Florida Destinations Take a Spin on “Wheel of Fortune”

Putting a new spin on destination marketing, Visit Florida partnered with “Wheel of Fortune” to highlight five of the Sunshine State’s most popular locations.

Over the course of one week in October, the popular game show featured Pensacola, Kissimmee, the Florida Keys & Key West, Tampa Bay, and St. Petersburg–Clearwater. Each night during the “Live More Floridays” promotion, one of the destinations was featured with a trip to the starring city.

For instance, the Tampa package included a stay at the Tampa Marriott Water Street, plus Tampa Bay CityPASS for admission to top attractions like Busch Gardens and The Florida Aquarium. Winners also received a treetop zipline experience at Empower Adventures.

St. Pete–Clearwater featured a stay at the JW Marriott Clearwater Beach, a visit to Clearwater Marine Aquarium and The Dalí Museum, and dinner at the MICHELIN-recognized Fortu.

Show viewers could also enter a contest online to compete for a trip.

The campaign was built around the premise that Florida and its many destinations can surprise visitors even if they’ve been there before.

“Visit Florida continues to push the envelope on being creative and being innovative,” says Santiago C. Corrada, president and CEO of Visit Tampa Bay.

The benefits of hosting “Wheel” were obvious almost instantaneously. While the show typically attracts about 8 million viewers per day, Corrada says the Florida week averaged between 13 and 15 million. During the Tampa night, the DMO’s website traffic increased by about 40% during the broadcast hours.

“When you start seeing those notable spikes in search, those are people that didn't know about us,” says Corrada. “It’s continuing to spread the message and tell the story of this fantastic destination that we all love and get to talk about.”

St. Pete–Clearwater already has a sophisticated marketing strategy, but “Wheel of Fortune” provided access that is hard to replicate, says Steve Grimes, the DMO’s chief marketing officer.

“We have a pretty diverse advertising program. We run on all sorts of different platforms,” Grimes says. “But for all of the changes in the communications world, broadcast TV is still a very powerful way to get in front of a large audience in one go.”

When Visit Florida asked the DMO to participate, it was a no-brainer.

“We jumped at the chance to be a part of an overall takeover that I think did a great job of showcasing the best parts of Florida,” Grimes says.

Beyond the vacation packages, the DMOs embedded advertisements during the broadcasts, which are still available on streaming services. ADARA, the destination marketing platform, to target ads toward people who watched the show.

One immediate metric Grimes can report that there were 90,000 signups for the online trip sweepstakes. But he acknowledges convincing travelers to book a trip requires more than one ad; it takes a conscientious effort to stay top-of-mind when it’s time to make a purchase.

Corrada guesses at least some winter vacationers were influenced by the game show. Grimes expects to reap most rewards during spring break and summer vacation in 2026.

While Tampa hosts massive events like the Super Bowl, Corrada says the DMO can’t afford to stop pushing for visitors. He recalls that even as recently as 15 years ago, Tampa was not in the strong tourism position as it is now.

“You never take your foot off the pedal,” Corrada says. “If you see the mistakes other destinations have made is when they felt entitled to visitors.”

Photo Credit: Wheel of Fortune