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Gov. Scott Announces Canadian Power Play Program to Attract Canadian Visitors to Florida

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Governor Rick Scott today announced the kick-off of the new Canadian Power Play Program, which aims to attract more Canadian visitors to Florida by making it more affordable for Canadian families to travel to the state. Package travel deals from VISIT FLORIDA partners with discounts of 20 percent will be available to Canadian travelers through the program. This follows the decline of Canadian visitation to Florida in recent years and directly addresses concerns from Canadian families regarding the current exchange rate between the U.S. and Canada. Twenty-six Florida businesses and tourism partners will be participating in the Canadian Power Play Program. Travel deals will be available for Canadians at LoveFlorida.ca. Governor Scott made the announcement with VISIT FLORIDA in Toronto as part of his ongoing tourism and trade mission to Canada.
Governor Scott said, “I’m proud to announce the Canadian Power Play Program, which will help make it more affordable for Canadians to travel to Florida. With discounts on flights, car rentals and travel accommodations, more Canadians will be able to enjoy all the Sunshine State has to offer. As Florida’s number one international tourist market, Canada is so important to Florida’s tourism industry and the 1.4 million jobs it supports for families across our state. We will keep working every day to attract 120 million visitors this year and make Florida the number one global destination.”
Discounts from Florida businesses and tourism partners include:

  • Air Canada
  • Air Canada Vacations
  • An Owners Dream Management
  • Beachwalk Resort
  • Beacon South Beach Hotel
  • Blue Heron Beach Resort
  • Caprice Resort
  • Coca-Cola Orlando Eye
  • DoubleTree Orlando at SeaWorld
  • Emerald Grande
  • Florida Citrus Sports
  • Hampton Inn Panama City Beach
  • HCV Orange Lake Resort
  • Hertz/Dollar Car Rental
  • Madeira Bay Resort by TRS
  • Magic Village Resort
  • Marenas Beach Resort
  • Residence Inn Miami Aventura
  • ResortQuest by Wyndham Vacation Rentals
  • Sailport Waterfront Suites
  • Sandestin Golf and BeachResort
  • Sundial Beach Resort & Spa
  • Suwannee River Hideaway Campground
  • The Don Cesar Hotel
  • TreeUmph! Adventure Course
  • Xtreme Action Park

Canada remains Florida’s number one international market, with 3.3 million Canadians traveling to Florida in 2016, which accounts for 23 percent of Florida’s international visitors. In total, Canadian visitors spent $3.6 billion in Florida in 2016. The announcement of the Canadian Power Play Program comes during VISIT FLORIDA’s ongoing Canadian Power Play marketing campaign and the time many Canadian travelers begin planning for upcoming tourism, with 40 percent of Florida’s Canadian visitors traveling in the winter months of January through March.
VISIT FLORIDA President & CEO Ken Lawson said, “Canada is Florida’s top international market, and we are doubling down on our efforts to bring more Canadians to the Sunshine State with our new Canadian Power Play Program. By allowing Canadian consumers to take advantage of discounts from our great partners, we are making it easier than ever for them to book a trip to Florida. With our Canadian Power Play Program, Florida Day in Toronto and our Canadian Power Play marketing campaign this week, we are showing Canada why Florida is the best place in the world to travel.”

Gov. Scott: VISIT FLORIDA to Market the Sunshine State Following Irma

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Governor Rick Scott directed VISIT FLORIDA to launch an aggressive new marketing campaign to highlight Florida following Hurricane Irma. Last year, Florida welcomed a record of nearly 113 million visitors to the state. In 2017, Florida is working to break this record and welcome more than 120 million visitors. The campaign will be multi-phased and include digital, social, broadcast and traditional components in both domestic and international markets. The Governor’s top focus remains the many communities in the Florida Keys and Southwest Florida still recovering from Irma and campaigns promoting these specific areas will be launched at a later date.
Governor Scott said, “As communities around Florida continue to recover from Hurricane Irma, we are doing everything possible to help families and businesses get back on their feet and get people back to work. While our top focus remains on the recovery of Florida families, especially those in the Florida Keys and Southwest Florida, we cannot forget about the many communities which rely on Florida’s incredible tourism industry and millions of visitors. With more than 1.4 million Floridians working in the tourism industry, we must aggressively fight to bring visitors back to our communities.”
Ken Lawson, President & CEO of VISIT FLORIDA said, “Following Hurricane Irma, it’s more important than ever for us to spread the word that the coast is clear and the Sunshine State is open for business. At Governor Scott’s direction, we have put together an aggressive marketing plan that showcases sunshine, blue skies and good times at over 12,000 industry businesses across the state. I want to thank Governor Scott for his leadership as we work to let the world to know that Florida is still the number one place to visit.”

Gov. Scott: First Quarter of 2017 Sets Florida Visitation Record

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Legislative cuts to tourism marketing jeopardizes growth

Governor Rick Scott today announced that Florida set another record by welcoming the highest number of quarterly visitors in the state’s history with 31.1 million visitors in the first quarter of 2017. This represents a 2.5 percent increase over the same period in 2016. Even though Florida’s tourism industry is booming, the Florida Legislature cut VISIT FLORIDA’s budget by 67 percent for the upcoming fiscal year, putting Florida’s incredible growth and the many families and businesses that rely on the tourism industry at risk.
Governor Scott said, “I am proud to announce today that Florida set another record by welcoming 31.1 million visitors during the first quarter of 2017, the highest number of quarterly visitors in the state’s history. This historic number would not have been possible without the significant funding we have invested in VISIT FLORIDA over the past few years. It is disappointing that the Florida Legislature made a shortsighted decision to jeopardize the growth of our tourism industry and the 1.4 million jobs that rely on it by cutting funding to VISIT FLORIDA by 67 percent. Now is not the time to take our foot off the gas. In business, you would never stop marketing when you start to see great results. Instead of decimating funding to VISIT FLORIDA, we should be investing in tourism marketing so we can continue to bring record visitors to our state.”
VISIT FLORIDA estimates that a record 27.1 million domestic visitors traveled to Florida in Q1 2017, reflecting a 3.2 percent increase over the same period last year. Estimates also show that 2.7 million overseas visitors and 1.3 million Canadians came to the Sunshine State in January-March 2017. Total enplanements at Florida’s 18 major airports in Q1 2017 increased 1.6 percent over the same period the previous year, with a record 22.7 million enplaned passengers. For Q1 2017, the number of rooms sold grew by 2.2 percent and the hotel occupancy rate rose 0.7 percent compared to Q1 2016.
Ken Lawson, President and CEO of VISIT FLORIDA, said, “VISIT FLORIDA will continue to focus on the task at hand, which is successfully marketing small, medium and large communities so the tourism industry can continue to create jobs. Because the Legislature decided to inadequately fund VISIT FLORIDA, our organization is going to have to make tough decisions in the coming weeks and will not be able to compete with destinations like California and Texas. We will strive every day so Florida does not become another case study like other states who lost billions of dollars in revenue due to cutting tourism marketing dollars.”
To view additional Florida visitor data, go the Research page on VISIT FLORIDA’s media website.
*Preliminary estimates are issued 45 days after the end of each calendar quarter. Final estimates are released when final data are received for all estimates in the report.

FADMO statement regarding VISIT FLORIDA funding

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Statement by Gil Langley, Chairman of Florida Association of Destination Marketing Organizations regarding the 2017 legislative session

“Along with the 1.4 million Floridians employed by the tourism industry, I am extremely disappointed in the outcome of the 2017 Legislative Session. A $25 million budget for tourism marketing, coupled with a wealth of bureaucratic red tape, hinders VISIT FLORIDA’s ability to do its job. With only $25 million dedicated to promoting our state, there’s no way Florida can stay on the same playing field as states like California. Not to mention, VISIT FLORIDA’s efforts are what keeps tourists from flying over Florida to Mexico, the Bahamas and now Cuba.
Lawmakers in Tallahassee neglected to consider the facts – state and local tourism promotion is the only reason Florida has been able to maintain its status as a top destination in the increasingly competitive industry. Thanks to tourism, Florida brought in $108.8 billion in tourism-related spending in the last fiscal year. Unfortunately, the Sunshine State’s future does not look as bright. With a 5 percent tourism downturn, our state will lose more than $324 million in sales tax revenue and 70,000 jobs. Furthermore, the funding reduction will have a disproportionate impact on small rural counties throughout the state – without the resources to market themselves, many of Florida’s hidden gems will experience economic harm.
Other states like Colorado, Washington and Pennsylvania serve as a warning of what’s to come. We’ve seen this same scenario play out in other states, and the end result is always the same: state revenue goes down, people lose their jobs and that state’s market share goes down.
Although a 67 percent funding reduction and a new stringent structure are enormous setbacks for our industry, we will continue to advocate for tourism promotion in the months leading up to the 2018 Session. As Legislators watch while jobs are lost, small businesses are harmed, and tax revenue is diminished, I hope they will rectify their mistake next year.”

Governor Scott to Kick Off “Fighting For Florida’s Future” Tour

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Governor Rick Scott today announced the “Fighting for Florida’s Future” tour where he will visit 10 cities to encourage Floridians to contact members of the Florida Legislature and urge them to invest in key priorities for Florida’s future. The Florida Legislature is in their final days of the 2017 legislative session, and at this time, budget proposals from the Legislature include:

  • Kills funding for Enterprise Florida which helps to diversify the economy and create thousands of high wage jobs;
  • Cuts funding for VISIT FLORIDA by 67%. VISIT FLORIDA is responsible for marketing the state and encourages people from across the world to visit the Sunshine State. Every 76 tourists to Florida equals one job and Florida’s tourism industry currently supports 1.4 million jobs; and
  • Fails to include $200 million to help fix the Herbert Hoover Dike at Lake Okeechobee. Last summer, green algae plagued Florida’s waterways in South Florida and fixing the dike will help curb problems like this and protect Florida’s waterways and environment for Florida’s future generations. President Trump has committed funding to fix this federal project and the state funding Governor Scott is calling for will help jump start the process.

Governor Rick Scott said, “The 60 day legislative session is wrapping up this week and I have been fighting the politicians in Tallahassee for three things to help Florida families – funding for tourism marketing so we can continue to bring record visitors to Florida; funding for proven economic development programs so we can continue to diversify our economy and bring more jobs to Florida; and $200 million to help fix the Dike at Lake Okeechobee so we can protect our environment for future generations. All three of these issues are tied to jobs, but unfortunately the politicians in Tallahassee still haven’t committed to funding these important priorities.
“There are still a few days left of the regular session which means that there is still time for the politicians to do the right thing and fund priorities to protect our environment and keep our economy growing. Let’s remember, the total state budget is around $83 billion and all three of these priorities I am fighting for make up less than 1 percent. However, not funding these priorities will have severe repercussions across our state and Florida could lose hundreds of thousands of jobs. Our economy is on a roll and now is not the time to take our foot off the gas. I look forward to traveling the state this week to urge Floridians to contact their legislators and tell them to fund these priorities that are critical for the future of our great state.”
The Governor will make stops Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in the following cities. Details on times and locations will be announced later today.

  • Tampa
  • Orlando
  • Palm Beach
  • Miami
  • Pensacola
  • Panama City
  • Naples
  • Sarasota
  • Jacksonville
  • Space Coast

Gov. Scott: Florida Legislature turned their back on constituents

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Governor Rick Scott met today with members of the Florida Senate and urged the Legislature to include funding in the state budget to fix the Herbert Hoover Dike and fully fund the state’s economic incentive programs, Enterprise Florida and VISIT FLORIDA.

WATCH: Remarks by Governor Scott

WATCH: Gov. Scott: We Must Keep Fighting for Florida Jobs