Sunshine Matters

I am pleased to announce that VISIT FLORIDA has partnered with the Florida Chamber Foundation on the addition of metrics to The Florida Scorecard that now track the impact of Florida’s tourism industry on the state’s economy.  The new resource will provide detailed, interactive metrics that gauge the monthly activity of key indicators within Florida’s top industry and provide insight into the importance of tourism to the Sunshine State’s business community. Continue reading »

Recently, the U.S. Travel Association shared the results of a new report measuring the impact and value of travel jobs.  Fast Forward: Travel Creates Opportunities and Launches Careers details our industry’s benefit to the American workforce using analysis of more than three decades of employment data collected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Continue reading »

Glenn Hastings, 2012-2013 VISIT FLORIDA Chairman

With the start of the new fiscal year on July 1, VISIT FLORIDA is ushering in new leadership to serve on our industry committees and Board of Directors.  Glenn Hastings, Executive Director of the St. Johns County Tourist Development Council, takes over as the 2012-2013 Chairman of the Board.  Hastings succeeds Tony Lapi, CEO of the ‘Tweens Waters Inn Island Resort on Captiva Island, who served as Chairman during a year in which Florida welcomed a record number of visitors. Continue reading »

I’m proud to announce that today VISIT FLORIDA launched our newest social media-based campaign to increase awareness of Florida as a summer vacation destination.  The campaign features “Florida’s Three for Free Giveaway” sweepstakes, where participants can enter to win a grand prize of three personally selected Florida vacation packages.  In addition to the three-vacation grand prize, VISIT FLORIDA will award nine other single-vacation prizes.  Participants may enter daily through June 30 at VISIT FLORIDA’s Facebook page or at VISITFLORIDA.com/3forfree. Continue reading »

Today marked the conclusion of the 2012 legislative session, officially referred to as “sine die.”  With the end of session, came the passage of the 2012-2013 state budget.  I would like to share with you a statement we released to the media this evening reflecting VISIT FLORIDA’s funding appropriation for the coming year:

“The VISIT FLORIDA board and staff, on behalf of the statewide tourism industry, thank Governor Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature for their confidence in our state’s No. 1 industry, and for their recognition that an investment of $54 million in cooperative marketing through VISIT FLORIDA is the quickest way back to jobs and economic development in Florida. Continue reading »