Live From IPW: Visit Florida Keys' Kara Franker on Balancing Record Numbers and Real Limits
Episode description
Welcome to a special IPW 2026 series of View From Afar. In this episode, recorded live from the conference floor, Visit Florida Keys and Key West president and CEO Kara Franker sits down with Afar editorial director Billie Cohen to talk about leading a record-breaking destination on a fragile string of islands—and why "better tourism" matters more than "more tourism."
Kara joined Visit Florida Keys in 2024 after leading Visit Estes Park in Colorado, and she came in at a pivotal moment. Key West International Airport saw more arrivals in 2025 than ever before, and 2026 is tracking strong. But the Keys are 120 miles of islands with one road in and one road out, a reef that protects them from hurricanes, and a deeply local culture that doesn't always love being shared. Kara's challenge: how to keep welcoming the world without loving the place to death.
In this conversation, Kara and Billie discuss
- How Kara rebuilt her team from 12 staff to 30 in under two years, and why she recruited from outside the tourism industry
- The shift from "spray and play" broadcast marketing to messaging that asks visitors to respect the reef, the key deer, and the locals
- A new artificial reef being built so divers can practice before they touch the real thing—and how visitor tax dollars are funding it
- Why the Keys are physically finite, what that means for residents trying to reach the grocery store on Memorial Day weekend, and the air taxi idea Kara has her eye on
- What the recent Monroe County decision to stop using tourism tax dollars to fund LGBTQ events means for Pride in 2027—and why the community is already rallying
- The "Come as You Are" tagline, the Conch Republic's rebellious spirit, and what it means to become a "freshwater conch"
- Plus: stone crab vs. key lime pie, the only place in the world with crocodiles and alligators in the same place, and a pitch for adding lionfish to the menu.
Resources
– Visit Florida Keys website
– John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park
– Afar guide to the Florida Keys and Key West
Chapters
00:00:00 Welcome to View From Afar
00:01:30 Rebuilding the Team From Scratch
00:04:00 Better Tourism, Not More
00:06:30 Investing in the Community
00:11:00 Come as You Are
00:12:00 Pride, Politics, and the Path Forward
00:17:30 The Joy of the Keys
00:20:00 Becoming a Freshwater Conch
Stay Connected
- Subscribe to View From Afar to catch all our IPW 2026 episodes this week.
- Follow @AfarMedia on Instagram and TikTok for behind-the-scenes IPW content.
- Sign up for our travel industry newsletter, Afar Advisor.
- Rate and review the show to help other travel professionals discover these insights.
- Explore our other podcasts, Travel Tales and Unpacked.
This IPW 2026 special series was recorded live. View From Afar is a production of Afar Media and a part of Airwave Media's podcast network (email advertising@airwavemedia.com if you would like to advertise on our podcast). The podcast is produced by Aislyn Greene and Nikki Galteland, with assistance from Michelle Baran and Billie Cohen. Music composition from Epidemic Sound.
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