Issuu

& Marketing Plan

INTRODUCTION

The Shoals is a special place. Lifelong residents and even new transplants to the area have an unwavering affinity for the quad-cities and all that it offers to both locals and visitors. The Shoals, and more specifically, Muscle Shoals, has been coined The Hit Recording Capital of the World and continues to maintain the brand identity of when music pioneers made their mark on the world through the help of generations of Muscle Shoals musicians, songwriters, engineers and producers.

While music has been the means to give The Shoals a global audience, the product offering in the area is diverse and robust.

The Tennessee River, the only Frank Lloyd Wright structure in Alabama, the University of North Alabama, Pope's Tavern, & Museum, the Florence Indian Mound Museum, the Kennedy-Douglass Art Center, the WC Handy Birthplace & Museum, the childhood home of Sam Phillips, the Children's Museum of the Shoals, the Old Railway Bridge, Tom's Wall, Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, FAME Recording Studios, Cypress Moon Studios, the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, the birthplace of Helen Keller - Ivy Green, Rattle Snake Saloon, Coon Dog Cemetery, two Robert Trent Jones golf courses, 8 parks in the surrounding area, 3 historic downtowns, multiple festivals throughout the year and miles of trails for hiking, cycling and exploring.

Not a bad lineup, right? We are incredibly fortunate to have so many attractions and experiences in our area which not only serve our visitors, but it also provides recreation and quality of life for residents which would not be possible without the visitor economy.

The Visit The Shoals team is committed to showcasing all attractions to our visitor to guarantee that we broaden their experience and extend their stay. Visitors are not bothered by city and county lines, especially when attractions are in such proximity. While we might do business as the Florence-Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, we gladly and enthusiastically market the assets of the entire Shoals area.

We want to thank our strong base of industry partners in both Lauderdale and Colbert Counties for their dedication and passion for this industry and this community.

Rob Carnegie Chief Executive Officer

INDUSTRY TRAVEL AND TOURISM ENVIRONMENT

Destination marketers are constantly looking for ways to attract new travelers and retain visitors who make a pilgrimage to a destination on an annual or frequent basis. One of the main drivers for travelers who have visited before is what new offerings are in the destination. For a destination to remain relevant, attractive and competitive, it must reinvest in itself. These investments will provide a great return not only in visitor expenditures, but the attraction of new business, new talent, and a stronger tax base.

Travel and tourism industry

The travel and tourism industry in 2025 reflects evolving traveler behavior and preferences. Insights from U.S. Travel Association, the National Travel and Tourism Office and Future Partners highlight the trends shaping this dynamic sector.

Domestic Leisure Travel

Domestic leisure travel continues to stabilize after the unprecedented growth of the post-pandemic years. According to the U.S. Travel Association, domestic leisure travel is forecast to increase by 3.9% and reach more than $1 trillion in 2025.

International Inbound Travel

Total international arrivals are projected to continue rising over the next two years, surpassing pre-pandemic 2019 levels by 2025. According to the National Travel and Tourism Oﬃce, international visitation is expected to increase by 9.7% in 2025, reaching 85.2 million travelers.

Slowcations

According to a recent report by Future Partners, slowcations are the most popular emerging travel trend, with 57% of American travelers finding them appealing. More than just taking it easy, slowcations prioritize quality over quantity, encouraging travelers to spend more time in a destination and deeply engage with its culture, environment, and community. Despite the name, slowcation enthusiasts are highly active travelers, significantly more likely to participate in a variety of experiences compared to other segments. This trend highlights a shift toward immersive, meaningful travel, where authenticity and connection take center stage.

Tourism Improvement District (TID )

CAMPAIGNS & PROGRAMMING TID

The TID is a self-imposed assessment which is added to hotel folios which is then collected and remitted to a TID board. The TID must benefit the payers (hotels) who operate by a district plan that guides them on tourism projects. Collection began on September 1 2024. Plans are underway to develop and support a Christmas event in downtown Florence.

In 2023, a Florence City Tourism Improvement District was passed by Governor Ivey which allows hotels to collect a self-imposed assessment (4%) which will be used to develop and improve Florence as a premier visitor destination. The combined collection from all hotels is forecasted at over one million dollars in 2025.

Epsilon campaign

The Florence-Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau contracted with Epsilon, the global leader in outcome-based marketing for a digital ad campaign in 2022. Destinations can use the power of machine learning to drive financial outcomes for their communities. Economic impact begins with inviting high value visitors through highly targeted digital media, seeing those people arrive, and then measuring the actual money they spend in destination.

We can see where visitors spend, how much tax revenue the marketing campaigns directly create, and understand the characteristics of high-yielding visitors. We can also help message local markets to keep the destination product visitor ready by encouraging restaurant retail, attraction visitation. 2025 will be our fifth campaign with Epsilon.

2024 Campaign Results

• $55,000 investment (Media Buy)

• Visitors spent $1.8m

• Resulted in a $33:1 Return on Ad Spend

• Campaign tracked 7,800 visitors over the campaign period

• Made 27,500 transactions in market

• Averaging 3.5 transactions per visitor

• With an average transaction of $229

per visitor

Tournaments

The scenic Tennessee River flowing throughout Florence and the Shoals is divided by a series of dams into three different lakes: Pickwick, Wilson, and Wheeler. These lakes offer some of the best sport fishing in the country and in their blue waters can be found trophy Small and Largemouth Bass, Catfish, Crappie, Saltwater Stripe, Sauger and Bream.

In 2024, our team hosted over 30 tournaments which created over 9 million dollars in economic impact for our area. In 2025, the Florence-Lauderdale CVB will host 24 tournaments, representing golf, disc golf, bass fishing, baseball and softball.

Singer/Songwriter Showcase

The music scene is at the core of who we are as a destination. Itʼs in our DNA. Building upon the great history of music in our community is essential. Our first Shoals Singer/Songwriter Showcase at the WC Handy Music Festival was a huge success with standing-room crowds only. Expect to see this showcase again in the Summer of 2025.

Mary Carton/Remember Tuscumbia

Shoals eBike Rentals

In September of 2024 we officially launched an electric bike (eBike) rental program at the visitor center, aimed at enhancing tourism experiences and promoting connectivity in The Shoals area.

Six Electra Cruiser Go! pedal-assisted eBikes are now available for rent during visitor center hours: Monday-Friday from 8:45 AM to 4:30 PM and Saturday from 10:30 AM to 3:30 PM.

The CVB and Florence Parks & Recreation are collaborating to secure funding through grants to support the cityʼs master plan for enhanced cycling infrastructure. Popular nearby trails include the TVA Reservation, Wildwood Park, McFarland Park, and River Heritage Trail

Plans are underway to improve trail signage in McFarland Park and introduce transportation options to the TVA Reservation.

Mavisʼs Movinʼ & Groovinʼ Bus Tours

In 2023, our organization was successful in securing grant funding through the local Lauderdale legislature to purchase a 15-seat passenger bus. The intention was to begin a regularly scheduled tour where visitors could book a seat and buy tickets online or at the visitor center. Tours which operate from March through October run Tuesday through Friday, a Florence City History Tour on Tuesday and Thursday and the Shoals Music Tour and Studio Tour Tuesday through Friday. The history tour is led by city historian, Billy Warren and the music tours are led by long-time music publisher, Kevin Lamb.

Additionally, American Cruise Lines booked over 100 Shoals Studio Tours with Mavis in 2024, with many more planned for the 2025 season.

American Cruise Lines

In 2024, we welcomed 26 cruise ship arrivals for a total of 4,028 guests from American Cruise Lines.

We provided over 100 Shoals Studio Tours generating over $45,000 of revenue for our studio partners. In 2025, we will welcome 28 cruise ship arrivals, and will introduce an eBike excursion for cruise ship guests.

26 arrivals for 2024

Melody, Serenade, Splendor & Symphony

Beginning on May 15, 2024 through November 4

28 arrivals in 2025, May 4th - October 24th

Shoals Studio Tour

eBike excursions

$30,000 investment by ACL at McFarland Park waterfront

The Shoals Mural Trail

In 2023, a magnificent mural was created on the east wall of the Florence-Lauderdale Visitor Center by internationally renowned muralist and Shoals resident, Scott Campbell. Funded through grants from organizations across Alabama, this project not only showcased the rich history of our region through visual storytelling but also supported a talented local artist. By linking our community to existing mural trails, the project has further enriched the cultural landscape of the Shoals, creating a lasting piece of public art accessible to all.

To complement the artwork, we installed a signpost directing visitors to a dedicated webpage. This page offers an opportunity to delve deeper into the narrative behind the art, featuring audio recordings by Jerry Phillips, Halley Phillips, and Rodney Hall. Visitors can learn more by scanning the QR code located at the bottom of the page.

Additionally, we have produced merchandise inspired by the mural, including fine art prints, t-shirts, sweatshirts, and hats, creating an additional revenue stream for our organization.

Plans for a second mural are currently underway for Pocket Park in the 7 Points area.

Muscle Shoals to Main Street

In 2022, we launched the Muscle Shoals to Main Street event as a targeted marketing initiative in the Franklin, TN/greater Nashville area. Since its inception, we have successfully co-hosted three 'Shoals takeovers' in downtown Franklin in collaboration with the local publisher YOUR Williamson. These sold out events featured prominent Shoals hit songwriters, including Lenny LeBlanc, Gary Baker, Phillip White, Chris Tompkins, Walt Aldridge, Mark Narmore, Ed Hill, James LeBlanc, and Billy Lawson.

The initiative has been supported by various local sponsorships and is a direct response to industry predictions of increased Wanderer travel. Visitor data also indicates that individuals from these markets exhibit the highest average daily spend in our destination.

THE VISITOR ECONOMY: LOCAL

AND STATE

At a local level, visitors spent a record $333,833,494 in Lauderdale County in 2023 – a 3.5% increase over 2022 figures.

Almost 29 million tourists vacationed at Alabama beaches, hotels, state parks, and campgrounds in 2023, setting records for the third year in a row, according to Governor Kay Ivey. Spending in Sweet Home Alabama has increased by $1 billion each year for four of the past five years, putting the new record at $23.5 billion spent in a single year.

The tourism industry helped generate 245,500 jobs in the past year, the governor said. For every $140,279 of expenditures in the travel industry, one new direct job is created. Economists estimate that for every two direct jobs created, the Alabama economy indirectly creates one additional job. The industry was responsible for generating $4.3 billion in direct earnings with the total impact earnings exceeding $7.7 billion.

Lodging Tax History

2025 Sales & Marketing Plan

Florence - Lauderdale

Convention & Visitors Bureau

ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGIC OVERVIEW

To develop and enhance the tourism sector through the positioning of The Shoals area as a year-round destination of choice for visitors, through leisure travel, sport tourism, conferences, or group travel, and to realize an increase in visitation and visitor-spending to strengthen the overall economy and quality of life.

The Florence/Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) undertakes tourism marketing and development initiatives because it is a key driver in our economy. Destination marketing can also serve to introduce businesses and potential residents to the city in both professional and leisure capacities.

Marketing initiatives will be focused on showcasing the areaʼs competitive assets and leading with its unique value proposition for travel to differentiate us from competing destinations. We will achieve this by leveraging all tourism markets to maximize visitation and visitor spending.

CORE ORGANIZATIONAL OBJECTIVES:

Market leisure activities that highlight Florence/Lauderdale County and The Shoals areaʼs unique music heritage, culture, culinary, fashion and natural resources and develop products, services, and activities to keep visitors continually coming back.

Increase visitation in the Group Travel/FIT sectors and to act as a lead generator for the conference market.

Attract regional, state, national and international sports events to build the shoulder season and strengthen our event resume.

Ensure each guest to the city has access to visitor services, information and support.

Increase the positive travel media coverage referencing Florence/Lauderdale County and Muscle Shoals.

Build upon existing product clusters which need further enhancement and support as part of a tourism development initiative, including but not limited to, Music, Outdoor, Fashion, Art, and History.

TARGET MARKETS: Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, including some international markets consisting of the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and Australia in the Travel Trade markets.

2025 KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS:

The sales and marketing team have established targets for individual markets. The following list indicates where we will be focusing our efforts to influence growth in the visitor economy:

LEADS

FAMILIARIZATION TOURS

EARNED MEDIA

SPORT BIDS

SPORT MEDIA

TOTAL ROOMS BOOKED

ECONOMIC IMPACT FROM EVENTS

NEW UNIQUE USERS TO WEBSITE

FACEBOOK FOLLOWERS

INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS

Further to the above KPIʼs, our digital marketing campaign will have a set of campaign metrics that will track the campaign delivery, channel performance, new vs. returning visitors, time on site, top converting channels and path to conversion. This information helps us to focus our campaigns to capitalize on the highest concentration of activity in a particular channel.

2025 OPERATING $1,260,000 $70,000 $151,548 $1,481 ,548

OPERATING $526,274 $685,971 $266,340 $1,478,585

LEISURE TRAVEL

OBJECTIVE:

To attract a visitor(s) through multiple consumer advertising channels for the purpose of a pleasure visit by showcasing the unique product offerings of The Shoals to increase length of stay.

MARKET OVERVIEW/STRATEGY:

The consumer/leisure market is one which yields significant spending over the entire calendar year. Florence/Lauderdale County and The Shoals area has a unique and eclectic music history, natural resources, historical narratives, fashion icons and cultural gems which make this destination an attractive and appealing place to visit, live and work.

In partnership with the city of Florence, we are introducing a new platform to our marketing strategy called Placer.ai, which is a location analytics platform that provides real-time insights into consumer behavior and foot traffic patterns by analyzing anonymized location data from various sources. As of 2024, Placer.ai analyzes over 1.5 billion monthly visits across 20 million devices and more than 13 million venues, in partnership with more than 500 mobile apps. By partnering with the city in 2025, we will share costs and leverage these insights to enhance our destination marketing strategies, improve resource allocation, and drive economic growth.

A key objective in our 2025 strategy will be to see a further incremental return on each dollar spent. While not all advertising channels produce a reported and demonstrated ROI, our digital campaign with Epsilon will provide a net economic impact report tracking every dollar and the return on that dollar in multiple travel segments. The intelligence of cross-device technology will deliver messages to high-yield, high-propensity visitors to The Shoals area.

Additionally, a Net Economic Impact (NEI) Report will follow 90 days after the campaign ends. A six-month check-in is provided to get a Pulse on visitor traffic and spend. The NEI is a comprehensive report which outlines total message revenue, investment, return on ad spend, total transactions, averages per visitor, and average message spend per visitor.

Social media, limited print advertising and newsletter objectives will also play a key role in our Leisure Travel marketing strategy.

2025 TARGETS:

Establish a benchmark on website visitation and inquiries of 208,890 unique users.

Grow our Facebook audience by 2% to 44,731 followers.

Grow our Instagram follower audience by 7.5% to 14,620 followers.

Lead: CEO/Director of Marketing & Communications

TRAVEL TRADE

OBJECTIVE:

To attract motor coach and other visitor groups (FIT), fly nʼ drive, escorted groups - both domestic and international, to Florence/Lauderdale County and The Shoals area.

MARKET OVERVIEW/STRATEGY:

An aggressive and strategic effort will be made to capitalize on The Shoals advantage to attract group tours to the area.

Building upon our trade efforts, we attended the UK Americana Music Awards in London, England in January 2025. This week- long event gave our team the first hand experience of developing key relationships with musicians and influencers in the UK. Sweet Home Alabama was the presenting sponsor of the event which gave Alabama a platform during the awards with representatives from Muscle Shoals Sound, Huntsville and the State Tourism Department.

Again in 2025, the Visit The Shoals team will attend IPW (International Pow Wow) to build more engagement with international operators and leverage the music history which The Shoals is so recognized for. Visit the Shoals will attend both the International and Domestic marketplaces for Travel South.

Lead:

Senior Sales Manager, Sport + Travel Trade

SPORT TOURISM

OBJECTIVE:

To lead and assist the local community by establishing Florence/Lauderdale County and the Shoals area as a sport tourism and recreation destination. The Florence/Lauderdale CVB serves as a vehicle to support the creation, promotion and delivery of sport events for visitors, participants, partners and residents.

MARKET OVERVIEW/STRATEGY:

The landscape for new events and building our event roster is transcending with the addition of the new venues opening in 2025. Visit The Shoals has also made a significant investment into the UNA sports program by securing the naming rights for the new Bobby Wallace Football Field at the new Bank Independent Stadium.

Florence and The Shoals area continues to position themselves to host a more diverse selection of sporting events. With a new 4-field pod added to the Florence Sportsplex and the addition of a new tennis & pickleball complex, both the CVB and the city look to secure new events that will strengthen our destination resume and deliver significant economic impact.

• 2024 sport tourism economic impact - 9.6m

• 2024 room night generation - 15,726

• In 2025, the Florence-Lauderdale CVB will spend $250,000 in hosting fees

• 24 tournaments are now scheduled to take place in Lauderdale County

• New events to the area include the Menʼs & Womenʼs American Junior Golf Association, FLW Toyota Series Bass Tournament and the MLFLW Bass Tournament.

• Returning in 2025 will be the Cal Ripken and Babe Ruth World Series.

A partnership with the City of Florence – Parks & Recreation Division

Lead: Senior Sales Manager, Sport + Travel Trade

MEDIA RELATIONS

OBJECTIVE:

To maximize public relations reach and “third party endorsement” from travel and outdoor writers, bloggers and other key influencers who provide content for travelers.

MARKET OVERVIEW:

In the last 8 years, we have seen our tracked earned media grow from just over $2.2 million in 2016 to over $90m in 2024. This staggering climb is the result of multiple partnerships throughout the nation to curate the right media partners who will maximize our story.

Visit The Shoals takes every opportunity we can to be in front of decision makers who influence travel to our area. Some of the trade shows and conferences we attend are: American Bus Association, Travel South International, International Pow-Wow (IPW), TEAMS, ESTO, Global Travel Summit, Destinations International, Alabama Governorʼs Conference on Tourism along with hosting several press tours. Showcasing different municipalities, their leaders, and their favorite things in The Shoals to see and do. Engaging our local leaders and community residents engenders affinity for the area and the destination brand. Look at contracting with one strong influencer with significant national and international audiences.

2025 TARGETS:

Grow our qualified leads to 104 or 4% through marketplace and fam tour opportunities

Increase our familiarization tours by 50% to 6 in 2025

Lead: Senior Sales Manager/CEO

VISITOR SERVICES

OBJECTIVE:

To provide visitor information and retail products to guests of the Visitor Center with outstanding customer service. Our Partnership Services team stays connected with our industry stakeholders through company visits and selling enhanced listings on the destination website.

MARKET OVERVIEW:

Ensuring visitors to Florence/Lauderdale County and The Shoals area can access information and support during their travels is an essential component of the visitor experience – one which can translate into increased length of stay, repeat visitation and referrals for the city.

The Visitor Center was established as a multi-purpose venue to service the growing number of visitors to our city. Its primary purpose as an information and retail outlet provides visitors with useful resources and souvenirs for purchase, but further serves as a gathering-place for locals, artisans, musicians, and those representing the cultural and historical scene in the city.

Consistent programming and service standards are key in the visitor services space to retain and attract visitors to the center. The Shoals Songwriter Showcase remains a standing-room only event, which converges with the WC Handy Music Festival.

New merchandise is available with new products always considered for the gift shop. Partnership Services was designed to support our industry stakeholders and ensure that communication and customer service was the core of the program. A variety of support services are covered.

You can learn more at: www.visitflorenceal.com/partnership-services

Visitor Services Manager