The idea of five seasons is to package events and aspects of the county as a destination to more broadly promote the tourism industry and create unique branding for St. Johns County.
“ We know what two of them are, Sing Out Loud and Nights of Lights,” Kass said.“ They need be 10 weeks of brands, not two-day weekend events. Then layer everything we do into those sub-brands.”
TDC member Troy Blevins suggested romance as a possible seasonal brand.
“ I’ ve noticed in our hotels we are just kind of building after Nights of Lights – it’ s almost like a romance season( when) you go into February you have Valentine’ s Day and a lot of spring weddings. Start targeting that type of group as romantic getaways.”
Blevins and Kass also mentioned a focus on history, given St. Augustine’ s standing as The Ancient City and wide variety of historical sites in the county.
“ In May for the last three years we’ ve had like a history festival( and) all the different museums have created programs around that,” said TDC member Gayle Phillips.“ Just cluster it and promote it as collective.”
TDC member Charles Cox was also supportive of the five seasons idea.
“ I think it’ s a good concept,” he said.“ And a good way to organize your marketing around the many, many different events we have in this area. You could get more bang for your buck advertising all of these things within that time frame or that time frame.”
Susan Phillips, president and CEO of St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches Visitors & Convention Bureau, said the VCB is already working with a marketing partner and looking into“ theming” events throughout the year.
“ It’ s a monster trying to get our arms around how do we really concisely manage and promote this,” she said.
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