Securing Media Coverage for a Family Resort

Challenge

An affordable and convenient “home away from home” destination for families, FantasyWorld Resort in Kissimmee, Florida, selected Curley & Pynn to build and manage a seasonal public relations program to drive awareness and support visitation during the 2020 fall shoulder season, leading up to the holidays. The great challenge of accomplishing such a goal during a difficult year for tourism was compounded by the limited awareness overall for the relatively new resort and its many amenities, including a water park, mini golf, daily activities and more.

Both the pandemic and timing narrowed down the usual markets feeding FantasyWorld Resort’s visitation. Travel from outer U.S. and international markets such as the U.K. was limited or prohibited.

Objectives

We knew that driving quick hits from Florida media and influencers would be key. In particular, the resort wished to target Central Florida residents to encourage staycations. To build awareness for the FantasyWorld Resort brand, we aimed to secure regional media and blogger coverage that would build awareness for the brand and encourage locals to visit.

Solution

Knowing FantasyWorld’s target of middle-income families, we created a strategy with tactics that would introduce the resort and its offerings through a mix of mainstream and niche community media and regional bloggers. Our team worked quickly to move from making introductions to sending invitations to stay at the resort, which was implementing best-in-practice safety and sanitization procedures during the pandemic. Even the design of the resort supported a safe stay, as each villa was an independent unit with its own entryway.

We established a weekly series of unique pitches about FantasyWorld, from weekend getaways to encouraging weekday stays with all the comforts and amenities of home, conducive to working or attending school remotely. Curley & Pynn was also instrumental in helping the resort strengthen its membership with Experience Kissimmee, establishing the resort as an ideal partner, and successfully co-hosting several media and bloggers.

When FantasyWorld Resort made the decision to launch a Halloween event and, later, a holiday season experience for its guests, these events became part of our storyline, and were weaved into each site visit and pitch.

Results

Over a short three-month period, we secured 50 media and influencer placements for FantasyWorld Resort, building awareness for a resort that did not have much media exposure prior to our partnership. Among these wins, we worked with local family publications, mommy bloggers and community media reaching diverse families. Perhaps our greatest win was Central Florida’s News 13 coverage of FantasyWorld Resort’s Halloween event, which marked the first time a TV station had covered the resort.