Sunshine Matters

Last week, VISIT FLORIDA and our Industry Partners created a co-branded stand for IMEX Frankfurt, a global marketplace for meeting professionals looking to book and organize worldwide meetings, events and incentive travel programs.  Holding the IMEX show in Frankfurt captures the attention of a global audience.  This year, the event welcomed 3,500 exhibitors, 3,900 hosted buyers, and 4,900 trade visitors from 97 countries. Continue reading »

With National Travel & Tourism Week starting this Sunday, it’s the perfect time to remind us all that “Tourism Works for Florida.”  On any given day, there are more people visiting Florida than live in 13 U.S. states and those visitors will, on average, spend $224 million every day. Continue reading »

Travel trade, including travel agents, tour operators and other buyers and sellers of travel products, is a vital distribution network for Florida’s tourism industry.  Research shows that nearly five percent of domestic visitors to Florida use a travel agent to book accommodations and seven percent use a travel agent to reserve their air transportation.  To stay top of mind with travel trade representatives in some of our key domestic markets, VISIT FLORIDA and our Industry Partners have recently hosted several educational events for travel agents in Dallas and Chicago. Continue reading »

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

VISIT FLORIDA and six of our Industry Partners gathered last week in snowy Toronto to celebrate the upcoming launch of Air Canada’s new flight from Toronto to Jacksonville.  Beginning May 7, Air Canada will provide non-stop flights from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport to the Jacksonville International Airport.  Delegates from across the region banded together to help make this new service a reality. Continue reading »