Sunshine Matters

Today is the final day to sign the American Society of Association Executives’ open letter to Congress opposing the restrictions on attendance at meetings. The letter asks Congress to revise recent amendments passed by the House and Senate that limit federal employees from attending private conferences if any federal funds are used for travel expenses.

While the stated intent of the language would be to prevent wasteful spending on government sponsored conferences, the actual language would prevent many federal employees from attending and participating in private conferences. Continue reading »

As part of today’s opening presentation for the Florida Association of Destination Marketing Organizations’ Industry Summit, I was proud to announce VISIT FLORIDA’s new founding partnership with Brand USA.  Patterned on the VISIT FLORIDA model as a public-private tourism marketing corporation, Brand USA was created in 2010 to encourage travelers from all over the world to visit the United States.  Through our base commitment of $1 million and significant in-kind investments, VISIT FLORIDA joins Marriott International, the Walt Disney Company and Best Western International as Brand USA’s founding travel partners. Continue reading »

Today marked the conclusion of the 2012 legislative session, officially referred to as “sine die.”  With the end of session, came the passage of the 2012-2013 state budget.  I would like to share with you a statement we released to the media this evening reflecting VISIT FLORIDA’s funding appropriation for the coming year:

“The VISIT FLORIDA board and staff, on behalf of the statewide tourism industry, thank Governor Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature for their confidence in our state’s No. 1 industry, and for their recognition that an investment of $54 million in cooperative marketing through VISIT FLORIDA is the quickest way back to jobs and economic development in Florida. Continue reading »

I am pleased to announce that during last evening’s awards gala in New York, Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) recognized VISIT FLORIDA with one Gold and three Silver Adrian Awards.  The awards were given for public relations and digital marketing excellence for VISIT FLORIDA’s winning entries in the 55th Annual Adrian Awards Competition, the world’s most recognized and prestigious advertising, public relations and digital marketing competition for the hospitality, travel and tourism industries. This year’s total of four awards marks VISIT FLORIDA’s largest number of winning Adrian entries ever received.

VISIT FLORIDA was selected by HSMAI to receive a Gold Adrian Award for its “Great VISIT FLORIDA Beach Walk” crisis recovery campaign and Silver Adrian Awards for its “Sunshine Moments” social media campaign, its “Florida Seafood Celebration” special event in Washington, D.C. and its “GO Magazine” feature placement in AirTran’s on-board publication. Continue reading »

According to preliminary estimates* we released today, an estimated 85.9 million visitors came to Florida in 2011, an increase of 4.4 percent over 2010.  This represents a record year for visitation to Florida, exceeding the previous high of 84.5 million in 2007.  Direct travel-related employment in Florida also rose to a near record high of 1,013,100, adding more than 38,000 jobs and representing a 3.9 percent increase over 2010.

“With such significant increases in jobs and visitors to the Sunshine State in 2011, tourism remains the state’s No. 1 industry and the leading driver of Florida’s rebounding economy,” said Governor Rick Scott. “VISIT FLORIDA and the entire Florida tourism industry are leading the way to ensuring that we become the No. 1 travel destination in the world.” Continue reading »