- October 30, 2024
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Businesses hoping to reassure potential customers that they're doing what they can to reopen responsibly may get some help from the county: A new program will award businesses with a certificate to display for customers if they agree to follow a set of recommended health and sanitation guidelines.
"They sign this commitment, they get the pledge to display in their window ... and they will get a certificate that they took the pledge," Flagler County Tourism Director Amy Lukasik said during a County Commission meeting May 4.
"We're fortunate, because people will want to travel to less populated areas, and that's in our benefit."
— AMY LUKASIK, Flagler County tourism director
The "Pledge to Prevent" program will also provide those businesses with masks for their employees, Lukasik said.
Lukasik's announcement coincided with the start of national travel and tourism week — an occasion for which, she said, she'd normally be requesting a proclamation by the County Commission.
Instead, she gave a report on how COVID-19 has damaged that sector of the economy.
The numbers were stark, if not unexpected given travel restrictions: Hotel occupancy in Florida is down 75% for the past six weeks over the same six weeks of the previous year, for an average loss per week of $345 million statewide.
About 20% of the state's sales tax revenue comes from tourists, and 79% of the state's general revenue fund comes from sales tax, she said.
In Flagler County, information provided by lodging establishments indicated that occupancy is down approximately 80-90%, she said.
The county's tourism staff estimates that 13.8% of Flagler County jobs are supported by tourism.
But, she said, the county does have something going for it when it comes to reopening.
"We're fortunate, because people will want to travel to less populated areas, and that's in our benefit," she said. "We want to stay top of mind for them, because everyone in the state is going to be competing tactically for the same people."
Flagler County is using the internet and social media to keep the county in tourists' minds through a "Visit Flagler at Home" promotion.
A Marineland Virtual Field Trip posted on YouTube received more than 40,000 views, and a "Boredom Buster" Facebook and Instagram post garnered 7,700 engagements, she said.
For more information, go to https://www.visitflagler.com and www.flaglersupports.biz.
