Marketing Insights
We are halfway through 2025, and as noted in our quarter one letter, while we are seeing a slow down in overall travel across the US in every sector of travel( car rentals, airlines, and hotel / vacation rentals), we continue to see strong interest in guests looking to travel despite economic outlooks and other local factors like short-term rental ordinance changes.
In a recent report with Skift. com, Taylor Bowley, an economist at Bank of America, said,“ We’ re seeing a more selective consumer that maybe they’ re making fewer trips, but making a more meaningful experience out of them. Households are generally making less transactions per month when it comes to travel.”
To this point, our in-house marketing team has been working with our local teams to better provide guests looking to book with information around notable events, experiences, and services to help inspire travel to each of our destinations. While we continue to see demand for shorter stays and requests for discounts, paired with longer browsing periods before guests make a final booking, we continue to market for extended stays and to snowbirds for the upcoming Winter season. With national reports noting a month-over-month decline in air travel, we are enhancing our marketing to guests within driving distances to our markets in an attempt to capture guests looking for weekend or short stay trips.
Gulf Coast Market Summer is well underway on the Gulf Coast as families return to the beaches. From Destin, the communities along Scenic 30A, all the way to Cape San Blas, families are enjoying the Gulf’ s white sand beaches. Changes and enforcement of community curfews and customary use beach laws continue to unfold across Emerald Coast communities and impact guest stays. While Florida tourism continues to be strong, Okaloosa and Walton counties are experiencing a decline in tourism, potentially due to beach access issues and increased competition. The South Walton Tourism Department Council noted in June that“ Tourism revenues in Walton County are down 9.2 % compared to this time last year” and have prompted“ serious budget discussions within the TDC.” In the month of May, we had several high-profile national and regional influencers( Hannah Brown, of The Bachelorette, being one) stay with the 360 Brand on the Gulf Coast, garnering an impressive number of visitors to our websites and social
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360 360 BLUE • • FORGOTTEN EMERALD COAST • • 2025 Q2 Q2 REVIEW
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