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VISIT FLORIDA Releases First Quarter 2009 Visitation Estimates

NEWS RELEASE TOPIC:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 15, 2009

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (May 15, 2009) – Preliminary estimates* of visitors to Florida for the first quarter of 2009 (January – March), released by VISIT FLORIDA®, the official tourism marketing corporation for the State of Florida, show an estimated 21.9 million travelers visited the Sunshine State, down 10.6 percent from the same period in 2008.

Domestic visitation from American travelers declined 10.7 percent, overseas travel decreased by 13.0 percent and Canadian travel to Florida during the same period reflected a 7.0 percent decrease.

“Clearly the global economy has presented significant challenges for travelers and for the Florida travel industry,” said Chris Thompson, President and CEO of VISIT FLORIDA. “That said, Florida continues to be a very attractive destination as witnessed by the nearly 22 million travelers who visited the Sunshine State in the first three months of the year.”

The number of Floridians who took any pleasure trip in the first quarter was down 5.6 percent, but the number of Floridians who vacationed within Florida increased by 11 percent to over 4.5 million trips in the first quarter. This growth of in-state travel reinforces VISIT FLORIDA’s strategy of targeting Floridians as travelers stay closer to home.

“While visitation when compared to previous years has been down for the past six months, tourism continues to be one of Florida most important industries,” said Richard Goldman, Chairman of the VISIT FLORIDA Board of Directors and Vice President-Chief Marketing Officer of Amelia Island Plantation. “In fact, the travel industry now represents more than 21 percent of all state sales tax collections, up from 19 percent in 2008.”

“The good news is, that despite the very challenging economy, people are continuing to travel. The bad news is that the global travel industry is becoming increasingly competitive.” said Will Seccombe, Chief Marketing Officer at VISIT FLORIDA. “Our challenge at VISIT FLORIDA is to maintain and grow Florida’s share of global travelers.”

“As Florida’s official travel marketing corporation, it is our job to anticipate the challenges and to respond quickly with sales and marketing programs that speak to the value of Florida as a travel destination,” continued Seccombe.

VISIT FLORIDA is the official tourism marketing corporation for the state of Florida. VISIT FLORIDA promotes tourism to Florida through sales, advertising, promotions, public relations, new product development and visitor services programs. As a public/private partnership VISIT FLORIDA has more than 3,400 tourism industry Partners and four major strategic alliances with American Express Travel Related services, AirTran Airways, Dollar Rent A Car and The Hertz Corporation. To learn more about VISIT FLORIDA, visit www.VISITFLORIDA.org.