Visit Florida

Dana Young, who oversaw the state's tourism-marketing efforts, represented parts of Hillsborough County in the House from 2010 to 2016 and in the Senate from 2016 to 2018.

From January through March, Hillsborough County saw over 78% hotel occupancy, 4% higher than the state average and 20% higher than the national average.

The Visit Florida tourism-marketing agency reported an 18.3% increase in international tourists compared to 2022.

Visit Florida's president and CEO said it's partly due to increased competition from other states and countries that shut down longer than Florida during the pandemic.

Visit Florida staff members have crafted a tourism-marketing plan intended to combat increased competition from states that in the past few years imposed tougher COVID-19 restrictions.

The pandemic halted tourism growth across the country, but recent numbers show Florida's recovery is looking good.

The U.S. Travel Association estimated that international travel to the U.S. was 34 percent below pre-pandemic levels.

Visit Florida estimates the state attracted 35 million travelers during the third quarter, a 6.9 percent increase from 2021. The estimate was also 8% above the same period of 2019, before the pandemic.

The campaign features locations across the state — including Tampa — that were not largely affected by Hurricane Ian.

It is crafting a campaign to offset the negative images from Hurricane Ian, including flooded communities and damaged bridges.

Florida’s pristine waters are its calling card for tourists, who are now returning to the state in record numbers. But what happens when crushing numbers of visitors harm the natural environment that draws them?

As the Visit Florida tourism marketing agency celebrated record first-quarter tourism numbers while meeting last week in Orlando, staff and board members also expressed concern that increasing cost of hotel rooms is slowly affecting occupancy rates.