Sunshine Matters

Late yesterday, Governor Rick Scott announced that Florida set another tourism record by welcoming the highest number of visitors of any nine months in the state’s history with 88.2 million visitors.  This represents a 3.3 percent increase over the 85.4 million visitors from the same period in 2016.  This includes 77.6 million domestic visitors, 7.9 million overseas visitors and 2.7 million Canadians visitors.  Governor Scott made the announcement at Azucar Ice Cream Company, a locally-owned ice cream boutique that has been nationally recognized as one of Little Havana’s top tourist destinations. Continue reading »

Last week, VISIT FLORIDA launched its Canada Takeover winter marketing campaign to attract Canadian visitors to Florida. The campaign kicked off with “Florida Day” in Toronto that saw Governor Rick Scott and Consul General of Canada Susan Harper, along with five of VISIT FLORIDA’s Industry Partners, host consumer-engagement activations, a media reception and a press conference. Continue reading »

Today, at the direction of Governor Rick Scott, VISIT FLORIDA announced an aggressive new marketing campaign to highlight the Sunshine State following Hurricane Irma. The multi-phased campaign will be paid for with existing VISIT FLORIDA funding and include digital, social, broadcast and traditional components in both domestic and international markets. It will begin this week and run for approximately one month leading up to the beginning of VISIT FLORIDA’s traditional winter campaign. The Keys will be a major focus of this marketing plan once our partners there have indicated they are ready to welcome visitors back. Continue reading »

I am proud to share that during a press conference at The Florida Aquarium in Tampa this morning, Governor Rick Scott announced that Florida set another record by welcoming the highest number of visitors of any six months in the state’s history with 60.7 million visitors, according to VISIT FLORIDA. This represents a 4.1 percent increase over the same period in 2016, and includes 53.2 million domestic visitors, 5.3 million overseas visitors and 2.2 million Canadian visitors. Continue reading »

As you know, I have been traveling the state, engaging with our partners, DMOs, board members, legislators and other stakeholders to listen, learn, and offer VISIT FLORIDA’s support at every stop. I want to earn your trust and learn from you first hand. This has been a hard year for all of us. VISIT FLORIDA is your organization, one that each of our Industry Partners have built over the years. Its value cannot be underestimated. Continue reading »