Taylor Swift is a megastar who millions follow and love.
Could Orlando's tourism industry get the Swiftie boost?
Visit Orlando is banking $600,000 on it.
That's the amount that Visit Orlando spent on an advertisement running in the new Swift concert film debuting last month on Disney+.
"Visit Orlando capitalized on a major movie release with a $600,000 investment to be the exclusive advertiser in the destination category," said Visit Orlando CEO Casandra Matej in a statement Friday. "With an anticipated reach of 61 million impressions, this strategic placement in the No. 1 music film ever on Disney+ positions Orlando as a top choice for summer travel."
The 30-second ad shows some of Orlando's famous theme park scenes with a family wearing matching shirts walking toward Magic Kingdom's Cinderella Castle and a boy holding a wand at Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
The commercial also features SeaWorld Orlando's Sesame Street land and the Manta roller coaster, Universal's Hagrid thrill ride as well as the Millennium Falcon attraction at Hollywood Studios
"Fireworks paint the sky every night," the narrator says. "Here anything is possible if you can imagine it. And that's what makes Orlando unbelievably real."
Not everyone is impressed.
The ad comes at a time as Central Florida leaders recently debated the best way to spend tourist development tax dollars.
The TDT, Orange County's 6% surcharge on hotel and short-term stays, helps fund Visit Orlando marketing.
Yet some have questioned whether that money would be better spent on public transportation, affordable housing and other community needs that arise from a tourism-driven economy and millions of tourists arriving.
"We should prioritize the use of public funds in a manner that best serves the whole community," said Rep. Anna Eskamani, a Democrat from Orlando. "$600,000 is a lot of money and could be better spent."
Eskamani said she was also concerned the ad featured the major theme parks and not enough of the smaller attractions that need the exposure.
"While promoting tourism is vital for our economy, the private sector, particularly large theme parks, can and should shoulder the responsibility of marketing their attractions," Eskamani said.
For Visit Orlando, the ad is trying to capture more attention for Central Florida.
"Our goal is to craft compelling campaigns and look for unique ways to stand out from our competitors to drive visitation to Orlando for the economic benefit of our community," Matej said.
An estimated 74 million visitors came to Orlando in 2022, making it the No. 1 U.S. travel destination. Visit Orlando has prided itself in getting information to consumers during the pandemic and hurricanes, times when travel slowed, to help visitors come back.
Swift's concert debuted March 15 on Disney's streaming service.
The Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger said Swift's concert contains new acoustic songs that weren't previously released in movie theaters when he announced the film during the company's quarterly earnings call in February.
"Over the past year we've all witnessed the creative genius and sheer power of a true cultural phenomenon — Taylor Swift," Iger said. "We know audiences are going to absolutely love the chance to relive the electrifying Taylor Swift Eras Tour (Taylor's Version), whenever they want, on Disney+."
You can watch Visit Orlando's ad here.
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