Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Tourism topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Flagler County tourism director outlines data-driven marketing, reports 5% bed tax funds and March 72% STR occupancy
Summary
Tourism Development Director Amy Lukaszak told the county board the tourism office is funded by a 5% tourist development (bed) tax, listed staffing and vendor tools, and reported that visitors made up about 27% of county foot traffic and accounted for 22% of spending over the last 12 months; March short-term rental occupancy was 72%.
Tourism Development Director Amy Lukaszak presented the Flagler County Tourism Development Office’s annual update on June 1, describing how the office uses the tourist development tax and data tools to target visitors and measure economic impact.
Lukaszak told commissioners the office is funded exclusively by the 5% tourist development tax (also called the bed tax) and cited Florida Statute 125.0104 as the statute authorizing the tax and the Tourist Development Council (TDC) advisory structure. She said the office has 5.5 full-time equivalent employees and that the TDC is a nine-member advisory board, six members drawn from the industry per the statute.
On data and results, Lukaszak said a vendor that uses cell-phone and credit-card data helped the office estimate that 27% of people in Flagler County over the prior 12 months were visitors and that visitors accounted for about 22% of spending. She said AirDNA short-term-rental data for March 2026 showed $7.5 million in short-term-rental sales for the month, an average daily rate of $303 and a 72% occupancy rate for short-term listings in Flagler County.
Lukaszak described the office’s marketing funnel and targeting strategy — focusing on drive markets within six to eight hours along the I‑95 corridor and air-travel markets in the Northeast and Midwest — and said campaigns are monitored for return on ad spend. She provided one example campaign run through Expedia that, she said, spent about $33,000 and produced $400,000 in hotel revenue (a reported return on ad spend figure).
The director also previewed the office’s work for FY 2027, including completion of a 10‑year tourism sustainability/master plan, production of a promotional video with the Flagler County Cultural Council, a destination-development grant, and plans for a Visitor Eco Discovery Center with an eventual Friends group for sponsorships.
What’s next: The TDC will continue quarterly reporting; staff will finalize the tourism master plan and the visitor center project materials; commissioners asked follow-up questions about market sources and data for messaging.
