Sunshine Matters

With today’s announcement by Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker of the new Travel and Tourism Advisory Board members for the coming year, Florida’s tourism industry continues to be well represented at the national level.  Congratulations to John Sprouls, CEO & EVP of Universal Parks and Resorts in Orlando, who was named Chair.  Other members from Florida include George Aguel, President & CEO of Visit Orlando; Olga Ramudo, President & CEO of Express Travel of Miami and William D. Talbert, III, CDME, President & CEO of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau.  The tourism and travel advisory board serves as the leadership council for the International Trade Association, whose mission is to help strengthen the competitiveness of U.S. industry. Continue reading »

I am pleased to announce that VISIT FLORIDA has selected our new leadership to serve on the Executive Committee, Board of Directors and industry committees.  Nearly 240 VISIT FLORIDA partners, including some of the industry’s foremost experts, have been selected to represent the tourism industry for the upcoming term. Continue reading »

During a press conference at the Clearwater Aquarium this morning, Governor Rick Scott announced that 29.8 million out-of-state and international visitors came to Florida in the first quarter of 2016 (January-March), marking the highest number of visitors in one quarter in the state’s history.  This is an increase of 4.8 percent over the same period last year and exceeds the previous high of 28.5 million in the first quarter of 2015. Continue reading »

With National Travel & Tourism Week starting this Sunday, it’s the perfect time to remind us all that “Tourism Works for Florida.”  On any given day, there are more people visiting Florida than live in 13 U.S. states and those visitors will, on average, spend $224 million every day. Continue reading »

We all know tourism is the state’s No. 1 industry and that every 85 visitors support one Florida job.  With the release of the latest employment data from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, here are some new stats you may not know: Continue reading »