a campaign will focus on family outdoor recreation “in environmentally conscious ways,” while other campaigns will highlight Panhandle communities “within the umbrella of the ‘Adventure within Reach’ narrative.”
The Triumph Gulf Coast money comes from $2 billion the state is getting from BP because of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Triumph Gulf Coast is required to spread three-quarters of the money to counties most affected by the spill --- Bay, Escambia, Franklin, Gulf, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Wakulla and Walton.