Sunshine Matters

I’m excited to share the following press release with you that was sent out this afternoon by Governor’s Scott’s Press Office:

Governor Rick Scott and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam today helped VISIT FLORIDA®, the state’s official tourism marketing corporation, announce the launch of their new FishingCapital.com website.  Working with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), VISIT FLORIDA has created the ultimate website for boating and fishing enthusiasts with content to help anglers get the most out of their next Florida fishing trip.  The announcement was made at the Destination Panama City Marina just before Governor Scott and other Cabinet members embarked on a brief fishing trip for the Florida Bass2Billfish television show, sponsored by VISIT FLORIDA.  Continue reading »

In order to capitalize on the success of last year’s award-winning marketing campaign, VISIT FLORIDA announces the year-two launch of “Your Florida Side Is Calling” in key markets throughout the U.S.  The fully-integrated campaign generated more than $147 in tourism spending and $9 in new sales tax collections for every $1 spent on marketing during its first year in 2010.  This return on investment is three times higher than in 2009. Continue reading »

This year’s 43rd Florida Governor’s Conference on Tourism, held September 26-28 at the Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate, was a success with more than 800 attendees, nearly 100 exhibitors and sponsors, and more than 30 expert speakers.

For those attendees who could not get to all the sessions or for industry members who were unable to attend the conference, I am pleased to announce that VISIT FLORIDA has collected video and audio recordings of most of the sessions, as well as the PowerPoint presentations many of the speakers used.   In addition, the speech given by Ed Fouche, Chairman of the VISIT FLORIDA Board of Directors, during the opening dinner which was a perfect example of how “Teamwork” triumphs in the end and the VISIT FLORIDA presentation by Chris Thompson and Will Seccombe, are also available for you to see.  These materials have been stored in one easy-to-access location on the VISITFLORIDA.org website.  Continue reading »

I am pleased to share that after many months of collaboration VISIT FLORIDA has launched America’s first state trails-tourism website offering comprehensive information about more than 100 of the Sunshine State’s trails and greenways.  Found at trails.VISITFLORIDA.com, this special micro-site assists visitors worldwide with planning and booking their outdoor adventures by providing detailed descriptions of Florida’s trails by city, activities, trail length or surface, as well as links to the individual trail websites and interactive maps showing the exact plot of a given trail so users can see nearby outfitters, hotels, campgrounds and restaurants.  Continue reading »

As part of the 43rd Annual Florida Governor’s Conference on Tourism, being held September 26-28 at the Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate, VISIT FLORIDA announced today the launch of several new features to the VISITFLORIDA.com website and a statewide special event being organized to show the world that Florida’s beaches are as beautiful as ever. Continue reading »