Florida Governor Ron DeSantis wants Florida residents to stay in Florida, rather than travel out of state, to help the tourism industry recover. A new in-state marketing campaign for Florida has been launched.
Tourism in Florida accounted for more than 1.5 million jobs and $91 billion in revenue in 2019. But, due to a global downturn in travel caused by COVID-19, Florida visitation dropped by more than 60 percent year-over-year in the second quarter of 2020.
On Wednesday Governor DeSantis and VISIT FLORIDA CEO Dana Young were in Daytona Beach to discuss the importance of the tourism industry in Florida and to launch the new campaign.
Fort Myers Beach businesses and hotels have been hit hard by the government mandated shutdown, the cancellation of all of its major events and a mandatory mask ordinance. With the start of season about 30 days away beach businesses are hopeful northerners will make the journey down to get life back to normal, as much as it can be with the virus still out there.
At the press conference yesterday Young said the in-state advertising campaign is aimed at helping every Florida community recover. “Our tourism businesses have been severely impacted, but there is no doubt that our state is still the best place to live and the best destination for travelers. Together with Governor DeSantis, VISIT FLORIDA and our state’s tourism industry will not stop until we have fully recovered and every Floridian whose job was impacted by COVID-19 can get back to work as quickly as possible.”
To learn more about VISIT FLORIDA’s in-state travel campaign, click here. To view the first advertisements for the campaign, click here and here.