Discover Long Island, the official marketing and leadership organization of Long Island, New York, has selected Florida agency Paradise Advertising & Marketing as its first agency of record.
Over the next three years Paradise is tasked with providing strategic marketing, destination intelligence, creative development and media buying services to further expand the Discover Long Island brand and promote tourism to the region. The largest and most populated island in the nation boasts a $6 billion visitor economy, and it’s one that looks to grow.
“After six years of rebranding and award-winning work to elevate our destination in markets across the globe, Long Island has welcomed a record number of visitors year after year,” said Kristen Reynolds, president and CEO of Discover Long Island. “Our region is in a pivotal moment with game changing, transformative developments on the horizon—providing tremendous opportunities for our industry and Long Island’s economy. Now is the perfect time to amplify our efforts and extend our team by bringing an industry leading agency of record on board.”
Some of the key projects planned for the region include East Side Access, the first expansion of the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) in more than 100 years and its connections to Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station, as well as a faster commute to JFK Airport. In addition, a new LIRR station in almost 50 years will be built to coincide with the New York Islanders’ first home game at the new UBS Arena in historic Elmont, the only arena in metro New York built for hockey. There is also a $2.8 billion Midway Crossing project, a public-private undertaking that will connect the LIRR to MacArthur Airport in Islip.
Awarded “Best Social Media” in the nation by the U.S. Travel Association, Discover Long Island produces content designed to attract consumers to area businesses. Its 10 social media channels garner 10 million views annually. The organization has two TikTok accounts, one of which garnered six million views last year alone.
Additionally, the tourism organization hosts a popular YouTube series, “Long Island TV,” as well as the “Long Island Tea” podcast, which was launched in 2020 and has been downloaded more than 11,000 times in 28 countries. Its YouTube channel has 3,000 subscribers, the most of any other destination.
“It is such an honor for our agency to enter a coveted partnership with one of the most recognizable tourist destinations in the U.S.,” said Barbara Karasek, CEO and co-owner of Paradise in a statement. “Successful marketing is as much about data and intelligence as it is about creative ideation, evidenced by our track record of increasing the tourism economy in the communities our clients’ serve. We’re thrilled to be working with a group of marketers who understand that creativity and destination intelligence beLONG together to attract the elevated and responsible traveler, while delivering innovative solutions.”
Paradise is based in St. Petersburg, Florida, with satellite team members in Florida, Connecticut, Nebraska, Nevada, South Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin.