Martin County is a special destination that deserves to be protected for years to come. Our mission is to drive overnight visitation to the area – but we also knew we had a responsibility to promote environmental stewardship by helping tourists (and residents) understand how to explore our environmentally sensitive areas responsibly.

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Sustainable travel and outdoor adventures exploded during (and following) the pandemic, but we recognized there was a lack of innovative and educational ecotourism programming available on Martin County’s lands and waterways. But instead of simply executing an eco-themed marketing campaign, our small-but-mighty team decided to build something more ambitious by creating a first-of-its-kind, county-wide ecotourism program focused on education, advocacy, and unique experiences.

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Even better, every eco-tour would be completely free, expanding our reach and making the program equitable and accessible. After years of researching, strategizing, and carefully navigating red tape, we successfully launched “Explore Natural Martin” on Earth Day.

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Our goal was to do things the “right” way, so we partnered with Leave No Trace (the world’s leading ecotourism organization). We created a new staff position that was approved by the Martin County Board of County Commissioners. This hybrid, collaborative role is split 50/50 (in terms of time and budget) between the Tourism Office and the Martin County Environmental Resource Division. We hired a Leave No Trace-certified Master Educator with years of local ecology expertise as our Ecosystems Restoration and Ecotourism Coordinator. Her time is equally divided equally between Tourism and Environmental Resources, meaning one day she might be in the field collecting water samples or removing invasive species from our preserves, and the next she’s leading a group tour for visitors or writers. We also hired an Ecotourism Specialist to assist with the program full-time, housed entirely in the Tourism Office.

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We identified strategic local partners and carefully devised a portfolio of original guided eco-tours and experiences that highlight our beautiful outdoor areas while also educating people on environmental stewardship best practices (leveraging the 7 Principles of Leave No Trace). We embraced a truly holistic approach and forged a culture of collaboration within Martin County, inviting other county departments to our ecotourism efforts, like the School Board, Library System, Parks and Recreation, Public Works, and more. We also onboarded partners through various training sessions moderated by Leave No Trace to mobilize everyone in our mission.

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From there, we were able to create our lineup of tours with partners and Leave No Trace, build assets (like our new ecotourism microsite), and execute promotional efforts. To generate buzz and encourage people to experience our tours, we developed a robust, multichannel marketing campaign. This strategy included paid print and digital advertisements (including social media, display, full- and half-page ads, sponsored content), organic public relations efforts (including press trips, influencer collaborations, proactive and reactive pitching, podcast interviews, event appearances, etc.), and original content marketing pieces (such as custom videos, native blog content, a dedicated newsletter, and more). We leveraged every tool in our toolbox to spread the word and make this program a success.