Sunshine Matters

VISIT FLORIDA was front and center during the 44th Annual U. S. Travel International Pow Wow held in Los Angeles.   The 5-day event had an estimated attendance of nearly 6,000 travel professionals, including more than 1,200 international and domestic buyers, 500 international and domestic media and 1,100 U.S. supplier companies exhibiting.  The appointment-based program attracted representatives from more than 70 countries who conducted more than 80,000 business appointments expected to generate in excess of $3.5 billion in future travel to the U.S. Continue reading »

Each year, VISIT FLORIDA conducts a Return on Investment Influencer Study which measures the collective impact of our marketing efforts on visitors’ decisions to come to the Sunshine State.  Results from the 2011 study show that, of the surveyed respondents who had been to Florida in the past year, 38.1 percent were significantly influenced in their decision to visit the state by one or more VISIT FLORIDA marketing initiatives.  This figure represents a 1.2 percentage point increase over 2010 and marks the third consecutive year of ROI increases, rising a total of 11.4 percentage points since 2008. Continue reading »

Today is the final day to sign the American Society of Association Executives’ open letter to Congress opposing the restrictions on attendance at meetings. The letter asks Congress to revise recent amendments passed by the House and Senate that limit federal employees from attending private conferences if any federal funds are used for travel expenses.

While the stated intent of the language would be to prevent wasteful spending on government sponsored conferences, the actual language would prevent many federal employees from attending and participating in private conferences. Continue reading »