Sunshine Matters

The Sunshine State’s tourism industry was well represented at the 98th Annual Destination Marketing Association International Convention in Seattle last week, with a contingent of nearly 50 Florida attendees.  There were numerous members of the Florida delegation who received accolades during the convention for their continued excellence and engagement with DMAI, including:

• Walt Disney Parks & Resorts was announced as the recipient of the prestigious Destination & Travel Foundation 2013 Spirit of Hospitality Award winner for excellence in destination marketing, tourism and meetings
• Visit Orlando achieved re-accreditation through the industry-wide Destination Marketing Accreditation Program (DMAP) for being a DMO that meets or exceeds industry standards
• Erin Duggan, Communications Director at Visit Sarasota County, and Suzanne Scully, Director of Sales, Conventions & Meetings at Visit St. Pete/Clearwater earned the Certified Destination Management Executive (CDME) designation
• Megan Casey, Senior Event Planner at Visit Orlando, Katie Marvin, Advertising Manager at Visit St. Pete/Clearwater and Dorothy Thames, Digital Marketing Specialist at VISIT FLORIDA were selected for the 2012-2013 30 Under 30 Program, with Casey Canevari, CRM Marketing Manager at Visit St. Pete/Clearwater serving as an Ambassador representing the 2011-2012 class
• Delray Beach was named “Most Fun Small Town in America” and Deland was first runner-up in the “Most Patriotic” category in DMAI Alliance Partner’s USA Today/Rand McNally 2012 Best of the Road contest
• D.T. Minich, CEO Visit St. Pete/Clearwater, David Downing, Deputy Director at Visit St. Pete/Clearwater, Kelly Miller, President & CEO at Tampa Bay & Company, Jack Wert, Executive Director at Naples, Marco Island & Everglades CVB, Will Seccombe, CMO at VISIT FLORIDA, Susannah Costello, VP Brand at VISIT FLORIDA and Dorothy Thames, Digital Marketing Specialist at VISIT FLORIDA were all chosen as speakers on topics ranging from social media marketing to content marketing to movie marketing

As part of the 2012 DMAI Convention, VISIT FLORIDA hosted an inaugural Florida Delegation Reception for an hour before everyone headed out to various allied member activities Tuesday night.  This was our attempt to bring our statewide tourism industry Partners together to network and share contacts and experiences during the trip to Seattle.  As a newly elected member of the DMAI Board of Directors, I’m especially looking forward to welcoming the convention to Orlando next year and continuing this new Florida Delegation Reception tradition.

In the meantime, I hope all of you have made plans to attend the 45th Annual Florida Governor’s Conference on Tourism Sept. 5-7 at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld.  It should be another great celebration of our individual and collective successes marketing our amazing destinations.  See you there!