Agents should feel confident selling Florida after 'fantastic' post-hurricane clean-up
Sophie GriffithsFlorida is open for business and agents should feel confident selling the destination – that was the message from Visit Florida at WTM London, less than two months after the US state was hit by successive hurricanes.
Dana Young, president and chief executive of Visit Florida, on Tuesday (5 November) acknowledged the storms had caused “serious damage” to parts of Florida, notably on its west coast. However, she insisted the clean-up operation had been “the most fantastic I’ve ever seen” and the state was “open and ready to welcome everyone”.
The UK remains Florida’s number one source market; 859,000 Brits headed there during the first nine months of the year, followed closely by Brazil and Colombia. In total, 6.4 million tourists have so far visited Florida in 2024.
While Young insisted the destination remained vast enough not to suffer from overtourism, she admitted Florida’s key marketing messages remained the same as the previous three years – to encourage visitors to venture beyond Tampa, Orlando, Miami and Fort Lauderdale and discover lesser-known areas of Florida.
"We’ve found Brits who experience other parts of Florida are four times more likely to return than if they just stayed in one place,” she added.
Elsewhere, Young insisted LGBTQ+ travellers were welcome in the state, despite concerns raised following the removal of the LGBTQ+ travel section from Visit Florida’s website.
“These are pages that didn’t receive much traffic. It was an issue that was blown out of proportion. Nothing has changed,” Young insisted. “There are no issues – LGBTQ+ travellers are welcome in Florida. They always have been and they always will be.”
She claimed same sex couples continued to be used within the state’s marketing campaigns, and revealed a number of Florida destinations had ramped up their spend on LGBTQ+ travel marketing – including Miami.
Florida has also increased its focus on accessible travel, partnering with accessibility specialists Wheel the World, which has mapped out hotels, attractions and resorts in 14 destinations within the state for accessible travellers.
“Our general family marketing campaign includes same sex couples and accessible travellers – we’re focusing on inclusive travel,” Young said.
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