Polk County Florida Objects To Sun ‘n Fun Promotion Of Osceola County, FL

It seems there is some friction between two counties in the state of Florida. They are Osceola County and Polk County. The logical question is, what’s this got to do with aviation stuff? The answer is, it’s because of the Sun ‘n Fun fly-in.

The issues in this matter were published in The Ledger newspaper but you need a scorecard to understand who’s in this game. The Sun ‘n Fun fly-in is held in Lakeland, Florida which is located in Polk County. The Sun ‘n Fun organization marketed their event through an outfit called “Experience Kissimmee” which is located in Osceola County.

Experience Kissimmee is also a paid sponsor of the Sun ‘n Fun event. By being a paid sponsor they have a booth at Sun ‘n Fun and display a banner. They also promote Sun ‘n Fun on their website.

So far this sounds like no big deal, but here’s the rub. Polk County Tourism and Sports Marketing, also known as Visit Central Florida (remember, Sun ‘n Fun is in Polk County), receives revenue from tourism taxes to promote Polk County, and Experience Kissimmee is using Sun ‘n Fun to promote tourism in Osceola County.

According to The Ledger article, Mark Jackson, director of Polk County Tourism and Sports Marketing is not happy with Experience Kissimmee and Sun ‘n Fun promoting Osceola County at Sun ‘n Fun in Polk County. Jackson is quoted as describing the campaign by Experience Kissimmee as "ambush marketing."

Sun 'n Fun's president and CEO John Leenhouts said he was "totally surprised" to learn of objections to the partnership from Polk's tourism agency, according to The Ledger report.

FMI: www.osceola.org