What just unfolded in Florida’s political arena was a bouquet for VISIT FLORIDA and a bare-knuckle punch in the eye for its opponents in the state's GOP.
After much debate, the state’s Senate and House agreed to continue funding the tourism marketing agency, to the tune of $80 million for the coming fiscal year, representing a $30M increase.
Near the end of March, the issue surfaced, with the House majority announcing that it wanted to cut off state funding for the VISIT FLORIDA tourism marketing agency.
CVB leaders statewide were quick to respond, characterizing it as perhaps the most deeply stupid move they had ever seen.
“I think it is a brilliantly bad piece of legislation,” Michael Corrigan, president and CEO of Visit Jacksonville, told reporters at the Miami Herald. “The intent is to eliminate VISIT FLORIDA. But in reality, it’s probably going to eliminate a lot of the local destination marketing organizations as well.”
The way the legislation was originally crafted, large counties would have had to submit 5% of their tourism tax revenue to the state. Rural counties would provide 2% of their tourism revenue. In other words, had the bill made it into law, Jacksonville’s annual payment to the public/private VISIT FLORIDA would have jumped from $15,000 to $1.5 million.
Hence Corrigan’s description of the legislation as “brilliantly bad.”
It took nearly a month of negotiations between tourism groups and House and Senate budget negotiators for the news came down on Friday, according to Florida Politics; however, VISIT FLORIDA, which has been targeted for elimination by the House before in 2017, will be moved under the Department of Economic Opportunity, which will be renamed as the Department of Commerce in HB 5.
“There’s been opinions between the House and Senate for several years about the value of VISIT FLORIDA. I certainly understand the House’s concern that it’s a lot of money,” said Sen. Ed Hooper, a Clearwater Republican and Chair of the Senate Tourism, Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Committee. But so far, 137 million people last year decided to take a trip to Florida. … It’s our number one economic driver in this state.”
The e-mail put out by VISIT FLORIDA was nothing short of joyous:
The moment we have all been waiting for has finally arrived. The Senate and House have agreed to fund VISIT FLORIDA with $80 million ($30 million recurring and $50 million non-recurring) for the coming fiscal year 2023-24. This funding level represents a $30 million increase over our current year state funding of $50 million, which is especially noteworthy as it is the largest appropriation VISIT FLORIDA has ever received from the state.
As always, we are incredibly grateful to the Governor, Legislature, and everyone in our industry that have made this unprecedented outcom
As we turn the page on the 2023 Legislative Session, we look forward to partnering with each of you to drive more record-breaking results for our tourism economy. Let's continue working together to ensure Florida remains the #1 travel destination in the world.
The website, The Capitolist, noted, “In 2019, Florida visitors contributed $96.5 billion to Florida’s economy and supported over 1.6 million Florida jobs. According to the Office of Economic and Demographic Research, for every $1 the state invests in VISIT FLORIDA, $3.27 in state tax revenue is generated.”
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