FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Public/Media Relations Manager
228-388-2993
media@coastalmississippi.com
Coastal Mississippi Tourism: Best January in Four Years
COASTAL MISSISSIPPI (February 27, 2020) – Coastal Mississippi, the destination marketing organization for the State’s tri-county coastal region, has released tourism numbers for the month of January, which are the most successful the region has seen in four years. The historical key performance indicator (KPI) comparison for January in the last four years shows increases in all indicators between January 2017 and January 2020 (see below).
Coastal Mississippi’s current innovative and strategic plans aim to significantly increase visitation and positively impact the region’s economic development. For the beginning of 2020, typically a shoulder season for the destination, strategies included two new marketing campaigns based on target insights and consumption habits as well as an Expedia campaign that generated 11,200 incremental room nights sold and 1,100 incremental air tickets in January. Coastal Mississippi also launched a new experiential destination video across the organization’s social media channels and increased earned media coverage for the region.
The return on investment for these initiatives is evident, as the estimated total impressions from the sports fan and holiday/winter marketing campaigns were a combined 31 million, impressions from the Expedia campaign generated 1.6 million impressions, and the destination video, Meet Us in Coastal Mississippi, amassed 2.61 million impressions in January alone. Team Coastal Mississippi engaged with more than 25 journalists, editors and freelancers in strategic media markets, securing increased earned media coverage and future press trips.
“With plans and strategic partnerships in place to maximize visitation to this region, Coastal Mississippi is poised and ready for an extremely exciting year to come,” said Coastal Mississippi CEO Milton Segarra. “We continue to work with stakeholders, industry professionals, multiple agencies and elected officials to elevate our destination, as working together is the key to bringing more visitors to Coastal Mississippi. February is following a similar trend, and we look forward to a great future of increased visitation, deepened partnerships and broadened horizons.”
With a substantial amount of private sector investments (well over $700 million in industry projects in development) and impending disbursements, such as funding from the Gulf Coast Restoration Fund and GOMESA, Coastal Mississippi is looking at an extremely prosperous year ahead. Faced with such opportunity to change the landscape of the travel and tourism industry in Coastal Mississippi, collaboration between the community, stakeholders, and elected officials is critical to the future success of the region.
Coastal Mississippi will continue in its endeavors to promote The Secret Coast and looks forward to welcoming many more visitors to discover the #MSCoastLife. To find out more, visit: www.coastalmississippi.com.
Coastal Mississippi is an organization charged with promoting South Mississippi as a tourism and convention destination worldwide. Its mission centers on attracting ever-increasing numbers of leisure, convention, sports and business visitors to the area. It is dedicated to maximizing the travel and tourism industry for South Mississippi. Visit CoastalMississippi.com to learn more.
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