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Tag: Florida tourism industry


VISIT FLORIDA AND PARTNERS ATTEND ITB BERLIN 2018

March 13th, 2018 — 11:55am

Last week, VISIT FLORIDA’s International team attended ITB Berlin, the world’s leading travel tradeshow. ITB Berlin, held March 7-11 in Berlin, Germany, hosted approximately 10,000 exhibitors and organizations from 186 countries eager to promote their destinations to more than 170,000 convention attendees.

At this year’s convention, VISIT FLORIDA’s pavilion included 68 Florida attendees from 22 Industry Partners including DMOs, hotels and attractions.

Miles Saunders, Media and Content Manager at Discover Crystal River, said, “This has been our most successful ITB ever, and we could not have done it without VISIT FLORIDA. The German market is our most important international market and the connections we have made are phenomenal. As a smaller destination, we rely heavily on VISIT FLORIDA and were proud to be a part of their presence.”

The first three days of the travel show are dedicated to trade professionals only, while the latter two are designed to spotlight destinations to consumers. VISIT FLORIDA staff had a full schedule of nearly 50 appointments with tour operators and travel brands and met with 60 key journalists and bloggers on the trade show floor. In addition, VISIT FLORIDA staff members participated in the Speed Blogger Event and the Visit USA Media Breakfast which offered even more one-on-one time with some of ITB Berlin’s 5,500+ accredited journalists and bloggers representing approximately 100 countries.

For the sixth year in a row, VISIT FLORIDA hosted a signature travel trade and media event, providing our Partners the opportunity to network with 180 European travel trade representatives and journalists in a unique atmosphere. This year’s event, sponsored by The Beaches of Fort Myers and Sanibel as well as Eurowings, was held in the Pan Am Lounge at House Eden, the luxurious apartment building used in the 60’s and 70’s to house flight crew from the famous Pan American Airways.

Tamara Pigott, Executive Director of The Beaches of Fort Myers and Sanibel, said, “ITB is an incredibly important tradeshow for The Beaches of Fort Myers and Sanibel. Because of our Partnership with VISIT FLORIDA, we were able to cohost this year’s Pan Am Lounge event with Eurowings and promote the six weekly Eurowings flights from Germany to Fort Myers starting in May.”

Also during ITB Berlin, VISIT FLORIDA sponsored the LGBT ITB Party by TomOnTour at The Reed Club. This party, which is by special invitation only, reinforces VISIT FLORIDA’s commitment to serving the LGBT travel community on a global scale, and helps promote the Sunshine State as one of the world’s premier gay and lesbian destinations.

Suya Davenport, Corporate Director of Leisure Sales at Benchmark, a global hospitality company, said, “ITB Berlin is a great show that offers Benchmark the opportunity to develop new relationships with the German market and build on our relationships with the Florida destination Partners who attend. “We have hotels throughout the state, so our partnership with VISIT FLORIDA is very important to our company. This tradeshow is just one of the many reasons our company is a VISIT FLORIDA Partner.”

To learn more about VISIT FLORIDA’s international marketing efforts, visit VISITFLORIDA.org and check out our online Marketing Planner.

VISIT FLORIDA Pavilion at ITB Berlin   VISIT FLORIDA Pavilion at ITB Berlin   VISIT FLORIDA Pavilion at ITB Berlin


Tim DeClaire
Director, International Marketing
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VISIT FLORIDA Receives $10.5 Million Increase in Public Funding

May 3rd, 2014 — 8:22am

Last night, the Florida Legislature passed the state budget which included a $10.5 million increase in VISIT FLORIDA funding for a record $74 million in FY 2014-15.  This allocation includes $5 million for medical tourism marketing and $1.3 million to promote the Sunshine State to veterans and active duty military.  I would like to thank Governor Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature for their visionary leadership and for their extraordinary support of VISIT FLORIDA and the state’s tourism industry. Continue reading »


Will Seccombe
President & CEO
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Florida’s Tourism Industry Building on Momentum

June 10th, 2013 — 12:40pm

Two consecutive years of record visitation.  A record 26 million visitors in Q1 2013.  Thirty-six consecutive months of job growth and a record 1,080,000 Floridians employed in the hospitality industry.  Florida is the No. 1 domestic vacation destination, the top family vacation destination, the top U.S. beach destination, the top vacation destination for Baby Boomers and Millennials, the  No. 1 destination for African American leisure travelers and one of the top international travel destinations. Continue reading »


Will Seccombe
President & CEO
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VISIT FLORIDA Awards Record Number of Tourism Industry Grants

June 5th, 2013 — 11:08am

I am pleased to announce that VISIT FLORIDA has recently awarded $378,353 to Florida tourism industry organizations as part of our 2013-2014 grant program.  The grants are given in four program categories, including Advertising Matching Grants; Cultural, Heritage, Rural and Nature Tourism Grants; Minority Convention Grants; and Small Business Grants.  This year, VISIT FLORIDA received a record 126 applications and was able to award grants to 85 deserving businesses. Continue reading »


Eileen Forrow
Vice President, Sales and Marketing
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Registration for Florida Governor’s Conference on Tourism Now Open

June 4th, 2013 — 9:55am

Attendee registration for the 46th Annual Florida Governor’s Conference on Tourism is now open.  This year, VISIT FLORIDA’s signature event and Florida’s premier educational conference for the tourism industry, will be held September 11 – 13 at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort in Orlando. Continue reading »


Steven Bonda, CMP
Senior Manager, Corporate Meetings & Events
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