Sunshine Matters

234 pounds of food donated to Second Harvest, 47 pints of blood given, 80 cell phones contributed to Cell Phone for Soldiers, 6 pounds of pop tabs provided.

$338 contributed for Susan G. Komen for the Cure, $6,695 pledged towards the United Way Campaign, $127 made for the North Florida Rotary Youth Camp and $2,353 raised for the Christmas Connection.

The common theme: Giving back.  How much of a difference can you make in your community?  I’m guessing a BIG one. Continue reading »

I’m pleased to share that preliminary estimates* of visitors to Florida for the second quarter of 2011 (April-June) show an estimated 21.2 million travelers visited the Sunshine State.  This represents an increase of 6.9 percent from the same period in 2010.  In addition, 5.6 million pleasure trips were taken by Florida residents in-state during the second quarter. Continue reading »

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. Continue reading »

Today, as we start our new fiscal year, VISIT FLORIDA ushers in new leadership to serve on the industry committees and Board of Directors.  Tony Lapi, CEO of the ‘Tween Waters Inn Island Resort on Captiva Island, takes over as the 2011-12 Chairman of the Board.  Lapi succeeds Ed Fouché, Senior Vice President-Travel Industry Sales for Disney Destinations, who has served as Chairman for an unprecedented two-year stint while the industry faced unforeseen environmental and economic challenges.

The Florida tourism industry owes an incredible debt to Ed who provided strong leadership and commitment, through both his personal devotion and his influential role with Disney, during an incomparable period in VISIT FLORIDA’s 15-year history.  As we move forward, I can’t think of a better successor than Tony who epitomizes small business entrepreneurism at its very finest and brings a kinship with the vast majority of the Florida tourism industry to his leadership position. Continue reading »

I’m pleased to share VISIT FLORIDA’s preliminary estimates* of visitors to Florida for the first quarter of 2011 (January – March) which show an estimated 23.3 million travelers visited the Sunshine State.  This represents an increase of 3.3 percent from the same period in 2010.

Preliminary estimates for the first quarter of 2011 show a 2.0 percent increase in domestic visitors, a 14.4 percent increase in the overseas market and an 8.1 percent increase in Canadian travel to Florida.  Of the 23.3 million visitors Florida welcomed this past quarter, domestic visitation represents 19.8 million or an estimated 84.8 percent of total; overseas visitors at 2.1 million or 9.1 percent of total; and Canadian visitors at 1.4 million or 6.1 percent of total.  Florida’s tourism-related employment for the first quarter of 2011 was 1,003,200, up by 52,300 jobs, which reflects a 5.5 percent increase when compared to the same period of 2010. Continue reading »