NEWS
Palm Beach County taps some of golf's greatest to promote tourism
By Jennifer Sorentrue
Published on
Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, and five other famous golfers with homes and businesses in Palm Beach County are singing the area's praises in a series of new videos that local tourism officials hope will help lure out-of-town travelers here.
Each of the short videos features a different golfer speaking about why they live here and why out-of-towners should come visit. The videos are part a push by Discover The Palm Beaches, the county's tourism marketing arm, to promote the county as a vacation destination for golf enthusiasts.
Among the other golfers who have agreed to be "ambassadors" for the county: Rory McIlroy, Ernie Els, Rickie Fowler, Camilo Villegas, and Daniel Berger.
"There are so many things to do here in The Palm Beaches, and golf is one where we offer fantastic options," said Ashley Svarney, Discover's Director of public relations and communications. "We are just trying to bring it forward."
Local tourism officials have dubbed Palm Beach County as "Florida's Golf Capital." Palm Beach County has more than 160 public, private and resort golf courses, and is home two of its top organizations: The PGA of America and The National Golf Foundation.
In his 1 1/2 minute video, Nicklaus says he choose to settle in Palm Beach County after playing two tournaments here in the early 1960s. Nicklaus touted the area's weather, fishing, and sports offerings.
"I could have gone anywhere," Nicklaus said. "I have gone all over the world, and I haven't found a place I'd rather be then in Palm Beach County."
McIlroy, who is from Northern Ireland, said Palm Beach's golf facilities and warm weather are perfect for a professional golfer.
"Once I started to spend more time here, I started to discover the area, discover the beaches, and discover everything that the area had to offer," McIlroy said in the two-minute video. "Whenever I wanted to settle in the United States, there was no better place for me to come then to here."
Discover officials plan to share the videos on the tourism organization's social media channels, including Facebook and Twitter and YouTube. Rich Basen, Discover's senior vice president of marketing and leisure sales, said the group hopes to expand the push to include other famous athletes who call Palm Beach County home.
The Cultural Council of Palm Beach County recently launched a similar effort. As part of a new advertising campaign, the council has persuaded a host of celebrities, including actor Tony Danza, musician Kenny G and comedian Judy Gold, to be filmed and photographed while speaking about the county's arts and cultural offerings.
"The more brand ambassadors the better," Svarney said. "We are all working together."
This article was written by Jennifer Sorentrue from The Palm Beach Post and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.