Sunshine Matters

VISIT FLORIDA was just recognized as one of the top 50 marketing teams in all of travel by Skift, a leading travel news and information company.  While my name and picture were used, this award is clearly a result of the collective efforts of the whole VISIT FLORIDA family.  I am incredibly proud of this amazing honor acknowledging the great work by our entire team.

The Top 50 Global Marketers in Travel list is the first of its’ kind in the Skift50 program, a new franchise focused on the top executives in the global travel industry.  With each Skift50 list, they will highlight the people that are defining and innovating across various sectors and functional areas of the travel industry.

“The first Skift50 recognizes the top 50 travel marketers across the globe in 2013, the people driving the go-to-market strategies of these high-profile consumer-facing travel brands,” said Jason Clampet, Skift co-founder and head of content.

Here’s what Skift had to say about why they selected VISIT FLORIDA:

VISIT FLORIDA’s recent ad campaign brags that it “Must Be the Sunshine” luring travelers to the Sunshine State, but there’s more than solar power in Will Seccombe’s arsenal.  Seccombe, CEO of Florida’s official tourism marketing agency, intends to fulfill Governor Rick Scott’s goal of raising the number of Florida visitors to 100 million per year, bringing the state much-needed economic relief. “There’s an art and science of marketing,” states Seccombe, who relies upon increasingly sophisticated analytics to “target the right people at the right time.”  Seccombe can boast a 400% increase in VISIT FLORIDA’s return on investment for advertising over the last five years.

About Skift:

Skift is a travel intelligence company that offers news, information, data and services to professionals in the travel industry and professional travelers to help them make smart decisions about travel.

Travel news & data offers a tremendous opportunity: With a $6.5 trillion contribution to GDP and 260 million jobs, travel — made up of tourism, hospitality, transport & leisure — is the world’s largest industry. Skift is the information and intelligence brand that matches the industry’s size and potential.

Simply put: Skift is the business of travel.

I would also like to congratulate George Aguel and his team at Visit Orlando who were among the 19 marketers named to the Top 50 Global Marketers in Travel list in the destinations sector.   Acknowledgments like this of the success the Florida tourism industry continues to show on the global travel landscape go a long way in ensuring the Sunshine State becomes the No.1 travel destination in the world.