Sunshine Matters

I’m pleased to announce that in July, Florida’s hotel occupancy rate and rooms sold, both indicators of visitation numbers, outpaced the entire United States. Florida’s rooms sold are up 3.3 percent over last year, far outpacing the national average of 1.2 percent. Florida’s occupancy rate for July was up 1.2 percent, while the U.S. average declined by .5 percent. 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 »

Florida’s diverse attractions of all sizes are so vital to the overall success of tourism in our state.  According to a 2013 Oxford Economics study, Florida ranked first in the nation with our attractions generating nearly $48 billion and supporting nearly 490,000 jobs.  The same study showed that the tax impacts of attractions in Florida approached $5 billion in federal taxes and $4 billion in state and local taxes. Continue reading »

Today the Florida tourism industry mourns the passing of the father of our modern Florida State Park Service. Ney C. Landrum was responsible for the exponential growth of the service through the acquisition of many parks that now attract more than 20 million visitors a year to the state. During his 20-year tenure as Director of the Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Recreation and Parks, Ney exhibited great leadership by expanding our small state park system into one of the largest in the country.

Continue reading »

Funding for Florida’s tourism industry is vital to our success, and our state has continued to make it a priority.  Over the past few years, Florida has also made significant investments in infrastructure, which directly benefits our economy, transportation and quality of life. Whether lowering shipping costs and creating jobs, increasing business-to-business access or improving the quality of commutes, those investments are paying dividends for Florida families. Continue reading »