Visit St. Pete-Clearwater. Making Waves in the UK

On behalf of Visit St. Pete-Clearwater, Rooster organised and hosted the second edition of its UK Sales Mission: a four-day roadshow across London, Manchester, Newcastle and Glasgow, connecting America’s Best Beaches with key targeted travel agents and operators.

Major Highlights & Successes:

• Mega-FAM incentive: Offering agents the chance to win a place on a Mega-FAM just two months later created immediate excitement and a strong incentive to engage with and sell the destination.
• VSPC Expert certification: Requiring agents to achieve VSPC Expert status in advance ensured a strong baseline of destination knowledge, allowing sessions to focus on deeper product education and sales conversion.
• Broad regional reach: Four cities in four days delivered direct engagement across some of the UK’s most important feeder markets.

High-Value Partner & Trade Engagement:

• London: Direct engagement with Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Atlantic Holidays, aligning with key airlift into Tampa Bay.
• Manchester: A Travel Counsellors TV filming session extended the mission’s reach digitally across its wider agent network.
• Glasgow: A dual B2B and B2C presence with Barrhead Travel combined high-volume agent training with direct consumer engagement.
• Targeted resort exposure: Presenting alongside VSPC gave JW Marriott Clearwater Beach direct access to high-value Florida-selling agents, strengthening its position as a leading luxury resort on Florida’s Gulf Coast.

Overall, the mission combined agent education, sales conversion, partner engagement and destination visibility, turning a four-day roadshow into a platform for longer-term UK trade advocacy and bookings.