Brevard County’s tourism chief cautiously hopeful about a comeback for his industry locally

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

With the start of the year, Brevard County’s tourism chief was carefullyhopeful about a comeback for his industry locally. However, he never expected to see how strong the recovery has become.

Space Coast Office of Tourism Executive Director Peter Cranisis now anticipating that — when the county’s budget year ends on Sept. 30 and all the numbers are compiled — the county will earn record revenue from tourism. This comes in spite of a continuing coronavirus pandemic and a 16½-month cruise industry closure at Port Canaveral that didn’t end until July 31.

The earnings in tourism have helped accelerate the overall recovery for the Space Coast economy, of which tourism is a major element. Before the pandemic, tourism was expected to fetch in $1.8 billion a year into Brevard’s economy.

To quote Cranis, “It looks like we will have our best year ever, in spite of all that has been happening. In the last five or six months, we’ve turned things around incredibly. I’m pleasantly surprised. It’s crazy.”

The Office of Tourism is trying to maintain this speed in the coming year, starting with a fall marketing campaign that will run from mid-October to the end of December.

The office is expanding its target geographic markets, aiming higher-income families to attract them to the Space Coast.

Cranis said that the Office of Tourism in recent years has targeted families with household incomes of $75,000 and above for its marketing efforts. This fall though, the office also aims to target families with household incomes of $150,000 to $200,000 and above.

Besides focusing on markets in Florida, the Office of Tourism will be putting more emphasis on attracting visitors from other Southeast markets, including Atlanta; Charlotte, North Carolina and Nashville, Tennessee. The office is also aiming to promote the Space Coast to probable visitors in Northeast and Midwest markets like Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.

« Back to Page