Sunshine Matters

I’m pleased to share that today VISIT FLORIDA announced the lineup of speakers and special events for our 45^th Annual Florida Governor’s Conference on Tourism being held September 5-7, 2012 at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld.  For more than four decades, this event has been recognized as the premier educational conference for the Florida tourism industry, providing the opportunity for participants to learn the latest in marketing strategies, receive critical industry research data and share best practices. Continue reading »

According to preliminary estimates* we released today, 23.4 million visitors came to Florida in the first quarter of 2012 (January-March), an increase of 2.4 percent over the same period in 2011.  Direct travel-related employment in Florida also rose 1.9 percent to 1,027,500, adding 19,200 jobs since this time one year ago and representing the largest employment total since first quarter 2008. Continue reading »

Today marked the conclusion of the 2012 legislative session, officially referred to as “sine die.”  With the end of session, came the passage of the 2012-2013 state budget.  I would like to share with you a statement we released to the media this evening reflecting VISIT FLORIDA’s funding appropriation for the coming year:

“The VISIT FLORIDA board and staff, on behalf of the statewide tourism industry, thank Governor Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature for their confidence in our state’s No. 1 industry, and for their recognition that an investment of $54 million in cooperative marketing through VISIT FLORIDA is the quickest way back to jobs and economic development in Florida. Continue reading »

2012 Tourism Day Street Party, image courtesy of WTXL-TV

The numbers are in on the 2012 Florida Tourism Day at the Capitol and this year’s event was our largest ever.

On Wednesday, the Partnership for Florida’s Tourism and six other statewide organizations hosted the industry’s annual Florida Tourism Day.   The purpose of Tourism Day is to educate the legislature, media and Floridians about the importance of Florida’s tourism industry and the rationale for public funding.  It serves as a platform to let our lawmakers know just how crucial it is for them to support Florida’s No. 1 industry.

The day’s activities included a briefing by the CEOs of the participating organizations, speeches from Governor Scott and other government officials, legislative appointments by industry representatives at the Capitol and concluded with a street festival in downtown Tallahassee.  The key message of the day shared by tourism industry representatives was to urge state lawmakers to support Governor Scott’s recommendation of $34.9 million for VISIT FLORIDA’s tourism marketing efforts in 2012-2013. Continue reading »

I am pleased to announce that preliminary estimates* of visitors to Florida for the third quarter of 2011 (July-September) show an estimated 20.4 million travelers visited the Sunshine State.  This represents an increase of 5.1 percent from the same period in 2010.  In addition, Florida’s tourism-related employment for the third quarter of 2011 was 1,009,500, up by 51,400 jobs, which reflects a 5.4 percent increase when compared to third quarter 2010. Continue reading »