Robert Silk
After months of mostly negative headlines on the Zika front, Miami, and Florida tourism interests at large, received a healthy dose of welcome news on Monday when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) discontinued its warning that pregnant women shouldn't visit the Wynwood area.
The move came because Wynwood hasn't seen a new Zika transmission since early August.
But with Zika, even good news can create a dilemma for tourism promoters, especially as less favorable headlines have been written about nearby Miami Beach, where new transmissions continue to be reported.
Notably, destination marketers have to figure out a way to emphasize the positive events in Wynwood while neither downplaying continuing public health concerns related to Zika nor undermining their own credibility.
Two weeks ago, at the Florida Governor's Conference on Tourism in Orlando, attendees listened to a seminar from James Donnelly, a senior crisis management director with the public relations firm Ketchum, who praised Visit Florida for how it had dealt with the outbreak.
"You have to turn your organization from promotional to informational on these things," he said. "I think it's being handled exceptionally right now."
Among those listening in was Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau marketing director Rolando Aedo, who during a question-and-answer session anticipated this week's CDC announcement and sought Donnelly's advice on how to handle it.
Very carefully, said the consultant.
"If the public feels there is over-promotion on that, they are going to start getting skeptical," he said.
What Miami's promoters don't want do is leave the impression that the risk is being obfuscated, he added.
For destination promoters in Miami, cautionary advice like that must surely be frustrating. After all, the Magic City has been hit with a deluge of negative press over the past two months. Indeed, it's not difficult to argue that the issue has received more coverage than it has merited. As of Tuesday, 70 Zika transmissions had been confirmed in Miami-Dade County, home to 3 million residents; 38 of the infections were contracted within a 4.5-square-mile area that encompasses most of Miami Beach. CDC travel advisories on Zika have been directed specifically at pregnant women and at couples attempting to get pregnant.
Like Visit Florida, Miami promoters from the get-go have backed CDC warnings related to pregnant women while otherwise making it clear that first Wynwood and now Miami Beach are very much open for business.
In Wynwood on Monday, a group that in April developed the Wynwood Coloring Book, geared toward adults who'd like to learn how to create the graffiti art that the district is famous for, issued a press release declaring that the neighborhood north of downtown is safe and welcoming visitors as always.
Meanwhile this week, the Miami CVB featured Wynwood in the "What's Hot" section near the top of its homepage. The approach had the sort of positive but understated feel that Donnelly was alluding to at the Governor's Conference on Tourism when he advised against, "a huge party on Day 1."