Sunshine Matters

Europe was once again the top region for international visitors to Florida in 2012, accounting for 3.1 million visitors representing 27% of the state’s total international visitors.  France, in particular, is one of our top international markets, ranking No. 9 in visitation to Florida and No. 11 in visitor spending in 2012. Continue reading »

This year marked the first time Brand USA, VISIT FLORIDA and our Partners participated in ITB Asia, held recently in Singapore.  VISIT FLORIDA co-branded a Florida Pavilion under the Brand USA umbrella along with our Partners from the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau and Universal Orlando.  Now in its fifth year, more than 8,500 attendees participated in this three-day, business-to-business, appointment-based trade show which has quickly become the leading event of its kind for the Asian travel market. Continue reading »

VISIT FLORIDA recently brought together our international directors, who represent us in China, Germany, India, the U.K. and Latin America, and the creative director from our lead agency of record SapientNitro for the first ever VISIT FLORIDA Brand Camp.  The idea behind Brand Camp was simple: create an opportunity for open dialogue between our in-country experts and the creative mind behind the new VISIT FLORIDA campaign, launching next year, to discuss where and how this campaign translates in targeted overseas markets. Continue reading »

VISIT FLORIDA recently attended ITB Berlin, the world’s largest travel fair.  With an event this grand in scale and knowing that a picture is worth a thousand words, I thought it might be fun to share a photo essay to help tell the story.

The international travel market proved to be highly competitive, with more than 180 countries on-hand to promote their destinations to over 113,000 attendees. The VISIT FLORIDA booth was the largest in the USA pavilion, with more than 90 Florida industry representatives. Continue reading »

Florida ranks second among all 50 states in total international visitation and first in visitor spending.  In 2010 alone, Florida’s tourism industry brought in 11.1 million international visitors from 144 different countries who spent $10.6 billion. As a unique opportunity for increasing international visitation to the state and improving the Sunshine State’s economy, VISIT FLORIDA has now expanded the Florida Insider Program to reach overseas audiences.

In addition to our nine Florida-based Insiders, VISIT FLORIDA has added two international Insiders to our roster of vacation experts. Kylie Jenkins, representing the United Kingdom-Ireland and Wiebke Flegel-Wult from Germany, are the newest internationally-based Florida Insiders generating content and providing insight specifically for international visitors to the Sunshine State. Continue reading »