Ep 19 The Future of Florida Tourism: Conservation and Community with Chad Crawford
This episode takes a thoughtful look at sustainable tourism and what it really means for Florida’s marketing approach. We unpack the often-misunderstood concept of sustainability in tourism—what it is, how it’s measured, and why it matters. Our guest, Emmy award winning director/producer/host Chad Crawford, shares his personal journey as Florida’s ambassador and highlights the importance of keeping destination marketing genuine while encouraging responsible travel. We also dive into the effects tourism has on Florida’s natural environment, and why conservation is more important than ever. Throughout the conversation, we explore how marketers can connect with audiences in ways that protect what makes Florida special—while still delivering a great visitor experience.
IN THIS EPISODE:
- 00:07 - Introduction to Aqua Talks
- 01:27 - Sustainable Tourism: Understanding Its Impact
- 09:34 - The Weirdness of Florida: Embracing Authenticity in Tourism
- 22:06 - The Impact of Tourism on Florida's Ecosystem
- 30:23 - Conservation Awareness and Responsibility
- 32:13 - The Importance of Regenerative Tourism
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- The podcast emphasizes the importance of understanding sustainable tourism, which remains a nebulous concept for many practitioners and stakeholders in the industry.
- Listeners are encouraged to promote destinations authentically, adopting a mindset that prioritizes quality over sheer visitor numbers, thus fostering genuine connections with tourists.
- The discussion explores the necessity for collaboration between marketers and conservationists in order to create ethically responsible tourism practices that respect local environments.
- The hosts stress the need for educational initiatives to enhance visitors' awareness regarding the environmental sensitivities of Florida's unique ecosystems and cultural heritage.
- A critical evaluation of tourism practices highlights the rising trend of regenerative tourism, which encourages visitors to actively contribute to the preservation of local landscapes and wildlife.
- The podcast concludes with a call to action for all Floridians and tourists to take responsibility for protecting their environment, framing this as a communal effort to preserve the state's natural beauty.
ABOUT OUR GUEST:
Chad is a 3rd generation Floridian who joined the Navy after high school. He later attended Full Sail University to pursue a career in television. In 2005, Chad and his wife Kristy founded Crawford Entertainment, and in 2009, created "how to Do florida" TV series, hosted by Chad. Now in its 13th season with 122 episodes and multiple Emmy awards, the series ignited Crawford's passion for Florida-focused programming.
Over 20 years later, Chad has become a six-time Emmy Award-winning director with hundreds of hours of programming distributed on major networks. He has created 8 hit TV series and over 50 specials and documentaries. Building on their extensive library and loyal following, CE launched the Discover Florida Channel, a streaming app featuring Florida programming. Chad’s signature sign-off, "Get out and Do Florida," has spurred a movement, encouraging fans to enjoy and preserve Florida's natural resources. Chad resides in Lake Mary with his wife, Kristy, and their four children.
SHOW LINKS:
--
sustainable tourism, Florida tourism, marketing strategies, destination marketing, conservation marketing, eco-friendly travel, travel marketing trends, engaging audiences, meaningful connections, tourism and conservation, outdoor experiences, responsible tourism, Florida Keys conservation, tourism impact, nature deficit disorder, visitor engagement, ethical tourism practices, Florida tourism insights, tourism industry trends, environmental awareness in tourism, florida man, weird florida, natural florida, crawford entertainment, chad crawford
Transcript
Welcome to Aqua Talks, where marketing meets bold game changing ideas.
Speaker A:Join your hosts, Larry Aldrich and Maddie Dudley as they explore the art and science of cutting through the noise, capturing attention and fostering meaningful connections with your audience.
Speaker A:Whether you're a destination marketer, government contractor, or simply passionate about the transformative power of marketing, Aqua Talks offers engaging discussions, fresh insights and actionable strategies designed to inspire and inform.
Speaker B:Hi, welcome to Aqua Talks, the podcast for marketers.
Speaker B:Whether you're already in the game or you're just getting started, I am Maddie.
Speaker B:This is a podcast brought to you by Brensys Technology.
Speaker B:And as usual, I'm joined by my host, my co host, Larry Aldrich today.
Speaker B:Hi, Larry.
Speaker C:Hi.
Speaker C:Good morning.
Speaker C:I'm Larry Aldrich, President CEO of Brentis Technology and aquamarketing and Communications.
Speaker C:Today we are joined by Chad Crawford, who is called also the Florida's ambassador.
Speaker C:We'll get a little deeper into that in that conversation with Chad, but first we're going to talk a little bit about trends or hot topics in the industry.
Speaker C:As always, Chad, what are some of the trends or hot topics you would like to talk about?
Speaker A:I mean, sustainable tourism, I think is one of those things that for me feels like this kind of warm, fuzzy word that we like to say, but nobody really knows what it is.
Speaker A:I mean, I could nestle up, maybe even make a baby with sustainable tourism.
Speaker A:It just feels good to say, but nobody really knows what that is.
Speaker A:We have no ways of measuring it.
Speaker A:We have no benchmarks.
Speaker A:So for a lot of people who are wanting to have sustainable tourism, like, what does that look like?
Speaker A:We really don't know.
Speaker A:And you know, what's out there right now that helps people understand.
Speaker A:Sustainable tourism feels confusing.
Speaker A:It feels like, what is this?
Speaker A:It's hard to put your hands on what exactly we're talking about here.
Speaker A:So, yeah, I think this quest and, and desire is a good one, but we need to know what the heck this is so we can kind of like know how to gauge it, know how to measure it, you know, and kind of score ourselves on sustainable tourism.
Speaker B:Chad, the title of Florida's ambassador, this was given to you.
Speaker B:You did not choose this, but so many people have called you one of Florida's best ambassadors.
Speaker B:I'm curious, what kind of background do you need to get that?
Speaker B:And like, how did you get to where you are now?
Speaker A:Well, I mean, I think 16, 17 years now of just being out there promoting Florida.
Speaker A:You know, my first show, how to Do Florida, was really about introducing people to the Florida that I loved.
Speaker A:I thought the More people that I could introduce to the real Florida, the more people I could get to be less apathetic about the issues that impact it.
Speaker A:And that show led to a kids show, the Outsiders Club, teaching kids how to be outside.
Speaker A:We need a TV show to teach kids how to be outside.
Speaker A:I get the irony of that.
Speaker A:My son brought that up to me several times.
Speaker A:And then.
Speaker A:Which led to a yard show teaching us how to have a Florida friendly landscape.
Speaker A:We can't keep landscaping and using so much water.
Speaker A:So I think, you know, how to do Florida really birthed a lot of other spinoff shows as I saw needs that or messages that Floridians needed to know.
Speaker A:And I use television, which is my medium, to try to have the biggest impact.
Speaker A:And I think because of that, people just saw me as this person who represented Florida and just kind of.
Speaker A:That went from there.
Speaker B:Yeah, the combination of being a native with also your experience in tv.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And I could get a good tan.
Speaker A:I think too.
Speaker A:I can handle.
Speaker A:I don't use sunscreen.
Speaker A:I think that sunscreen is.
Speaker A:Well, that's a whole other podcast.
Speaker A:I will digress from that.
Speaker C:That's a pretty good idea.
Speaker C:A TV show to talk to kids about being outside.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker C:And then some of those kids, you know, that always have to say something a little smart.
Speaker C:Well, can we watch TV outside?
Speaker C:And nowadays you think about, you look at some of these barbecues or some of these outside backyard setups.
Speaker C:That's like an outside living room that has the TV hanging above the barbecue.
Speaker C:Yeah, I mean, that's pretty impressive.
Speaker C:And you get these really intelligent kids nowadays that are quick witted, that are just going to sit outside and watch TV and say, well, there's a show telling me I have to sit outside and watch tv.
Speaker A:It's one of those things where Richard Lu is a really smart man who wrote a lot of books about this.
Speaker A:He wrote a book called Last Child of the Woods.
Speaker A:America's Nature Deficit Disorder.
Speaker A:It's not an official disorder, but we are suffering from a nature deficit disorder.
Speaker A:And he talks about the more high tech we become, the more nature we need.
Speaker A:And you know, that's just true.
Speaker A:The more high tech we become, the more it begins to create that stark awareness of like, holy crap, I've been staring at a screen all day, like I need to get outside.
Speaker A:And our body kind of wants that and desires that.
Speaker A:And that's just something that it's getting harder and harder to do.
Speaker A:You know, as parents, I got four kids, you know, growing, raising my kids like I'm the host of how to Do Florida.
Speaker A:My kids should be eating bark, but they didn't want to go outside.
Speaker A:And I'm thinking, like, if I can't get my kids outside, what's the single mom doing who lives in an apartment?
Speaker A:How is she getting her.
Speaker A:How is.
Speaker A:How are her kids having those outdoor experiences?
Speaker A:You know, so it's.
Speaker A:It's tough.
Speaker A:It's not easy.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:So we're all marketing tourism marketers here, you know, hence the name Aquatox.
Speaker C:So for all the tourism marketers out there, what's your tip for authentically promoting a destination without doing harm to it?
Speaker A:I think you have to promote a destination with the idea that it's okay if people don't come.
Speaker A:And I think you have to be that authentic about it.
Speaker A:And, you know, because, look, the fact of the matter is, and maybe this is not a great thing to say on this podcast, but, you know, if we turned all the marketing off, visit Florida, everything off, people would still come to Florida.
Speaker A:It is ingrained in our culture as a country to come to Florida.
Speaker A:It is just what we do.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:We've been doing it for, you know, centuries.
Speaker A:We get in the car, we all go to Florida.
Speaker A:So even with no marketing, people will still come.
Speaker A:So marketing is really just about the manipulation of that flow that is already there, because people will already come here.
Speaker A:So, like, I can get you to come to this restaurant, you know, I can get you to go to this hotel, and I can get you to.
Speaker A:Maybe I can manipulate your trip with marketing, but people are coming.
Speaker A:With or without marketing, they are coming.
Speaker A:And so I think you have to go at it with that approach that looks people are going to come to our destination.
Speaker A:What kind of people do we want to come to our destination?
Speaker A:And how many people do we want to come to our destination?
Speaker A:You're in control.
Speaker A:You know, it's not like you're begging.
Speaker A:You should never feel like we have to beg and just, oh, please come.
Speaker A:No, you know, we live in paradise.
Speaker A:And so I think you do take an approach of if you want to come, great.
Speaker A:If not, go someplace else.
Speaker C:I'll definitely throw on top of that.
Speaker C:Some of the marketing that I've seen has introduced me to some beautiful parts of Florida that I've never heard of and I've seen a lot.
Speaker C:I mean, I would always go to the places that are just most well known.
Speaker C:You hear Miami.
Speaker C:I'm a northern guy.
Speaker C:Miami, Fort Lauderdale.
Speaker C:Jacksonville.
Speaker C:Because of football.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:Tampa because of football.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:But when I started spending more time down Here and.
Speaker C:And listening to a lot of the work that we do at Aqua and some of the other marketers out there and people like you that we've talked to, I've gotten introduced to some beautiful places in Florida.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Florida's full of.
Speaker A:It's paradise.
Speaker A:I mean, we do live in paradise.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker B:So what do you think?
Speaker B:Because there's paradise, but then there's also.
Speaker B:I'm forgetting the exact words you said.
Speaker B:Ridiculous.
Speaker B:Genius.
Speaker A:Well, that's my theme for my show.
Speaker A:It's part genius, part ridiculous.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:I think Florida is part genius and part ridiculous.
Speaker B:Agree.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And so the show how to do Florida always embodied that.
Speaker A:I'm probably part genius, though my wife would maybe differ that.
Speaker A:But a lot of ridiculous, you know, because I think Florida is a lot of ridiculous.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, I'm in pr.
Speaker B:You hear the Florida man news stories and nationally, that's what all my friends are talking to me about.
Speaker B:Did you hear this?
Speaker B:Did you see this?
Speaker B:Have you seen the guy rustle an alligator before?
Speaker B:So tell me, what do you think visitors often get wrong or overlook about Florida?
Speaker A:Well, look, I think that Florida is weird, and I think that's okay.
Speaker A:You know, I think we, too, try to.
Speaker A:Try to, you know, it's okay.
Speaker A:Everything is fine.
Speaker A:Don't mind us.
Speaker A:You know, Florida is weird, and I think that should be embraced more by marketing.
Speaker A:You just got to embrace the realities of where you are and what it is, whether that's good or bad in your marketing mind, because it is what it is.
Speaker A:The worst thing that can happen is for you to present something that is not what it is.
Speaker A:You know, and then people get here and they're like, oh, this is not what you guys sold me.
Speaker A:That's the worst thing you can do.
Speaker A:And so I think that authenticity is just so necessary because we are weird.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, I mean, that's okay.
Speaker A:You know, Austin has that tagline of, like, what is it?
Speaker B:Like, keep Austin weird.
Speaker A:Keep Austin weird.
Speaker A:You know, like, I think Florida needs more of that embracing of who we are.
Speaker B:Love that.
Speaker C:Speaking of Florida weird, the weirdest thing, I guess I would say, coming from Pittsburgh, in Florida, I was stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base, Panama City Beach.
Speaker C:And I get there, they called me city boy, which was okay.
Speaker C:I was good with that.
Speaker C:They took me out places, and we went to this lake not far from the base.
Speaker C:And I'm looking out there with this bewildered look on my face.
Speaker C:There's people water skiing and jets and swimming, and aren't there alligators everywhere.
Speaker C:They're like, yeah, alligators are more afraid of you than you are of them.
Speaker C:That was the weirdest thing I ever heard in my life.
Speaker C:I was like, really?
Speaker C:I highly doubt that.
Speaker C:So speaking of the Florida weird, that was weird to me.
Speaker C:And when I watched the water play that they were doing, they had no fear whatsoever.
Speaker C:And me, I didn't want to go within 50ft of a lake.
Speaker A:Yeah, well, it's one of those things.
Speaker A:Like this morning I swam in my lake.
Speaker A:I swam over a mile with four or five other people in a lake that may or may not have alligators in it.
Speaker A:So when you grow up in Florida, you grow up with that, being comfortable around alligators and knowing kind of what's safe and what's not safe.
Speaker A:But for somebody coming down here, you're right, that is very weird.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:I was amazed.
Speaker C:I mean, I love it.
Speaker C:I love.
Speaker C:Yeah, loved the Panama City beach.
Speaker C:I loved Panama City.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:I've made some great friends over there, which as an Air force, we called them locals because obviously they were local.
Speaker C:We weren't.
Speaker C:So a lot of great people over there.
Speaker C:Yeah, I really enjoyed my time in Panama City Beach.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's beautiful up there.
Speaker B:So how do you think that marketers can best partner with conservationists?
Speaker B:Like, how can they implement those types of messages and ethical tourism, I guess we'll call it, into their practices?
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:I really don't.
Speaker A:I think it's one of those things.
Speaker A:Yeah, we have to figure out.
Speaker A:I wish I knew the answer to that.
Speaker A:I think it is more of a collaboration and.
Speaker A:But look, I think it's just money.
Speaker A:It's just funding.
Speaker A:I mean, to try to get tourists to, you know, do less.
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:Less jet skiing, more kayaking?
Speaker A:Like, what are we talking about here?
Speaker A:That.
Speaker A:What kind of tourism do we want?
Speaker A:You know, what are we trying to say here that we want tourists to do?
Speaker A:I think every CVB has to sit around a table and decide, what do we want to promote, what do we not want to promote?
Speaker A:You know, do we want more jet ski rentals or do we want more see through kayaks?
Speaker A:Like, what is that?
Speaker A:So, you know, every space is different, but at the end of the day, it's.
Speaker A:It's funding.
Speaker A:It's funding for all this stuff costs money, you know, to, you know, every.
Speaker A:Well, everything costs money.
Speaker B:Like, yeah, even our client, Punta Gorda, they have Punta Gorda, Englewood beach, they have some naturalists that are paddle boarders.
Speaker B:So they receive this certification, which I think also does cost money for that.
Speaker B:But then they're able to respect wildlife in the appropriate way and tell the visitors how to appreciate the wildlife without disturbing them and that kind of thing.
Speaker B:So I think there are layers to it.
Speaker B:Like, you're saying we don't have an exact answer, but it's just good to even ask the question or for you to even bring it up that it's an issue.
Speaker A:It is.
Speaker A:Look, and like Palau, the islands off the Pacific, you can't get onto that island unless you watch a video and you sign a pledge.
Speaker A:Because basically they're like, if you want to be here, you're going to respect our culture.
Speaker A:You're going to listen to what we have to say or not.
Speaker A:You're not going to be welcome back.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker A:And so, you know, we're seeing Hawaii take drastic measures to reduce tourism in areas where they feel like it's having a negative impact on their cultural sites and their quality of life.
Speaker A:You know, when you have tourism that is having a negative impact on the people's quality of life, like, that's over tourism.
Speaker A:That's like, okay, how do we.
Speaker A:How do we, you know, pull that back and how do we reconcile with all of this, you know, because, you know, these are people who have to live there and function and be there on a Saturday and not be able to get out of their house, you know, because there's so many people, you know, in that destination.
Speaker C:Never heard that one before.
Speaker A:Well, look, you're not going to.
Speaker A:You're not going to hear over tourism in Florida right now, but it's a thing that.
Speaker A:That, you know, is in Venice, it's in Hawaii, it's in a lot of these places that.
Speaker A:Where you have a lot of travel, you know, is what happened with, you know, but it makes sense.
Speaker A:You might be getting off track here.
Speaker C:But it makes a lot of sense.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:I mean, you have.
Speaker C:Going back to where I said about the locals, you have a lot of people that live there, live in certain places, and it's their everyday life.
Speaker C:And I mean, you have the people that live there interacting with people that are traveling, and sometimes things get backed up a little bit, and it definitely has an effect.
Speaker C:There's positive effects and there's negative effects.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker C:And you can't always ignore the negative effects.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:And, you know, that's the thing.
Speaker A:It's like, this is the way it's always been.
Speaker A:You know, Florida tourism is our biggest economy.
Speaker A:You know, next to agriculture, $90 billion, you know, agriculture, tourism is probably higher than that.
Speaker A:I mean, these are the two industries in our state.
Speaker A:That's what keeps everything running.
Speaker A:That's why our taxes are so low.
Speaker A:That's why we don't have an income tax.
Speaker A:That's what we run off.
Speaker A:And so it is our sacred cow.
Speaker A:But at the same time, like, I think we as a state just kind of have to reconcile with that.
Speaker A:You know, look back in the, you know, when Governor Scott was governor, he pushed and pushed and pushed for numbers like he wanted 150 million tourists.
Speaker A:That was what he.
Speaker A:He was trying to beat New York for the most traveled destination to in America.
Speaker A:We were right below New York, and then California is right below us, and we beat it.
Speaker A:Like, we.
Speaker A:We had these crazy numbers, but it was this sense of like, this quantity versus quality approach to tourism.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker A:And okay, we packed in 150 million people.
Speaker A:Yay.
Speaker A:But, like, you know, like, it's just.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:I don't.
Speaker A:I think we have to relook at how we measure, engage tourism in our state.
Speaker A:And it's not this quantity.
Speaker A:How many people can we pack in?
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:I have to agree.
Speaker A:My.
Speaker A:My opinion.
Speaker B:No, me too.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:We find that.
Speaker B:We find ourselves saying that a lot to clients too, just about the types of journalists we want to bring in, the types of influencers we want to bring.
Speaker B:Are you familiar at all with this sort of Gen Z wave of influencers who are trying to reposition Florida, Like Luca Martinez?
Speaker B:Are you familiar with his social media at all?
Speaker B:Pretty cool how it's like the swamp that you think of.
Speaker B:This disgusting place where, I don't know, Shrek lives, ogres live.
Speaker B:But then he goes under the water.
Speaker A:Crystal clear, beautiful, beautiful.
Speaker B:There's this whole ecosystem down there.
Speaker B:And he pictures it in this really cinematic way, as do you as well.
Speaker B:But it's.
Speaker B:It's just really cool seeing this kind of new generation come in and do that also.
Speaker A:Well, it's funny because so many people talk about the Everglades.
Speaker A:Most people will never go to the Everglades.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's very difficult place to go.
Speaker A:I've been there many, many times.
Speaker A:And it's.
Speaker A:It's not like Disney.
Speaker A:You get in a line, you see this amazing thing.
Speaker A:Like, it is a difficult environment to engage.
Speaker A:It just is.
Speaker A:It's not set up for, you know, you can go out west and go in parks and see your Yellowstone and it's all right there in front of you.
Speaker A:But that's not how the Everglades is.
Speaker A:It's a very difficult place to find beauty.
Speaker A:It's a Lot of just mangroves, and it's a very intense and dense area.
Speaker A:But it's this incredibly incredible, important part of our ecosystem.
Speaker A:But it's kind of a tough place to fall in love with, you know what I mean?
Speaker A:It's a.
Speaker A:But Luca, people like Luca and Carlton Ward, they've brought a lot of storytelling where they've brought out that beauty and brought it to you with their cameras.
Speaker A:And you're like, oh, my gosh.
Speaker A:Yeah, this place is beautiful.
Speaker A:You just kind of have to get down in there to find it.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's a little bit more digestible when he dives in the water with the gators.
Speaker B:And it's not me.
Speaker A:It's not you, exactly.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:That wouldn't be a good one for you.
Speaker C:Yeah, but I like to watch.
Speaker C:I watch a lot of animal documentaries, so, yeah, I do see it.
Speaker C:I do see the underwater videos, the shots I mostly watch in my documentaries.
Speaker C:The big cats, the alligators and the sharks.
Speaker C:Those are my three favorite ones.
Speaker C:So there haven't been a lot lately in the Everglades.
Speaker C:Actually, when you think about it, when they talk about gators or crocs, it's mostly in Africa or Australia.
Speaker C:So actually, that'd be really great to see a good documentary done in the Everglades.
Speaker A:Yeah, Most of it is consumed by the pythons right now.
Speaker A:Like, most of the press is around pythons and what that is.
Speaker A:And that's brought the Everglades a lot of attention.
Speaker A:I mean, it's.
Speaker A:There's swamp people, There's TV series around it.
Speaker A:I mean, there's a lot there, right?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:For any people who are watching or listening and are not familiar with what's going on with pythons and Everglades, it's that they send out, they have a hunting season for pythons, right.
Speaker B:Where they go out.
Speaker B:They have whoever.
Speaker B:Some guy and his machete.
Speaker B:And what, like, anyone who wants to go out and kill pythons.
Speaker B:That's what they do.
Speaker B:What.
Speaker B:What else?
Speaker B:I mean, it's pretty f. But, like, what else past that do you know about it?
Speaker A:Like, well, they're an invasive species, just like iguanas.
Speaker A:And, you know, Florida's gotta be the invasive species capital of the world because of our climate, you know, all starting back in Hurricane Andrew back south, knocked out all of those exotic pet stores.
Speaker A:And supposedly a lot of these pets got loose and kind of ran wild out in the Everglades and are now, you know, kind of back to haunt us.
Speaker A:But, yeah, I mean, Florida's invasive species is.
Speaker A:It's in social media a lot.
Speaker A:And look, you're allowed to kill these animals.
Speaker A:And so a lot of social media is people killing iguanas, killing all kinds of animals, but you're allowed to do that.
Speaker A:The state says that we need these eradicated.
Speaker A:So there is no season on them.
Speaker A:There is no limit.
Speaker A:You kill as many as you want because we need them out of our environment.
Speaker A:And specifically, Burmese python is, you know, it's an apex predator, so it's eating a lot of the deer and a lot of the wildlife that normally wouldn't have that predator in its ecosystem.
Speaker A:And it's kind of.
Speaker A:Kind of taking over.
Speaker B:So what would you say is one historic site or one destination that desperately needs urgent attention for sustainability or to be, like, saved from over tourism right now?
Speaker A:Oh, I think the Florida Keys, I think, you know, as much as I love the Florida Keys, I think, look, our coral sucks, and it's been dying for so long, and anybody who's been.
Speaker A:Who knows the keys, you know, 50 years ago and knows it now, it is a different place when it comes to our coral reefs.
Speaker A:And, you know, every day, these reefs, you know, dive boats every day come on these reefs, I mean, 50, 100, all just constantly, every single day.
Speaker A:And, you know, what are the impacts of that, that constant flow of tourism on the.
Speaker A:On those reefs?
Speaker A:We don't know.
Speaker A:And, you know, I firmly believe, I think, you know, in Covid, we saw almost kind of a simulated rolling blackout of people not being able to engage some of these sensitive environmental areas for a period of time.
Speaker A:And I think that's where Florida is heading, where we're going to have to have a blackout of certain areas where nobody can go for two months.
Speaker A:Nobody's allowed on this reef for two months.
Speaker A:This reef is going to recharge, it's going to breathe, it's going to recover from us, and then we can go back out on it.
Speaker A:And I think that's where we're heading as a state to identify some of these areas and basically say, you know, nobody can be here for two months.
Speaker A:We're going to let this place rest and recover.
Speaker A:But that's going to take.
Speaker A:You know, you talk about political willpower, and that's a huge ask for people who make their living on that reef.
Speaker A:That is a big, big ask.
Speaker A:And things, unfortunately, things will have to get a whole lot worse before that comes to play.
Speaker A:Sorry, guys.
Speaker C:You have me thinking about Jurassic Park.
Speaker C:Like, they're going to have to, you know, bring back some of those animals that are going to Just like.
Speaker A:Yeah, well, that's what they're doing with.
Speaker C:That, is what they're doing.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:They're trying to, you know, you know, grow coral and aquariums and off, you know, outplant.
Speaker A:There's so many different coral organizations down in the Keys right now just trying to wrap their head around this problem.
Speaker A:Problem is coral.
Speaker A:You plant, it takes 50 years.
Speaker A:You know what I mean?
Speaker A:It's not like an orange tree or something that you can kind of watch grow and figure out its disease.
Speaker A:They're trying to cure greening right now with our oranges.
Speaker C:A lot of artificial reefs.
Speaker C:I believe they're putting one up off the coast of Okaloosa County.
Speaker C:A ship that they brought down out of New Jersey, I believe.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And the Florida Keys has a lot of those.
Speaker A:And those are great because they're designed to take pressure off the real reef.
Speaker A:That is the best thing about artificial reef is that it's great, but it takes pressure off our natural reefs.
Speaker A:Now divers have more places to go, so we need more of those because that makes more dive spots.
Speaker A:Takes more pressure off of our natural reef systems.
Speaker C:So you've done a lot of great work, a lot of shows.
Speaker C:I've heard of some of them, but I'll be definitely interested in looking into a few more and some great projects.
Speaker C:If you had to pick one good case study that you'd like to bring up, what would it be?
Speaker C:That's a lot of work you've done.
Speaker A:I know.
Speaker C:Trying to think of one.
Speaker A:Well, you know, how to do Florida was so great because I was able to have my kids and my family on that show, and that was just fun.
Speaker A:Even though shooting with kids in the family is just hard, it just is.
Speaker A:I wish it wasn't, but it is.
Speaker A:But I've done several canoe camping trips with my daughter.
Speaker A:One that I'm thinking of on the econlock Hatchie in Seminole County.
Speaker A:I look back on that show and I'm just like, man, it was just so, so precious.
Speaker A:She was so young and the trip was so great.
Speaker A:And just, you know, campfire and having that experience with her.
Speaker A:And that was one of those trips where we were able to actually enjoy the trip.
Speaker A:A lot of times when you're filming, you can't enjoy where you are.
Speaker A:And that's some of my regret as a filmmaker who's filmed probably Florida like nobody else has.
Speaker A:I've been to a lot of places, but I haven't been to a lot of places because I've been working my ass off.
Speaker A:And it's hard to like really see where you are.
Speaker A:And I'm such an intense person when I'm filming.
Speaker A:Like I. I don't lift my head up enough and look around and be like, good gosh, I'm in Destin or I'm in the Keys or I'm in Enemy Island.
Speaker A:Wherever I am is beautiful.
Speaker A:I'm so focused on my work.
Speaker A:So there's certain trips and times I'm able to really relax.
Speaker A:And that was one of the times with my daughter, you know.
Speaker A:Shooting Protect Our paradise was a really difficult thing just because up until then I was very happy.
Speaker A:Go lucky.
Speaker A:How to do Florida Everything's great.
Speaker A:Come on down, the water's fine.
Speaker A:That was the show.
Speaker A:Fun.
Speaker A:Ridiculous.
Speaker A:I'm doing stupid stuff.
Speaker A:I mean it was Florida.
Speaker A:Protect Our paradise was a deep dive into like our junk.
Speaker A:And it was heavy for me after it took us two years to produce it.
Speaker A:And I had to take some time off because it was just.
Speaker A:I just saw things I hadn't seen and I talked to people who knew things that I didn't know and I was like, dang, like I had no clue.
Speaker A:I just didn't.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I kind of felt a little like I had kind of missed something, you know, I was so kind of.
Speaker A:I like to function at what I call the froth of life, which is beautiful.
Speaker A:Like the top of that little sip.
Speaker A:You drinking your coffee, that foam, it's sweet, it's nice, it's not going to hurt you.
Speaker A:That's where I like to function, the froth, you know.
Speaker A:And this was like I was in the bottom of the cup where the dredge is, where you don't take that last sip, you know.
Speaker A:And that was like an uncomfortable place to be for that long of time.
Speaker A:But I would encourage everybody to watch that series.
Speaker A:I think it is Conservation for Dummies here in Florida.
Speaker A:If you don't know anything about where we are, where we're at, watch this six part series.
Speaker A:It will give you a broad sense of what's in front of us, what we're facing, some of the heroes on the front lines trying to fix it and how you can get involved.
Speaker B:Great.
Speaker B:So what would you say are some of the key takeaways?
Speaker A:Water, Water, water, water.
Speaker A:We have got to.
Speaker A:Anybody who lives on the water has a unique responsibility here in our state to protect it.
Speaker A:And because those landscapes are vulnerable, you know, look, it rains a lot here in Florida and when you build and you have so many impervial services around a water body, when it rains all of our junk.
Speaker A:And we got junk goes out into our lakes, rivers, and streams just the way it is.
Speaker A:So we need more ways to capture that water, to keep it on site before it goes into our lakes, rivers, and streams.
Speaker A:And that's the.
Speaker A:That's the major problem.
Speaker A:All the stuff you see in the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee, all that algae is water runoff.
Speaker A:It's big rain events pushing this crap out into the lake, rivers and streams, and we've got to figure out a way to keep that on.
Speaker A:And it's.
Speaker A:It's so funny because our show flipped my Florida yard.
Speaker A:People are like, why would I want to keep water on my yard?
Speaker A:I want that water gone.
Speaker A:I don't want my yard flooding.
Speaker A:I want that yard out in the street, down the sewer, out into wherever the heck it goes.
Speaker A:Because that's the census.
Speaker A:That's what you think.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:But that's not ideal for our state.
Speaker A:So that would be the thing, is reducing stormwater runoff.
Speaker A:That's what we need to work on.
Speaker B:And what would you say is the one thing that visitors can do in destination while they're here to protect our paradise?
Speaker B:Don't mess up, clean up trash.
Speaker A:No, look, I think anybody who comes to Florida now, we're so much more aware of conservation.
Speaker A:Conservation is trending, right?
Speaker A:It's cool.
Speaker A:When I was growing up, conservation was not cool.
Speaker A:It was a bunch of crunchy, weird people that did conservation.
Speaker A:Conservation is mainstream now.
Speaker A:It is here.
Speaker A:It's on.
Speaker A:We wear it, we buy it.
Speaker A:It is part of our culture, which is good, I think, for a marketer.
Speaker A:I think it's really about the messaging and communicating to tourists that this is our home.
Speaker A:We love our home.
Speaker A:Please respect our home, because this is where we live, and this is where we're raising our children.
Speaker A:This is our environment.
Speaker A:And, you know, without Florida's environment, we would have no tourism.
Speaker A:We'd have a bunch of bare beaches.
Speaker A:That's about it.
Speaker A:But we wouldn't have tourism like we know it today.
Speaker A:And I think for marketers to not feel.
Speaker A:To be bolder about just being more honest with tourists and just asking, don't mess it up.
Speaker A:Treat it like it's your home.
Speaker A:You know, I think for the longest time, from my perspective, people treat Florida like a rental car.
Speaker A:You know, we come down here, we drive it hard, party, and this.
Speaker A:This.
Speaker A:And go back to another home.
Speaker A:You know, Florida leads a state in coffins.
Speaker A:Leaving Florida and going someplace else, because so many people are here and their head is here, but their heart's not here because that's not where they're from.
Speaker A:They're from Michigan, they're from Ohio, they're from Pittsburgh, they're from some other place.
Speaker A:And this is just a fun playground.
Speaker A:And so I think really trying to give people a sense that no, this is our home and please be respectful of it is the best thing they can do.
Speaker B:I love that.
Speaker A:Yeah, there's this idea of, I don't even know if you've heard this term.
Speaker A:Regenerative.
Speaker A:There's this idea of regenerative.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker A:You guys can say it, I can't.
Speaker A:Tourism.
Speaker A:And so I would even like to, from yalls perspective, like what do we know about that?
Speaker A:What is that?
Speaker A:And like, you know, from my perspective, this idea that tourism seamlessly fits into our culture and now becomes this, you know, a bonus or plus for us beyond monetarily, but somehow integrates in our society.
Speaker A:You know, again, like trying to wrap my head around some of these terms, but what do you guys think about regenerative?
Speaker A:Did I say it right?
Speaker A:Yeah, Regenerative tourism.
Speaker B:Let's think about that.
Speaker B:Well, we've been putting you on the spot.
Speaker B:You turned it around.
Speaker A:I did.
Speaker A:But is it another form of sustainable tourism?
Speaker A:Is it just a fancier term?
Speaker A:You know, like even the definition of it feels a little slippery.
Speaker B:I mean, yeah, based off of what we've been discussing.
Speaker B:I mean, yeah, it's like ecotourism.
Speaker B:You go and you respect the area.
Speaker B:Regenerative is more.
Speaker B:You go and you're like having a stake and helping replenish.
Speaker B:But then it's also complicated because it's like you said earlier, I don't want to pick up trash when I'm on vacation or when I'm paying to go somewhere.
Speaker B:But there are some really good hearted people in the world who will do that and dedicate their time to doing that.
Speaker B:But yeah, I mean, I think it's a good effort.
Speaker B:I think, I think a lot.
Speaker C:When you were first speaking about it and the example you spoke on was picking up trash.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:From my perspective, I mean, I'm an animal lover.
Speaker C:I love all animals.
Speaker C:And when tourists come down getting with groups or teams like yourself, because you know, you're here, you're passionate about it and being able to help the conservationist, a group, a family, a company, whatever they're doing to help in a way that helps the wildlife in this area.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Whether it's.
Speaker C:I believe I read something about on one of the beaches they asked people to help fill the holes after the turtles left their eggs, and the eggs hatched and the turtles left.
Speaker C:They were asking Taurus beachgoers to help fill those holes.
Speaker C:Or if it's spend a day walking through in a safe way, the Everglades and help, you know, whatever is going on down there where scientists or conservationists may need help and tourists can volunteer to do some of these things for a couple hours of their day.
Speaker C:So that's the way I would look at it.
Speaker C:Being helpful.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:When it comes to marketing, too.
Speaker B:Bringing it back to marketing.
Speaker B:Regenerative tourism, a lot of it is about education.
Speaker B:I think a lot of people don't really understand the circumstances of the destinations that they're traveling to.
Speaker B:So it also just comes down to more thoughtful tourism.
Speaker B:So going to places where you understand from the roots up, like, okay, like you said, this is somewhere that people live.
Speaker B:This is somewhere that people are raising their children.
Speaker B:How can I help to contribute to that and just being intentional with travel in that way?
Speaker B:I think St. Pete does it pretty well in the sense of one of our biggest landmark destinations is the pier.
Speaker B:And on the way out to the pier, we have Tampa Bay, baywatch Discovery center, which is an educational moment about the local habitat and marine life.
Speaker B:And you can kind of just pick their brains about the destination itself.
Speaker A:Yeah, I think education is huge.
Speaker A:I think, you know, there's a lot to be educated about.
Speaker A:And, you know, I think trying to get that in front of tourists is a.
Speaker A:Is a.
Speaker A:Is a great thing.
Speaker A:I mean, that's some.
Speaker A:You know, I think if more tourists kind of knew the environmental sensitivity of an area, they would treat it, you know, with a little more respect, you know, which is.
Speaker A:Which is good for all of us.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:Yeah, I kind of like the educational video idea.
Speaker B:I hadn't heard of that.
Speaker B:Yeah, you go to the island.
Speaker A:Yeah, the port.
Speaker A:Well, yeah, it would be difficult to do in Florida because we.
Speaker A:We've got 95 and 75.
Speaker A:You know, like, look, if I had the power, I would say, everybody merge off over here, watch this movie, sign this pledge, and then you can go on.
Speaker A:But, yeah, I mean, you know, some destinations are getting serious about that education.
Speaker A:That's really what that is.
Speaker A:It's like, hey, you know, this is where you're going to be vacationing, and this is our expectations of you.
Speaker A:I think that, too.
Speaker A:Like, what are our expectations of visitors?
Speaker A:You know, like, we're going to get your money.
Speaker A:That's great.
Speaker A:But, like, what are those expectations we have of visitors?
Speaker A:And, you know, not be bashful about speaking that accountability.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:We'll kick you out if you don't like, I don't know, not allowed here anymore.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker C:Thanks for being with us.
Speaker C:We'll definitely have how to reach Chad Crawford.
Speaker C:I'll definitely be on our Aqua Talks landing page on our websites.
Speaker C:We'll have your bio up there, your picture, we'll have your links, some information about you and we definitely like to speak more with you and hopefully our listeners would like to learn more about you also.
Speaker A:Well, thanks for having me guys.
Speaker A:It's been awesome.
Speaker A:Yeah, thank you.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker B:See you next time.
Speaker A:You've been listening to Aqua Talks where marketing innovation takes center stage with bold ideas and actionable insights.
Speaker A:Ready to take your strategies to the next level?
Speaker A:Visit aquatax.com to book your free consultation and explore resources that empower you to thrive in today's fast paced marketing world.
Speaker A:Until next time, stay bold, stay inspired, stay imaginative.
