Sunshine Matters

February has been a very busy month for the VISIT FLORIDA International Marketing & Events department.  In the early part of the month, our team attended the Receptive Services Association of America (RSAA) Summit in Washington, DC. This event, with more than 180 attendees, allowed us to hold one-on-one appointments with receptive operators, providing an opportunity to discuss ways we can assist them in promoting the Sunshine State. Continue reading »

VISIT FLORIDA recently hosted our first annual Dallas Travel Trade Luncheon, bringing a ray of Florida sunshine to this growing domestic market.  Texas is the sixth ranked feeder state for visitors to Florida and the Dallas area is the Sunshine State’s eighth leading origin Designated Market Area (DMA).  Over the last two years, Dallas has shown a double digit percentage growth, with nearly 800,000 visitors flying to Florida from the city each year. Continue reading »

Events are one of the most popular topics Florida Welcome Center visitors are actively seeking information about throughout the year.  To assist with these requests, VISIT FLORIDA has created the Welcome Center Calendar of Events Rack Cards which feature upcoming activities in the North, Central and South Florida regions.  New for 2014, these cards are distributed at all Florida Welcome Centers and serve as a valuable resource for promoting Florida’s diverse events on a monthly basis. Continue reading »

Visitation to VISIT FLORIDA’s five Florida Welcome Centers reached 2.5 million travelers in 2013, reflecting a 3.9% increase over the previous year.  In addition to offering detailed travel planning advice to these millions of drive visitors each year, the centers also help promote Florida tourism businesses and organizations.

As a fun way to engage Florida Welcome Center visitors, and showcase all there is to see and do in the Sunshine State, each of the four highway welcome centers set up special displays that allow travelers to learn more about what’s happening in Florida at certain times of the year.  The “Own a Welcome Center” program allows VISIT FLORIDA’s Industry Partners to create a highly visual theme that takes over the interior of the facility for a limited period of time. Continue reading »

This winter, VISIT FLORIDA’s “Warmer Side of Winter” campaign is bringing the Florida sunshine to frigid, cold Chicago commuters through high impact train wraps on the Chicago Transit Authority’s Blue Line.  The exterior and interior of the train cars are wrapped with unique Florida experiences, and showcase the logos of four participating Industry Partners: Discovery Cove, SeaWorld Orlando, Visit Panama City Beach and Visit Sarasota County. Continue reading »