Sunshine Matters

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.  More than 220 VISIT FLORIDA Partners, including some of the industry’s foremost experts, have been selected to represent the tourism industry for the upcoming term which begins on July 1. Continue reading »

I am pleased to share that today Governor Rick Scott announced during a press conference at the Naples Zoo that Florida has set another record in tourism numbers by welcoming the highest amount of visitors of any quarter in the state’s history.  In the first quarter of 2015 (January-March), 28.4 million visitors came to the state, an increase of 6.2 percent over the same period in 2014.  The previous high for a quarter for tourism was 26.7 million visitors in quarter one last year.  The average number of direct travel-related jobs in quarter one of 2015 was also a record high, with 1,186,900 Floridians employed in the tourism industry – up 4.8 percent from the same period in 2014. Continue reading »

I am pleased to share that late yesterday Governor Scott announced our revised preliminary 2014 visitation figure of 98.9 million.  This figure represents a 5.1 percent increase over the previous high of 93.7 million in 2013 and marks the second largest year-over-year visitor increase Florida has experienced in a decade. 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 »

This week, VISIT FLORIDA and five of our industry Partners traveled to Washington, D.C. to participate in the U.S. Travel Association’s Destination Capital Hill  fly-in.  The annual event brings travel leaders from across the country to the nation’s capital to learn about upcoming legislation that impacts travel, network with peers and meet with members of Congress to stress the importance of travel as an economic driver. Continue reading »