Sunshine Matters

To leverage international trade and media already visiting the Sunshine State to attend Florida Huddle, VISIT FLORIDA organized two highly successful pre- and post-event familiarization tours of several Florida destinations.  Co-hosting these FAMs with local CVBs and other tourism businesses allowed key international media and trade representatives to experience for themselves all that Florida has to offer.

The trade FAM consisted of 17 tour operators and buyers from Germany, the UK and Ireland who package tours to Florida.  To aid them in adding new items to their Sunshine State itineraries, VISIT FLORIDA arranged for this group to visit sites in Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, and the Space Coast so they can share their personal experiences with clients back in Europe.

Many of those on the trade FAM also took part in the annual Travel Women International Golf Society (TWIGS) charity golf tournament and awards dinner.  TWIGS, now celebrating their 25th anniversary, organizes the special event for leading international and domestic tour operators and travel professionals in association with Florida Huddle each year.  VISIT FLORIDA hosted a luncheon following the golf tournament for more than 100 participants, including 50 qualified buyers.

The second of VISIT FLORIDA’s two FAMs was geared for media and included five journalists from the United Kingdom and Ireland’s leading trade publications TTG, Travel Mole, TravelBiz, Travel Weekly and Travel Bulletin.  The journalists were treated to a culinary-themed tour spotlighting tasty delights from a diverse selection of Florida’s restaurants and dining venues.  A few destinations incorporated sites and activities around the culinary tour that were off the beaten path or hidden jewels throughout Florida, such as Bob Roth’s New River Groves and Orlando’s East End Market.  This itinerary offered a great opportunity to show the media that while Florida may be best known for our beaches, golf courses, attractions, and cultural and historical activities, the state has more to explore than they could possibly imagine.

Special thanks to our CVB hosts and those that partnered with them for both FAMS, including the host hotels: Disney Destinations, Discover Palm Beach County, Florida Space Coast Office of Tourism, Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB, Greater Miami CVB and Visit Orlando.

In 2012, the United Kingdom ranked No. 3 in both international visitor spending and visitation to Florida. Europe as a whole was No. 1 worldwide for top visitation to Florida and No. 3 in spending in 2012.  This data  shows why it is so important that VISIT FLORIDA continue to educate our international trade and media on all that Florida has to offer in order to “sell and tell” the Sunshine State story to visitors around the globe.