Sunshine Matters

International visitors represent 11.7% of all Florida visitors.  In 2009, Florida welcomed nearly 9.5 million international visitors from 165 countries – who collectively spent over $5.8 billion in Florida.  This represents a decline of  3% in visitation and a 12% decline in spending from international visitors.  We could chalk the losses up to the global recession and presume that as the economy improves Florida will see international visitors return, but that would be a huge mistake. Continue reading »

Congratulations, U.S. Travel Industry!  Today, President Obama signed the Travel Promotion Act into law.  This marks a significant day for our industry and we have much to celebrate.  I want to take this occasion to once again thank everyone in the Florida tourism industry who helped make this a reality.

To view the official White House video of President Obama signing the Travel Promotion Act in the Oval Office, please click here. Continue reading »

Last night was a historic night!  Shortly before 9:00 p.m., the U.S. Senate passed the Travel Promotion Act creating the Corporation for Travel Promotion and providing up to $100 million for international marketing of the United States brand.  It will now go to the President for signature.  Continue reading »

VISIT FLORIDA President and CEO Chris Thompson recently attended a two-day summit in Orlando where U.S. and Chinese tourism officials explored opportunities for growing travel between the two countries.  Tourism officials from 22 other states and 30 Chinese provinces were also in attendance, including the chairman of the China National Tourism Administration, Shao Qiwei and U.S. Travel Association President and CEO, Roger Dow.  The event provided the chance to participate in discussions on strategies for promoting and stimulating travel between China and the U.S., travel trends in the U.S.-China market, attendance at the Shanghai World Expo 2010 and shared travel challenges such as the H1N1 flu.  Continue reading »