Sunshine Matters

Today, VISIT FLORIDA is proud to announce the selection of Will Seccombe as its new President and CEO.  Will, our Chief Marketing Officer since 2008, has been serving as the Acting President and CEO since Chris Thompson’s departure to head Brand USA.  Today’s unanimous vote by the VISIT FLORIDA Board of Directors to have Will become Chris’ permanent replacement is the culmination of a deliberate process by a six-member executive search committee in concert with the national recruiting firm SearchWide. Continue reading »

According to preliminary estimates* we released today 21.9 million visitors came to Florida in the third quarter of 2012 (July-September), an increase of 3.5 percent over the same period in 2011.  Direct travel-related employment in Florida also rose 1.5 percent over third quarter 2011 to 1,020,200, an addition of 15,000 jobs since this time last year. Continue reading »

As the sunshine state’s official tourism marketing corporation, VISIT FLORIDA is committed to establishing Florida as the No. 1 travel destination in the world.  In order to reach this goal, we conduct extensive research on the visitors to our state, and publish them yearly in our Florida Visitor Study.  The study pulls together the most recent visitor trend data which we use to develop our marketing messages for the year.  It can also serve as an invaluable tool to our Partners and friends seeking detailed information to assist with their own marketing efforts. Continue reading »

Brand USA today named the new leader for national tourism: our own Chris Thompson, VISIT FLORIDA’s president and CEO.  There is no better choice for the job.

I congratulate Chris on this exciting opportunity to replicate at the national level the successes he has achieved at VISIT FLORIDA.  In the past three years, Chris has proven he has the vision, passion and commitment to build and lead a world-class organization that will increase the economic impact of international visitors to the United States. Continue reading »

I am pleased to announce that the 2011-2012 VISIT FLORIDA Annual Report is now available online.   For the third year, we have created the report in an interactive online format, with the opportunity to download a printable PDF version.  The previous two year’s reports are also available.  We hope making the annual reports available online, with links to more details through archived blog posts and other web content, will allow viewers to move more easily through the wealth of information on VISIT FLORIDA’s efforts to market the Sunshine State and serve as a thought leader for the tourism industry this past fiscal year. Continue reading »