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The U.S. Travel Association has teamed up with two Florida tourism-related advocacy groups on a campaign aimed at preserving funding for Visit Florida.
The Florida Faces of Travel Campaign is anchored by FloridaFacesOfTravel.com, which went live Monday.
It provides visitors with links to information on how to call or email their legislators, as well as a detailed list of talking points on the importance of tourism and Visit Florida’s promotional efforts to the Sunshine State economy.
The site also provides a forum for visitors to share their own stories about how the travel industry has helped them thrive in Florida.
“Do Florida lawmakers really want to tell the 1.4 million Floridians depending on the travel industry, most of them middle-class wage earners, that their jobs don’t matter,” U.S. Travel CEO Roger Dow in an announcement of the new lobbying effort. “We think not, and that’s why this campaign is so important. It gives these people a voice, and a direct line to contact lawmakers.”
Partnering with U.S. Travel in the Florida Faces of Travel campaign are the Florida Association of Destination Marketing Organizations and the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association.
On March 10, the Florida House of Representatives passed a bill establishing strict oversight of Visit Florida. The bill sailed through, 80-35.
Among other measures, the bill would require that the agency get approval from the governor for all out-of-state or international travel by employees, freeze employee benefits at existing levels and halt all bonuses. In addition, the Florida House speaker, Senate president and the Joint Legislative Budget Commission would each have veto power over all agency contracts in excess of $750,000.
The bill leaves the funding level of Visit Florida to be determined in negotiations between the House and Senate. A companion bill has not been filed in the Senate.
This year, Visit Florida received $78 million in state funds. Florida Gov. Rick Scott has asked for $76 million in the coming fiscal year. However, House Speaker Richard Corcoran, who is leading the legislative fight against Visit Florida, has proposed slashing its budget to $25 million.
Visit Florida became embroiled in scandal last year when it was revealed that the marketing group had paid the rapper Pitbull $1 million to promote the state, leading to the resignation of Visit Florida’s CEO in January. Gov. Scott remains a strong supporter of the agency.
The Florida Faces of Travel website includes a link to a fact sheet which says that tourism produced $183.5 billion in economic impact to the state during the most recent fiscal year while generating $11.3 billion in tax revenue.
Sоurсе: travelweekly.com