The Florida Keys’ official tourism website, fla-keys.com, brings in a bunch of money — but not for the county that owns the site or its tourism agency.
Instead, as part of a 30-year-old agreement, the company that manages the website — Two Oceans Digital — keeps all revenue from ad sales on the site — and recently refused to provide documentation detailing the revenue the website generates, according to a recent audit by the county clerk’s office.
Auditors reviewed the contract between the Monroe County Tourist Development Council and Two Oceans Digital, which is owned by Cooke Communications Florida LLC.
The results were “very troubling,” said Kara Franker, the new president/CEO of the TDC.
“Due to the severity of the deficiencies,” the audit report states, “we recommended that the TDC critically evaluate their arrangement with Two Oceans to determine whether it would be beneficial to either immediately cancel and re-bid this contract or consider other alternative solutions for website and digital services. We also recommend the TDC take action to require Two Oceans provide documentation to account for all public funds being generated through advertising on the TDC website.”
Two Oceans representatives told auditors that the company makes an estimated $600,000 a year in ad revenue, but refused to provide auditors with documentation to support the claim, and auditors reported that experts estimate the actual annual revenue could be more than $1.5 million.
“The TDC board meets Tuesday, Oct. 29, and this audit will be discussed,” Franker told the Keys Weekly on Oct. 22. “I know I was disappointed that (Two Oceans) didn’t comply with the auditors’ requests for documentation and in the fact that we can’t put a dollar amount on the money made from advertising. The website is a TDC asset, and it’s very troubling that we don’t have a lot of answers.”
Much of the audit report criticizes the TDC for a lack of oversight and monitoring of Two Oceans for compliance with the contract. But the contract language is clear, and the TDC agreed in 1995 to forgo all advertising revenue from its website.
Attorney Robert Spottswood, representing Two Oceans, told the Keys Weekly on Oct. 23 that his clients are cooperating and are eager to meet with the county attorney to resolve any and all issues. He added that his clients are also willing to discuss the terms of the contract.
The auditors reported that the agreement giving Two Oceans 100% of advertising revenue has been unchanged since 1995, when the internet was still in its infancy.
Currently, the TDC also pays Two Oceans about $100,000 per year for “special projects,” many of which are not sufficiently monitored to avoid overpayment and duplicate charges.
Auditors noted that no other TDC it reviewed forfeited all advertising revenue from their websites. Further, comparable TDCs that outsourced their website and digital services spent only $80,000 to $100,000 per year on those services.
“Two Oceans’ unchanged compensation package since 1995 suggests Monroe County and the TDC conducted an insufficient financial analysis to determine if this compensation structure was in the best interest of the county,” the report states. “As a result, it is possible that the TDC has been significantly overpaying for its website and digital services.”
Audit findings revealed that in addition to managing the TDC’s fla-keys.com, Two Oceans also owns the domains of keywest.com, floridakeys.com and other domain names with similar derivations (e.g., gaykeywestfl.com, keyscams.com, etc.), the report states.
“Two Oceans has a unique ability to generate tourist related advertising revenue beyond the revenue generated from TDC’s website because they could leverage their control over TDC’s website in a way that could also benefit the similar-sounding website domains that they own,” the report states.
The report also states that the Request for Proposals to seek a potential new website provider “did not create a competitive environment for potential vendors because its design provided a distinct advantage to the incumbent vendor, Two Oceans,” the audit report states. “The RFP included a stipulation that all services be provided at no cost in exchange for advertising revenues. … Only the incumbent knew the true value of this compensation package.”
The full audit report is at monroe-clerk.com, under Finance/Internal Audit Reports.
NewmanPR contract terminated
Following a February audit that heavily criticized the billing practices of NewmanPR, the county’s public relations agency, the county commission voted Oct. 16 to sever ties with the company. Commissioners unanimously accepted a notice of termination by Andy Newman, president of NewmanPR, that will keep his company working for the county’s Tourist Development Council until the end of January 2025.
Upon the audit’s release, Newman told the Keys Weekly the audit reflected “a hostile bias evident in many of the clerk’s office recommendations.” In August, Newman was formally charged with counts of perjury and false official statements by the Monroe County State Attorney’s Office.
Franker, hired in July, told the TDC board in September that she will explore the option to bring public relations and digital marketing services in-house, but could retain some of NewmanPR’s staff as TDC employees.
Alex Rickert contributed to this report.
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