Sunshine Matters

Advice from friends and family is the most trusted source of travel planning information.  Knowing this, VISIT FLORIDA created our Share a Little Sunshine platform to engage Florida’s more than 18 million residents in supporting the state’s economy by inviting their friends and family to visit the Sunshine State.

Since launching Share a Little Sunshine in 2010, Floridians have embraced the campaign – sending more than 90,000 invitations to date.  While we are understandably pleased with this level of engagement, VISIT FLORIDA wanted to determine how successful the program has been at actually converting invitation recipients into Florida visitors. Continue reading »

Visa reform is a quick way back to new jobs through increased visitation and economic development from international markets.  These reforms will have significant positive impact on Florida’s tourism industry.  I urge you to read the alert below from the Power of Travel Coalition and support the cause as directed.

Urgent Action: Contact Congress to Support Visa Reform
in the State Department Funding Bill

The clock is ticking! While Congress decides how to keep the federal government funded through 2012, we need your help to ensure that important reforms to our visa system are included in any final spending bill.  In September, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the Fiscal Year 2012 State Department funding bill (S. 1601), which includes reforms that make the U.S. visa system more efficient.  Now, both the full House and Senate must approve this bill before it becomes law. Continue reading »

As the official tourism marketing corporation for the state, VISIT FLORIDA is committed to providing leadership that will ensure Florida’s tourism industry remains competitive and sustainable.  In order to accomplish this, it is important for VISIT FLORIDA to position itself as a thought leader and valuable resource to key Florida tourism stakeholders.

One way VISIT FLORIDA serves this role of educating and engaging Florida’s tourism industry is by hosting our annual Florida Governor’s Conference on Tourism.  This year’s event, held at the Westin Diplomat in Hollywood September 25-27, offered the opportunity for more than 750 members of the travel industry from across the state to obtain critical research data, share best practices and receive powerful hands-on marketing solutions for their destination marketing challenges.

This year’s conference focused on 10 Steps for Florida’s tourism businesses to get the most out of VISIT FLORIDA’s marketing programs.  Below are some highlights of the presentation we gave on this topic with links to help you take the best advantage of each opportunity: Continue reading »

Florida’s tourism industry hosted 11.1 million international visitors from 144 different countries who spent $10.6 billion in 2010.  These figures represent a 15.6% increase in international visitors and a 23.4% increase in their spending over the previous year.  Air travelers make up 88% of Florida’s international visitors, an increase of 14% from the prior year.  Given that the vast majority of international visitors arrive by air, VISIT FLORIDA’s best avenue to continue to increase our overseas traveler numbers is by finding innovative ways to improve flight access to the Sunshine State. Continue reading »

The recently released 2010-2011 Industry Satisfaction Study showed that those surveyed were 81% satisfied with how VISIT FLORIDA is promoting tourism to the state.  This represents a nearly five point jump from the score we received last year and one of our highest scores since 2005.  Nearly 70% rated their overall satisfaction with VISIT FLORIDA at either an 8, 9 or 10 – an increase of 11 percentage points in these three highest categories from the previous year. Continue reading »