Discover the Palm Beaches unveils new campaign aimed at increasing summer tourism

In an effort to increase tourism to Palm Beach County during the summer off-season, Discover the Palm Beaches has launched “The Palm Beach Collection” campaign, a questionnaire visitors can fill out to create an itinerary curated to their niche interests.

It’s part of a slew of initiatives launched by Discover the Palm Beaches aimed at improving the county’s tourism sector, CEO Milton Segarra told business leaders attending the Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce members breakfast at The Breakers on Tuesday.

As part of these improvements, Discover the Palm Beaches, a nonprofit corporation tasked with marketing the county as a tourism destination, has invested significantly into its technological capabilities, including the launch of a new website featuring a customer service live chat and improving the organization's marketing software, he said.

Segarra noted that the organization also has plans for a Certified Tourism Ambassador program, an industry-recognized certification program that gives workers, business leaders, and officials the opportunity to become an expert guide on the county’s various entertainment offerings.

Looking to the future, Segarra said Discover the Palm Beaches will work with the county’s Tourism Development Council and a yet-to-be-chosen private consultant to draft a Tourism Master Plan to set the long-term guiding principles for the tourism sector.

With drafting expected to begin in July or August, he called on business leaders at the Chamber Breakfast to join in during the drafting process.

"We want to listen to you, we want to know exactly what are your expectations, what are your recommendations— to make sure we can craft a plan that will define the path for tourism in the next 10 to 20 years,” he said.

All these changes come after a record-breaking year for the county's tourism sector. Some 9.5 million tourists visited the county during 2023 — a gain of 300,000 over the previous year, Segarra said. That amounted to a total of $10.3 billion funneled into the county, with $7.08 billion directly spent at private businesses, he said, adding that the tourism sector makes up just over 11% of the county's economy.

Segarra also highlighted the sector's employment opportunities, noting that 85,000 residents are working in tourism-related businesses.

“It’s important to understand the strategic and practical value of our industry in the big picture of the county’s economy,” Segarra said.

Tuesday's breakfast also included a discussion on global affairs that featured Paula Dobriansky, a senior fellow at Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, who has more than 30 years of experience working in high-level government positions, including as undersecretary of state for global affairs during former U.S. President George W. Bush's first term in office.

Diego Diaz Lasa is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at dlasa@pbdailynews.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Discover the Palm Beaches unveils campaign to increase summer tourism