With Spring Break behind us and the busy summer travel season almost here, we know our partners and community stakeholders have been fielding a lot of questions about the beach.
The biggest question is how will changes along the beach affect our incoming visitors and residents?
The Walton County Tourism Department has launched a multi-media awareness campaign that provides the necessary information for visitors and locals alike.
The hub of the campaign is an easy-to-navigate interactive map on VisitSouthWalton.com. By typing in a physical address, a visitor can find the nearest county-owned public beach access, including our regional beach accesses or neighborhood beach accesses, our state parks, and bay and lake access points. They can also find private beach through resort/vacation rentals, which include resort areas and neighborhoods like Alys Beach, Rosemary Beach and Seaside.
Walton County’s 26-mile shoreline has always had a mix of public and private beachfront, much of which is available to the public. Despite some of the changes along the beach, it’s important to note that beachgoers can traverse the wet sand area along the entire 26-mile shoreline.
This geo-locator interactive map more clearly distinguishes between county-owned public beaches and privately managed beaches and gives details on how and when these areas may be accessed. The map is updated regularly to provide the most current information available.
Digital and social media messaging has already gone out to future and current visitors, encouraging them to check the map to learn more about when and where they can access the beach.
The tourism department has also placed site-specific signage with detailed access information — via a QR code directing to the interactive map — that can offer beachside clarity to anyone with a mobile phone.
We understand the importance of the guest experience within our community, as well as the importance of getting this information to our incoming visitors and potential visitors.
Our accommodation partners play a pivotal role in helping us communicate — both in the booking phase and before the stay — how their guests can access the beach. We’ve asked our partners to share a link to the interactive map on VisitSouthWalton.com with their guests. For our part, we recommend that anyone who has booked their stay contact their accommodation host to get specifics on how to access the beach during their stay.
We all want the same thing — for our visitors to enjoy our incredible, sugar-white sand beaches, make memories, and spend quality time with family and friends.
Thank you for working together to ensure visitors and locals alike have all the information they need to enjoy everything Walton County has to offer.
