enjoy tour

Beaches and theme parks will likely be the biggest drivers of tourists to the Sunshine State for the foreseeable future. But through a new collaboration with National Geographic, Visit Florida is working to inform outdoor-minded visitors about many of the state's less mainstream attractions. National Geographic went live on Jan. 22 with an online hub called Florida By Land. Using a combination of articles, interactive mapping and, of course, photographs, the site features the 25 outdoor activities that editors of the publishing giant have deemed to be the best in the state. National Geographic will launch a similar web hub, called Florida By Sea, on Feb. 10. In addition, a 12-page advertising section, called Best Outdoor Adventures in Florida, was inserted into copies of the December/January edition of National Geographic Traveler. The rollouts are part of a three-year, $1 million agreement between Visit Florida and National Geographic, Visit Florida spokeswoman Laura Cassels said. National Geographic will add content to its Florida pages throughout the year, including a planned fourth quarter rollout of a hub that focuses on national, state and municipal parks. The magazine estimates the Florida By Land page could have 100,000 visitors by the end of the year. Visit Florida CEO Will Seccombe said that alerting visitors to Florida's extraordinary collection of lesser-known attractions, such as state parks, natural springs, quaint small towns and rural bicycle trails, will be well worth the investment. “If we can get a family to stay one extra day to experience something they would not have otherwise done, the real economic impact to the state is in the billions,” he said in an interview this week. The Florida By Land hub does guide visitors to a few well-known spots, such as Everglades National Park. But it mainly focuses on places that while relatively accessible, even most Floridians haven't heard about. For example, it suggests that people camp among the sand pines of the Ocala National Forest and that photographers seek out an image on the quiet beaches of St. George Island State Park, along Apalachicola Bay. The Florida By Sea hub will similarly eschew the state's best-known locales, such as South Beach and its surrounds, in favor of more far-flung places like Dry Tortugas National Park, 70 miles off of Key West, said the site's producer, Andrea Leitch.