Sunshine Matters

VISIT FLORIDA is constantly working to position Florida as a premier travel destination by showcasing all the state has to offer to the highest possible number of potential visitors.  One new way the VISIT FLORIDA Marketing & Events team has endeavored to accomplish this is by creating more opportunities for our industry to participate in trade events in core cities such as Atlanta, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia.

To that end, VISIT FLORIDA recently hosted our 1st Annual Atlanta Trade Luncheon at The Capital Grille at Perimenter Mall.  This highly successful event brought together over 55 travel agents in the Atlanta Metro area with seven of our Industry Partners, including the Central Florida VCB, Melbourne International Airport, Panama City Beach CVB, The Banyon Resort, The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel, Westgate Resorts & Villas, and ResortQuest by Wyndham Vacations.

Each of the Industry Partners had an opportunity to give brief presentations and award door prizes to the travel agents in attendance.  In chatting with the attendees, I’m pleased to say many of them shared that this was one of the best events they had ever attended.  Given its success, VISIT FLORIDA will be hosting three additional trade events in the coming months, including Boston in February, Chicago in March and Philadelphia in April.

Another way the VISIT FLORIDA Marketing & Events team is working to reach an expanded audience is through our Florida Specialist Program.  The program, which is designed for travel agents to build their product knowledge of the Sunshine State, includes two topic areas – General Florida and Florida Weddings. Through VISIT FLORIDA’s partnership with Worth International and Recommend magazine – one of the travel trade’s leading brands – the two courses in the Florida Specialist Program are the only ones in North America being featured on the Recommend Education site.

In addition, Worth International will be publishing our 2013 Official Florida Travel Industry Guide and distributing it to over 50,000 travel agents in the U.S. and Canada.  The travel agent market contributes to over $110 billion in spending annually and the agents VISIT FLORIDA works with have proven to be brand champions for driving Florida visitation.  To ensure they are truly in the know on all their is to see and do in the state, the new guide will include a series of “Did you knows?” regarding our VIVA Florida 500 Commemoration activities happening in 2013.

For more information on any of these programs or events, please contact me at chatcher@VISITFLORIDA.org.