• by Karl Greenberg , October 11, 2010

It might surprise a lot of people to learn that Florida actually has more to see than beaches and a place called Orlando where you go to visit Mickey Mouse and Shamu.

These have been the state's tourism lures since Disney moved south there a few decades back. But not terribly long ago, Florida was far better known as the United States' tropical paradise, with caverns, springs like Weeki Wachee with its famous mermaids, the Everglades, tropical birds, alligator farms, and a place called Marineland in old St. Augustine.

While a lot of the former quirky wonders of the state are gone, Florida's tourism board is hoping to shed some new light on the state's natural attractions. Visit Florida, the state's marketing corporation for tourism, is pitching nature buffs with America's first state trails-tourism Web site.

The microsite, Trails.VisitFlorida.com, (a joint project of groups like Visit Florida, the East Coast Greenway Alliance, Rails to Trails Conservancy, and the Florida Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus) focuses on outdoor adventures and trails. The site has tips and content from nature writer Kevin Mims, who travels around the state posting pictures, videos, blog entries and articles with questions and responses by his Facebook and Twitter followers.

For the past several years, Florida has been quietly developing a system of nature and bicycle trails built on old railroad beds, part of a national rails-to-trails movement. The ultimate goal for the East Coast is a kind of Appalachian Trail for bicycles running from Maine to Key West. The state says 68% of Florida visitors include nature-based activities in their travel, and 80% of residents suggest nearby natural, cultural and historical sites to out-of-state visitors.

Will Seccombe, CMO at Visit Florida, says that while Florida -- with around 100 rail-trails and greenways -- has more such trails than any other state, it has mostly promoted its natural offerings through low-tech media like brochures. "This is definitely taking it to the next level in terms of an integrated approach. Ultimately, for us, it's destination marketing to connect consumers with passions around hiking, biking, paddling, and birdwatching. It's such a hidden gem, it makes sense for us to talk about it."

Seccombe says the Web focus makes sense because a high percentage of people who go to the Visit Florida Web site are not interested only in the quickest way to get from the airport to Epcot. They are also interested in nature trails and cultural attractions.

While he concedes that most tourists are destination travelers coming to Florida because of Disney, "there's clearly a huge opportunity for the entire state around tourists spending an extra day or to go to visit trails springs, or to go explore a nature preserve or state park that they wouldn't have otherwise visited."

Florida tourism is also trying to change consumer perception that the state took a hit from the Gulf oil spill this summer. "We actually came through it in much better position than we could have," says Seccombe. "The unfortunate challenge is people had misperceptions that there's oil all over Florida from Pensacola to Jacksonville and, as result, we have definitely seen a hit to the brand."

Seccombe says that in the second quarter, Florida got more visitors than a year ago, partly because of an aggressive Web campaign, Florida Live. "We did good job of communicating that we were open for business." To clear the image issue and promote the beaches, Florida will hold a live event on Nov. 6 called The Great Beach Walk involving walks along the state's 825 miles of beaches with photos and streaming video to the Florida Live site.

The most recent survey, which came out in September, showed that people are less likely to want to visit the state now than before the spill because of the perception that beaches were soiled. "Six percent of Americans think there was oil on Jacksonville's beaches [which are on the Atlantic side]," says Seccombe. "There is just an astonishing level of misperception out there. Now that the well is capped, we still have our own battle to finish."