Tourism officials in one upstate New York community seem to have surrendered to the inevitable and given up marketing itself to tourists during this ‘ridiculously stupid winter.’
The homepage for Ithaca, NY has taken an unorthodox approach to destination marketing, inviting would-be visitors to instead head south to the Florida Keys.
"Due to this ridiculously stupid winter, Ithaca invites you to visit The Keys this week," the welcome message says.
"Please come back when things thaw out. P.S. Send us a postcard."
Ithaca Visitors Bureau is hoping the reverse psychology approach will pay dividends in the long run.
"On behalf of 100 million Northeasterners, we’re saying that we’re done with cold and snow," said bureau director Bruce Stoff.
"This is a way for us to stay engaged with our customers at a time when upstate New York isn’t exactly top of mind."
We’ve had a lot of fun with it today and we’re getting a lot of people telling us they’re looking forward to visiting when things thaw out. Stay warm," Stoff added.
The gimmick has already drawn much more attention than usual, with web traffic to the Ithaca website increasing almost ten times since it first appeared Sunday.
A spokesman at the Florida Keys Tourism Council said: "This is the wackiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life from a tourism marketing standpoint."
