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Florida Destinations Host Travel Trade and Media as Part of Huddle 2016

By on March 28th, 2016 — 1:43pm

China group at Miami Seaquarium Pre-Huddle FAMTo leverage international travel trade and media already visiting the Sunshine State to attend our signature event Florida Huddle, VISIT FLORIDA organized seven highly successful pre- and post-familiarization (FAM) tours of several Florida destinations.  Co-hosting these FAMs with local CVBs and other tourism businesses allowed key international travel trade representatives and travel writers to experience for themselves all that Florida has to offer so they can share their personal experiences with clients and readers back home.

In the days leading up to Florida Huddle, 24 tour operators and buyers from Germany, China, the U.K. and Ireland who package tours to Florida participated in specialized FAMs based on their interests.  To aid them in adding new items to their Sunshine State itineraries, VISIT FLORIDA arranged for the German, U.K. and Irish groups to visit sites in Tampa and St. Petersburg/Clearwater, while the group from China took in sites in Tampa, Miami and Ft. Lauderdale.

Huddle FAM 5 IndiaIn the week following Florida Huddle, the participants in the China, German, U.K. and Irish groups continued their FAM tours in either Orlando, Tampa or Bradenton, while a new group of 10 tour operators from India visited sites in Tampa, Orlando and Kissimmee.  VISIT FLORIDA also hosted a post-FAM tour in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater for a group of international travel media.

Huddle FAM 4In addition to taking the FAM groups to well-known Florida attractions, VISIT FLORIDA placed a focus on showing off unique, low-key travel experiences as well.  A few examples included a bike tour through Downtown Tampa, an airboat ride at the Everglades Alligator Farm and a Segway tour of Bradenton Beach.

Special thanks to our hosts: Visit Tampa Bay, Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB, Visit Orlando, Greater Miami CVB, Visit St. Petersburg/Clearwater, Experience Kissimmee, Bradenton Area CVB, Universal Orlando Resort, SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, Disney Destinations and all other Partners who contributed to making the FAMs a huge success.

To learn more about our many international travel trade outreach opportunities, please check out the VISIT FLORIDA Marketing Planner or contact me at cjones@VISITFLORIDA.org.

Huddle FAM 2In addition to the highly-successful travel trade FAM tours, our Public Relations team organized a post-Huddle FAM tour of Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater for a group of travel media who represent publications based in Brazil, India, Germany, the U.S. and the U.K.  Five journalists from around the globe took full advantage of the opportunity to experience unique Florida activities, such as the Gasparilla Pirate Fest, the award-winning Caladesi Island State Park and the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.

VISIT FLORIDA would like to thank all the Partners who participated in the media FAM trip for welcoming the journalists to a multitude of unique Florida experiences. To see a sampling of the articles and slide shows posted to date by the journalists, check out http://bit.ly/1pqIc1Mhttp://bit.ly/1pwCoo2 and http://bit.ly/1SW9V6v.  Journalists attending and writing articles about Florida Huddle 2016 and the sites they took in while in Florida have garnered more than 37 million earned media impressions so far, with many more to come in the weeks and months ahead.

For more information about VISIT FLORIDA’s international media relations efforts, contact Lucy Spann at lspann@VISITFLORIDA.org.


Paul Phipps
Chief Marketing Officer
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