Sunshine Matters

The winners of the 35th Annual Telly Awards were recently announced and VISIT FLORIDA was honored with three statuettes.  The Everglades in 60 Seconds video won in both the Nature and Wildlife category and the Travel and Tourism category, and Soaring Over the Everglades won in the Travel and Tourism category.  Both videos were produced by freelancers from VISIT FLORIDA’s network of nearly 90 content providers.  Continue reading »

Through a partnership with the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA), VISIT FLORIDA co-sponsored the 15th Annual IIFA Weekend &  Awards event which took place in Tampa this past weekend.  The IIFA Awards are Bollywood’s version of the Academy Awards, but on a much larger scale.  With a global audience estimated to be more than 800 million viewers from 110 countries, this partnership provides a huge opportunity for Florida to reach Indian travelers living around the world. Continue reading »

Now in its second year, the South Walton Beaches Wine & Food Festival is an annual charity event held to raise funds for the Destin Charity Wine Auction Foundation, which benefits Northwest Florida youth in need.  Taking place this weekend, the event features wine producers, top chefs, food seminars, cooking demonstrations and live entertainment. Continue reading »

I am pleased to announce that VISIT FLORIDA’s efforts to market the Sunshine State to visitors around the globe in 2013 had a significant influence on their travel planning decisions.  Results just in from the annual Return on Investment Influencer Study show that, of the surveyed respondents who had been to Florida in the past year, 38 percent were significantly influenced in their decision to visit the state by one or more VISIT FLORIDA marketing initiatives. Continue reading »

We all know tourism is the state’s No. 1 industry and that every 85 visitors supports one Florida job.  With the release of the latest employment data, here are some new stats you may not know:

• Tourism-related employment grew year-over-year for the 48th straight month in March 2014, marking the fourth straight year of growth
• Tourism-related employment for the month of March reached 1,152,800, an increase of 3.7 percent compared to March of last year
• Tourism-related employment accounted for 18 percent of total non-agricultural employment in Florida during March 2014
• Tourism related employment for calendar year 2013 averaged 1,096,700, an increase of 3.7 percent from 2012
• Tourism related employment accounted for 14.5 percent of total non-agricultural employment in Florida during 2013
• 1 in 5 new jobs in Florida are in tourism Continue reading »