Sunshine Matters

The 44th Annual Florida Governor’s Conference on Tourism – the premier educational conference for the Florida tourism industry – will be held September 25-27, 2011 at the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa in Hollywood.  VISIT FLORIDA, the conference designer and coordinator, has organized this year’s event to provide relevant topics and speakers for professionals representing all levels of the Florida tourism industry.

To tie in with the theme of this year’s conference – “Friends, Fans and the Future,” – 18 educational sessions have been lined up with more than 30 expert speakers on topics such as social media marketing, traveler trends and insights, selling to different generations and tourism marketing in the digital age.  Attendees will be able to take advantage of increased social media interaction through Twitter that allow comments and questions to be addressed by the experts during all the sessions.  The conference will also feature an expanded tradeshow floor, allowing for additional access to the top marketing materials and campaigns, as well as offering a central location for the VISIT FLORIDA stand and Cyber Café.

New this year, the conference website has been enhanced to provide an interactive experience where registrants can customize their event schedule to include sessions of interest or build a network of attendees they want to meet.  The site even allows participants to set up appointments and add them to their own customized schedule.

With more than 700 attendees expected, industry peers will have numerous opportunities to establish and renew relationships during a host of networking functions.  In addition, the outstanding tourism marketing achievements of individuals and organizations in the Florida tourism industry will be recognized with the presentation of this year’s Flagler Awards, Iris Larson Awards and Florida Tourism Hall of Fame inductees as part of two very special events.

Attendee registration is now open for Florida’s premier tourism conference.  For more information, visit our website at www.FloridaTourismConference.com or contact Steven Bonda, CMP, at sbonda@VISITFLORIDA.org.