Sunshine Matters

VISIT FLORIDA manages the state’s five Official Florida Welcome Centers located at I-10, I-95, I-75, U.S. 231 and the Florida Capitol.  In addition to promoting Florida tourism businesses, the Welcome Center staff offer detailed travel planning advice and information to more than 2.5 million drive visitors each year.  To ensure that advice reflects the latest tourism offerings, our employees are trained, tested and certified to serve.

First, as one of only ten states to certify their Welcome Center employees, VISIT FLORIDA boasts having 32 certified Florida Welcome Center Information Specialists. This certification, which must be renewed every three years, is administered through a national test approved by the U.S. Travel Association.  The Information Specialists work, train, shadow and study for a year to prepare for the 167 question test that covers Florida government, state safety and transportation information, directions, Florida history and, of course, Florida tourism. Upon passing the certification test, employees receive the official “Certified VISIT FLORIDA Information Specialist” pin.

Florida is also the first and only state in the nation to give recertification tests.  Part of the employees’ goals are to re-certify every two years, rather than waiting the allowable three.  In doing so, VISIT FLORIDA is keeping the Information Specialists sharp and giving them a challenge to learn even more about the state’s tourism product.  These front-line workers receive a variety of questions every day, from “what are the Florida marriage laws” to “what are the theme park hours” to “what beaches are pet friendly?” Keeping up with all the lastest tourism information ensures they are never stumped. They can recite the mileage and driving times to all of Florida’s major destinations. And they even practice reading maps upside down so they can help chart out vacation plans for visitors from the other side of the counter whenever needed.

Another strategy VISIT FLORIDA uses to train the Welcome Center staff is providing Employee Educational Tours.  Twice a year, employees go on a familiarization (FAM) tour of pre-determined Florida destinations for 3-5 days.  For navigational purposes, the trips are taken by car in order to provide the employees with the same experience the visitors would have. The staff will tour from dusk to dawn, becoming familiar with everything about a destination, from its beaches to zoos to hotels.  This May, the FAM trip will be hosted by Pensacola, where the staff will visit the Margaritaville Hotel, the Blue Angels, NAS, the French Quarter and Pensacola Beach.

Along with providing all sorts of information about Florida, the staff is also skilled in secondary selling as they help visitors plan their trips and book hotel rooms.  Last year, the Florida Welcome Center Concierge Program planned 2,634 vacations and garnered $229,889 in sales.  They also served 45,564 gallons of Florida orange and grapefruit juice to the visitors they assisted.

As the Welcome Centers transform this year into the “Welcome Centers of the Future,” the staff will be trained to provide assistance to visitors using the new digital advertising and touchscreen concierge planning devices that are being installed.  As well as becoming digitally enhanced, VISIT FLORIDA’s Official Florida Welcome Centers at the four highway locations will also undergo an exterior aesthetic change with the planting of natural foliage indigenous to Florida that will set the stage for the visitors’ entrée into the Sunshine State.

Think you’re smarter than a certified VISIT FLORIDA Information Specialist?  Stop by any of the five Official Florida Welcome Centers today and test them out.  To learn more about our Information Specialist program, contact Annette Larson at alarson@VISITFLORIDA.org.