We're sorry, but to display this page properly, you will need to update your browser.

avatar
Rally to Promote ‘Share a Little Sunshine’ Campaign Is a Huge Success

By on February 17th, 2010 — 5:49pm

Yesterday, Governor Charlie Crist joined more than a hundred VISIT FLORIDA Partners and other tourism industry representatives on Miami Beach for a rally to re-launch the statewide, grassroots ‘Share a Little Sunshine’ campaign.  The Governor and I called on all Floridians to help strengthen the state’s economy by sending a personal invitation to out-of-state friends and family, encouraging them to visit the Sunshine State.

The rally and press conference to launch the campaign were a huge success, with extraordinary coverage from the network television stations, the Miami Herald, and the Florida News Network.  Adding to the festivities were Florida State Parks rangers, a costume character from the Miami Seaquarium, live animals from Jungle Island in Miami, and numerous members of the local hospitality industries, as well as many interested onlookers from the general public.

On behalf of the entire state tourism industry, I would like to personally thank Governor Crist for participating in the event and for his tremendous support of the ‘Share a Little Sunshine’ campaign.  The Governor even sent out a special message following the press conference that I would like to share with you all:

“Today, I had the privilege to join representatives of Florida’s tourism industry and help re-launch ‘Share a Little Sunshine.’  This statewide, grassroots tourism campaign encourages all Floridians to send a personal e-mail to out-of-state friends and family, and invite them to visit the Sunshine State.

Each year, millions of people from around the world choose to spend their hard earned money and precious time here with us in Florida. Our state’s tourism industry alone employs more than one million Floridians, and the visitors these employees serve generate 21 percent of the state’s total sales tax revenue – money paid by non-residents that fund crucial needs such as roads, hospitals, firefighters and policemen.

We know that 85 visitors to the Sunshine State support one job, and that in 2008, tourism returned $3.9 billion to Florida in tax revenue and generated $65.2 billion in direct economic impact. So I’m asking all Floridians to reach out and “Share a Little Sunshine” with their friends and family, and help increase visitation to the state and raise much-needed sales tax dollars.

At www.ShareaLittleSunshine.org, Floridians can select one of several free video invitations or custom e-mail postcards that can be sent to friends and family directly from the site.  Each invitation carries with it information about special destinations from the sender’s geographic area. To encourage Floridians to send invitations, a Florida vacation package will be given away each quarter to someone who sent an invitation through www.ShareaLittleSunshine.org.

As Governor, I promise to continue my efforts to promote Florida, and I invite you to do the same. Tourism’s economic impact touches our lives daily. Therefore, we must continue our work to preserve Florida’s wonder and beauty for generations to come.

If we all get involved, together we can encourage more visitors to come to the Sunshine State. In this way, we will help keep Floridians employed, create new jobs, and help keep our state’s world-class restaurants, resorts, parks and attractions strong.

May God bless you and the great State of Florida.”

To read the news release on yesterday’s press conference sent out by the Governor’s Press Office, please visit the VISIT FLORIDA media web site at www.media.VISITFLORIDA.org/news.  To learn more about the ‘Share a Little Sunshine’ campaign, go to www.ShareaLittleSunshine.org.

Thanks again to Governor Crist and everyone who helped make yesterday’s event such a success – and don’t forget to ‘Share a Little Sunshine’ and invite someone to Florida.


Chris Thompson
President and CEO
Share

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , | Comment »


Leave a Reply




Back to top