EVOLVE Business and Professional Magazine November 2018 | Page 28
TOURISM: THE ECONOMIC
ENGINE THAT DRIVES
OUR STATE
by Ken Lawson
VISIT FLORIDA President & CEO
F
lorida is unlike any other place in the world.
Whether it’s our pristine beaches, natural wonders
like the Everglades, the awe-inspiring magic
of Orlando or an off-the-beaten path adventure like
swimming with manatees, our state is simply a cut above
the rest. In 2017, a record 116.5 million people came from
all over the globe to visit the place we get to call home.
In fact, every year for the past seven years, Florida has
achieved record visitation and visitor spending. As the
tourism agency that markets Florida to out-of-state
visitors, VISIT FLORIDA leads the charge to welcome
more visitors to our state.
Why should any of this matter to Floridians? Tourism
is the economic engine that drives our state. Without
tourism, we’d be hard-pressed to build roads, hire
teachers or protect the environment. According to the
latest economic impact study, in 2016, visitors to our
state had a $112 billion economic impact, contributing
$88 billion to Florida’s gross domestic product and over
$11 billion in state and local taxes. If state and local
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taxes generated by tourism evaporated, every Florida
household would need to pay an extra $1,535 in taxes just
to break even. Simply put, the more visitors we attract to
our state, the more hard-earned money citizens get
to keep.
Tourism creates jobs and bolsters our economy.
Approximately 1.4 million jobs at small, medium and
large businesses across our state are supported by
tourism. For every 78 visitors, our state creates a job, and
one in six jobs in Florida is supported by visitor spending.
By every measurable economic indicator, tourism
stimulates our economy and creates jobs unlike any other
industry in our state.
VISIT FLORIDA supports tourism to Florida by
developing leading-edge, innovative marketing programs
to retain repeat visitors and attract new ones. We’ve
refocused our efforts in key markets, such as Canada
and the United Kingdom, to ensure that Florida remains
competitive with other destinations. We’ve realigned our
programs so that each one is measurable and produces a
high return on investment. We’ve cut waste and dedicated
historic amounts to core marketing programs. In short, we
are constantly improving and progressing in new ways to
meet our goal of attracting record numbers of visitors to
our state.
In the greater Daytona Beach region, small, medium
and large tourism businesses have participated in
collaborative marketing efforts with VISIT FLORIDA and
routinely attend VISIT FLORIDA signature events such
as the Florida Governor’s Conference on Tourism, Florida
Encounter and Florida Huddle.
This January, Florida Huddle, the official travel