Sunshine Matters

Yesterday, the Partnership for Florida’s Tourism and five other statewide organizations hosted the industry’s annual Florida Tourism Day.   This all-day event at the Florida Capitol provided an excellent opportunity to showcase the state’s No. 1 industry to the legislature and to educate them on the rationale for tourism marketing public funding.

The day started with speeches from Governor Rick Scott, Lt. Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, Secretary of State Ken Detzner, DBPR Secretary Ken Lawson and other government officials.  In the afternoon, the industry met with legislators at the Capitol and the day concluded with a street festival in downtown Tallahassee.  The key message of the day shared by tourism industry representatives was to urge state lawmakers to support Governor Scott’s recommendation of $100 million for VISIT FLORIDA’s tourism marketing efforts in 2014-2015.

As part of Tourism Day, more than 400 industry representatives from 44 counties around the state traveled to Tallahassee and met with legislators and government leaders. The street party Wednesday evening, which drew well over 500 attendees, featured the band Low Flying Planes and showcased food and exhibits from numerous members of the tourism industry and supporting organizations.

Along with VISIT FLORIDA, the 2014 Florida Tourism Day hosts included the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, the Florida Attractions Association, the Florida Association of Destination Marketing Organizations and the Florida Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds, as well as the Florida Association of Museums, Film Florida, Florida Sports Foundation, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Florida Cattlemen’s Association.

With three consecutive years of record breaking visitation, spending and tourism-industry employment, Florida tourism carries a tremendous amount of momentum into 2014.  Given that we have the best tourism product on the planet, visionary public sector leadership from Governor Scott and the Florida Legislature, nearly 1.1 million Floridians who provide exceptional service to our visitors every day and highly impactful marketing programs from VISIT FLORIDA and our destination marketing partners across the state, Florida is well-positioned to become the No. 1 travel destination in the world.  I want to thank everyone who helped make this year’s Florida Tourism Day such a successful opportunity to share that message with our elected officials.

While Florida Tourism Day was a great success, it’s important to remember that VISIT FLORIDA’s efforts to market the state to visitors from around the globe continue year-round.  We urge all Floridians to take pride in your tourism industry and to advocate for tourism marketing funding.  To learn how you can help, please visit FloridasTourismCounts.org.