Sunshine Matters

For the third year in a row, the VISIT FLORIDA Charity Committee organized the “This Side vs. That Side” canned food drive challenge to support America’s Second Harvest of the Big Bend.  This healthy competition – with an ice cream social on the line for the winning side – splits the VISIT FLORIDA office in half to see which side can collect the most non-perishable items for the local food bank. Continue reading »

According to preliminary estimates* we released today 21.9 million visitors came to Florida in the third quarter of 2012 (July-September), an increase of 3.5 percent over the same period in 2011.  Direct travel-related employment in Florida also rose 1.5 percent over third quarter 2011 to 1,020,200, an addition of 15,000 jobs since this time last year. Continue reading »

Today, VISIT FLORIDA held a Board of Directors meeting to establish a formal process for filling its soon-to-be vacant President and CEO position. This vacancy was created when Chris Thompson was officially announced as Brand USA’s new President and CEO, effective November 1, 2012.  As part of the meeting, a formal search committee made up of six board members was appointed. The board voted unanimously to have Will Seccombe, VISIT FLORIDA’s CMO since 2008, serve as Acting President and CEO to bridge the time between Thompson’s departure and the naming of a permanent replacement. Continue reading »

Brand USA today named the new leader for national tourism: our own Chris Thompson, VISIT FLORIDA’s president and CEO.  There is no better choice for the job.

I congratulate Chris on this exciting opportunity to replicate at the national level the successes he has achieved at VISIT FLORIDA.  In the past three years, Chris has proven he has the vision, passion and commitment to build and lead a world-class organization that will increase the economic impact of international visitors to the United States. Continue reading »

I am pleased to announce that the 2011-2012 VISIT FLORIDA Annual Report is now available online.   For the third year, we have created the report in an interactive online format, with the opportunity to download a printable PDF version.  The previous two year’s reports are also available.  We hope making the annual reports available online, with links to more details through archived blog posts and other web content, will allow viewers to move more easily through the wealth of information on VISIT FLORIDA’s efforts to market the Sunshine State and serve as a thought leader for the tourism industry this past fiscal year. Continue reading »