Sunshine Matters

With the 2013 Hurricane Season beginning tomorrow, I wanted to share the resources and action steps VISIT FLORIDA has developed to ensure Florida’s visitors have access to consistent, real-time, statewide information.  It is our hope that these efforts will allow our visitors to make the most informed travel planning decisions possible in preparation for a potential weather threat that might impact the state. Continue reading »

I am pleased to announce that on Friday three Florida beaches – St. George Island State Park, Barefoot Beach Preserve County Park and Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park – were named to Dr. Beach’s annual Top Ten Beaches in America list. Continue reading »

Today, Governor Scott signed the 2013-2014 state budget.  In a press release sent to media this afternoon, VISIT FLORIDA and several key tourism industry leaders voiced support for its inclusion of increased tourism marketing funding.

Will Seccombe, President and CEO of VISIT FLORIDA

“With the substantial increase in VISIT FLORIDA funding, Florida tourism is extremely well positioned to build on two consecutive years of record visitation and job creation.  I would like to thank Governor Scott and the Florida Legislature for their visionary leadership and for their extraordinary support of VISIT FLORIDA and the state’s tourism industry,” said Will Seccombe, President and CEO of VISIT FLORIDA. Continue reading »

I am pleased to announce that VISIT FLORIDA’s preliminary estimates* for the first quarter of 2013 (January-March) show that 26 million visitors came to Florida, an increase of 4.7 percent over the same period in 2012.  This makes the first quarter of 2013 the biggest quarter for visitation in the history of Florida tourism.

“More people visited Florida this past quarter than ever before,” Governor Scott said. “Record visitation to the Sunshine State means more jobs and opportunities for Florida’s families, which is great news.” Continue reading »

I am pleased to announce that VISIT FLORIDA has recently created a department tasked with increasing the involvement and investment by current Partners, key industry stakeholders and non-endemic business entities in our marketing programs.  The new Marketing Solutions and Sales department was created to take on the role of managing and selling VISIT FLORIDA’s owned and operated assets, which include our e-Newsletters, printed map, online Epic Vacation Maker and other website advertising opportunities.  These efforts, which were previously performed by an outside firm, have now been fully integrated into the operations at the VISIT FLORIDA corporate office. Continue reading »