TALLAHASSEE, FL: Visit Florida, the state's tourism agency, has issued an RFP for communications help following the slew of hurricanes that have battered the area in recent weeks.
The RFP, for $135,000, was given to four agencies based on research and recommendations, said Vanessa Welter, Visit Florida's director of PR. She added that "time is of the essence," and a decision would be made quickly.
The four agencies invited to pitch are Fleishman-Hillard, Lou Hammond & Associates, CKPR, and Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell.
Welter said strategy would be directed from in-house. She added that Visit Florida has a crisis communications effort already started and has a four-phase long-term plan on the horizon.
She said the office must communicate that although four hurricanes have caused a great deal of damage, much of the state is unharmed.
Yet media coverage has focused on the devastation, leaving Visit Florida with the need to let consumers know which vacation areas are still up and running.
