Sunshine Matters

VISIT FLORIDA and nine Florida tourism industry businesses recently participated in Brazil’s 42nd Annual ABAV Expo hosted at the Anhembi Exhibition Pavillion in São Paulo.  This international tourism Expo, the largest and most important travel trade fair in the Americas, is promoted by the Brazilian Association of Travel Agencies (ABAV).  With the event taking place over the course of five days, industry professionals enjoyed business-to-business interactions for the first three days, and were joined by the general public during the final two days. 

VISIT FLORIDA and our Industry Partners networked with attendees at the Florida Pavilion to educate industry professionals and consumers on what’s new in Florida.  The team also coordinated a reception on the VISIT FLORIDA stand, which attracted over 130 of our travel trade and media clients.

During the show,  VISIT FLORIDA met with major tour operators  interested in expanding their co-op efforts with the Sunshine State.  Among those were Azul Airlines and Azul Viagens (Travel), which were both located at the entrance of the fair and, as you can see, highlighted travel to Florida.  Azul will begin flying into Fort Lauderdale in December, with all flights through February already sold out.

Brazil currently ranks second in top international countries for visitation and visitor spending in Florida, with 1.8 million travelers spending $2.4 billion in 2013, representing 4% and 10% increases over 2012 respectively.  As the number of visitors to the U.S. continues to grow by double-digit figures, Brazil remains one of our most important international markets.

VISIT FLORIDA would like to thank the businesses who partnered with us for this year’s ABAV Expo:  Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB, Discover The Palm Beaches, Naples, Marco Island, Everglades CVB, Visit St. Petersburg/Clearwater, Visit Tampa Bay, The Hertz Corporation, Opentours, CoCo Key Hotel and Water Resort – Orlando and Nickelodeon Suites Resort.

To learn more about our many international travel trade outreach opportunities, please check out the VISIT FLORIDA Marketing Planner or contact me at cjones@VISITFLORIDA.org.