Sunshine Matters

The VISIT FLORIDA Insiders program is growing.

In 2012-13, we will have 15 Insiders covering 14 topics.  That’s two more Insiders and one more topic.  Which means more content about what Florida has to offer.

One of the revelations of having freelance journalists write, film and photograph stories of Florida is there is plenty of delicious food and drink out there.  So we’re breaking up the Dining, Entertainment and Luxury topic.

Current Insider Rachelle Lucas will cover food, from Grits a Ya Ya to food trucks. Continue reading »

I’m pleased to share that today VISIT FLORIDA announced the lineup of speakers and special events for our 45^th Annual Florida Governor’s Conference on Tourism being held September 5-7, 2012 at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld.  For more than four decades, this event has been recognized as the premier educational conference for the Florida tourism industry, providing the opportunity for participants to learn the latest in marketing strategies, receive critical industry research data and share best practices. Continue reading »

Starting at midnight on Thursday, June 21, VISIT FLORIDA will take over YouTube’s homepage for 24 hours.  The world’s most popular video-sharing site enjoys 23 million unique visitors to its homepage each day.

The takeover will promote our latest social media-based campaign, “Florida’s Three for Free Giveaway.” A banner ad will be posted at the top of YouTube’s homepage for the entire day, featuring information about the giveaway and offering users a link to enter the sweepstakes on VISIT FLORIDA’s Facebook page. Continue reading »

In order to provide personal travel planning assistance to our Sunshine State drive visitors, VISIT FLORIDA operates five Official Florida Welcome Centers located at strategic entry points along Interstate 10. During the first five months of 2012, visitation to the Welcome Centers has grown by 10.5 percent over the same period in 2011.  This represents an increase of more than 90,000 visitors, bringing our five-month total visitation number to nearly 1 million. In speaking with our Welcome Center visitors, we attribute the increase in traffic to good weather, value pricing and lower gas prices.  We are also certain that the expert customer service provided by our outstanding staff is a contributor to the uptick. Continue reading »

Pictured left to right: Felicia Plummer, Lauren Shoaf, Steven Bonda and Brenda Bryant

As VISIT FLORIDA’s Director of Sales, I am amazed each day by our Events Team’s passion and drive to grow professionally and stay current in the tourism industry’s ever-evolving environment.  I take immense pride in seeing each of the individuals achieve their professional and personal goals despite their busy schedules.  Their achievements position VISIT FLORIDA and, by extension, the entire Florida tourism industry as leaders at the local, state and national level. Continue reading »