Visit Florida

Visit Florida staff members have crafted a tourism-marketing plan intended to combat increased competition from states that in the past few years imposed tougher COVID-19 restrictions.

The pandemic halted tourism growth across the country, but recent numbers show Florida's recovery is looking good.

The U.S. Travel Association estimated that international travel to the U.S. was 34 percent below pre-pandemic levels.

Visit Florida estimates the state attracted 35 million travelers during the third quarter, a 6.9 percent increase from 2021. The estimate was also 8% above the same period of 2019, before the pandemic.

The campaign features locations across the state — including Tampa — that were not largely affected by Hurricane Ian.

It is crafting a campaign to offset the negative images from Hurricane Ian, including flooded communities and damaged bridges.

Florida’s pristine waters are its calling card for tourists, who are now returning to the state in record numbers. But what happens when crushing numbers of visitors harm the natural environment that draws them?

As the Visit Florida tourism marketing agency celebrated record first-quarter tourism numbers while meeting last week in Orlando, staff and board members also expressed concern that increasing cost of hotel rooms is slowly affecting occupancy rates.

With the state drawing record numbers of tourists from other parts of the country as the industry rebounds from the COVID-19 pandemic, Visit Florida President and CEO Dana Young received an 8.6% pay boost.

Visit Florida has drawn praise the past few years for its marketing work amid crises such as toxic algae outbreaks and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Visit Florida is set to run out of funding in fall of 2023 — unless state lawmakers act before then.

The president and CEO of Visit Florida said the agency will continue to expand its marketing efforts and encourage tourists to vacation in Florida this winter.