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ICYMI: Miami Herald: South Florida tourism leaders worry cut to Visit Florida will crush hospitality industry

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South Florida tourism leaders worry cut to Visit Florida will crush hospitality industry
Miami Herald
Chabeli Herrera
February 28, 2017
There’s only so much South Florida can take in a year, hoteliers say.
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Hurricane Matthew battered the coast. And then came Zika, the blow that almost knocked the tourism industry out.
But it didn’t, thanks in part to a major marketing campaign that reminded travelers that South Florida — and particularly Wynwood and Miami Beach — were still open for business.
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The agency that helped bring South Florida back from Zika, hurricanes and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 and that touts the state’s tourism virtues around the globe, faces a budget whack of epic proportions.
Last week, the Florida House Appropriations Committee voted to shrink Visit Florida’s budget to a third of its size, from $78 million to $25 million.
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But Jared Galbut, managing principal and co-founder of Menin Hospitality, which operates various restaurants and hotels in Miami Beach, is among those who find the decision to cut Visit Florida baffling, particularly as Miami-Dade rebounds from the worst of the Zika crisis.
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Tourism is one of Florida’s leading industries, responsible for a record 112.8 million visitors in 2016. Last year marked the sixth consecutive year of record visitation to the state.
In 2015, the most recent year for which data is available, visitors spent $108.8 billion in Florida on taxable goods, of which $11.3 billion was returned to the state in tax collections. In other words, said Dr. Jerry Parrish, Chief Economist and Director of Research for the Florida Chamber Foundation in a 2016 release, “those are taxes Florida’s businesses and families don’t have pay because our visitors have paid them for us.”
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In South Florida, the tourism industry is also a job creator, responsible for nearly 142,000 jobs in Miami-Dade and more than 95,000 jobs in Broward this year.
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SOUTH FLORIDA IMPACT
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Said Stacy Ritter, president of the Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau. “[Visit Florida has] a much longer reach than we do because they just have a much bigger budget. They can tell us who we need to talk to, point to the right people, as well as put our message out locally.”
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For smaller businesses, Visit Florida’s impact is event greater, said Peggy Benua, general manager of the 108-room Dream South Beach
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THE NEXT COLORADO
In downtown Miami, InterContinental general manager Robert Hill is bracing for a Colorado-like blow.
In 1993, Colorado became the only state to eliminate its tourism marketing organization, obliterating that agency’s $12 million budget. Within two years, Colorado’s share of domestic travelers dropped 30 percent, resulting in $1.4 billion of lost tourism revenue annually, according to a 2009 report by Longwoods Travel USA. Over time, revenue loss increased to more than $2 billion a year and Colorado plunged from first in visitorship to 17th.
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For their part, local tourism advocates are hoping the state won’t quit Visit Florida while Florida’s tourism is ahead.
“We know restaurants and hotels, it’s a luxury. People cut them out as soon as times get tough,” said Henry Delgado, general manager at South Beach steakhouse Smith and Wollensky.
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“We are going to just take second place and second place is never as good as first.”

ICYMI: The Florida Channel: 2/22/17 Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award Ceremony

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2.22.2017 icymi florida channel
Pam Bondi: “They are out there risking their lives for you every single day, so we need to appreciate our law enforcement throughout this country.”
The Florida Channel
Feb. 22, 2017
To watch the full Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award Ceremony, visit TheFloridaChannel.org

ICYMI: Senator Brandes files legislation to tackle insurance fraud

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Bill strengthens dedicated prosecutor program statewide to address insurance fraud

Senator Jeff Brandes (R-St. Petersburg), in partnership with Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater and Representative Holly Raschein (R-Key Largo), announced the filing of Senate Bill 1012, investigative and forensic services, to tackle the growing issue of insurance fraud in Florida. Every year insurance fraud adds to the cost paid by consumers for everything from automobile insurance to homeowners’ insurance. The legislation will require cooperation between the insurance industry and the state to investigate and prosecute fraud.
“Insurance fraud in Florida is evolving, and policyholders are forced to pay for it through higher premiums every year,” stated Senator Brandes. “This is a hidden tax on every Floridian who drives a car, owns a home, rents an apartment, or pays for health insurance. If left unchecked, the cost of fraud will grow and consumers will continue to pay the price. I am committed to making insurance affordable for Floridians, and I am proud to work with Jeff Atwater to address this critically important issue.”
“We must do everything possible to help hold the line on rising insurance rates—rates that are particularly high in South Florida,” said Representative Holly Raschein. “I’m proud to sponsor this common sense solution that will better align the resources that we already have in place, and allow law enforcement to use them strategically in the fight to curb the fraud that drives up rates in our state.”
“We’ve made significant strides in our fight against insurance fraud, and we couldn’t have done so without the steadfast partnership of the fraud-fighting units housed within many of our state’s insurance companies and the dedicated prosecutors who take our cases to trial,” said CFO Jeff Atwater. “With this bill we hope to further improve our processes and hone our techniques so that we can continue to stay a step ahead of the criminals who seek to defraud Floridians.  I am thankful to Senator Brandes and Representative Raschein for their leadership on this important issue.”
Fraud can account for as high as 10 percent of the property and casualty insurance industry’s loss expenses every year. This proposed legislation seeks to strengthen the state’s efforts to fight insurance fraud. The bill requires the development of anti-fraud plans by insurance companies and be submitted to the Division of Investigative and Forensic Services. The bill further requires anti-fraud training for personnel within insurance companies designated to oversee the company’s fraud prevention efforts. The bill requires reporting of anti-fraud statistics to the division annually, so that the division can better track the changing trends of fraud statewide. Finally, the bill strengthens a program to assign dedicated prosecutors to different regions of the state to tackle insurance fraud. The Chief Financial Officer of Florida, based on the annual fraud statistics submitted to the division, may assign and re-assign the dedicated prosecutors as needed to address the changing trends of insurance fraud.
For more information on SB 1012 please visit http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2017/1012.

ICYMI: Secretary Detzner in Gainesville Sun: “Arts and Culture Stimulate State Economy”

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Florida Department of State

Upcoming Convening Culture Conference in Gainesville (Feb. 22-23) will
explore how arts and culture benefit entrepreneurship in the Sunshine State

“Arts and Culture Stimulate State Economy”
Gainesville Sun
Guest Column: Ken Detzner is Florida’s Secretary of State and Chief Cultural Officer
February 17, 2017
“Arts and cultural organizations bring many benefits to the Sunshine State and enrich the lives of Floridians every day. In recent years, the arts and cultural industries in Florida have become increasingly dynamic and innovative, which translates to positive economic impact in Florida’s communities.
“As Florida’s chief cultural officer, I want to continue to build on this positive impact. To facilitate this initiative, the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs is holding its fourth annual Convening Culture Conference Feb. 22-23 in Gainesville. Presented by Citizens for Florida Arts (an organization whose mission is to support the Division of Cultural Affairs), and hosted by the University of Florida College of the Arts Center for Arts in Medicine, the conference offers networking opportunities to students and professionals alike, including receptions featuring renowned Florida artists and two full days of professional development and workshops.
“The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Exploring Innovation and Entrepreneurship through Arts and Culture,’ and for good reason. Florida is home to more than 29,000 creative industries establishments, which include not-for-profit and for-profit entities, ranging from art galleries to landscaping businesses. These establishments are estimated to generate more than $49 billion in annual revenue.
“During the 2015-2016 fiscal year alone, recipients of arts and cultural grants from the Division of Cultural Affairs generated more than $1.2 billion in direct economic activity in communities across the state.”
Continue reading here.
About the 2017 Convening Culture Conference
The 2017 Convening Culture Conference will be held February 22 & 23 in Gainesville and is hosted by the University of Florida College of Arts Center for Arts in Medicine. This statewide cultural conference brings together individuals working in arts and culture in Florida for two days of informative sessions, facilitated discussions and networking opportunities. Several honors will be presented at the conference, including the induction of Billy Dean, Don Felder, Lee Bennett Hopkins and Jim Stafford into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame, joining such luminaries as Ernest Hemingway, Zora Neale Hurston, and Robert Rauschenberg. For more information or to register for Convening Culture 2017, please visit http://dos.myflorida.com/cultural/programs/convening-culture-conference. The annual convening culture conference is presented by the Citizens for Florida Arts, Inc., a statewide non-profit organization that works to support the efforts of the Division of Cultural Affairs.
About the Division of Cultural Affairs
The Florida Department of State’s Division of Cultural Affairs is Florida’s legislatively designated state arts agency. The Division promotes the arts and culture as essential to quality of life for all Floridians. To achieve its mission, the Division funds and supports cultural programs that provide artistic excellence, diversity, education, access and economic vitality for Florida’s communities. For more information, visit dos.myflorida.com/cultural.