UK regains position as leading international market to Florida

The UK & Ireland has regained its position as the number one overseas market to Florida.

Speaking at its annual WTM dinner, Visit Florida president and chief executive Dana Young said more than 820,000 Brits had visited the state between January and September this year, which she described as “amazing progress”.

She added: “We have a little way to go to meet pre-pandemic futures but things are certainly heading in the right direction.”

Young said the recovery from Covid had been hampered slightly by Hurricane Ian, which devastated parts of South West Florida.

But she said the regions were resilient and were well underway rebuilding their infrastructure, adding: “They are going to be better than they were before.”

In the meantime, Visit Florida has launched a campaign to showcase the unaffected areas that are open and continue to be ready to welcome visitors, assuring travellers from around the world that “the sun’s still shining in Florida”.

Young said: “We focused on 15 destinations of the state, by showing images with time and date stamps, so people can see exactly what they look like to counter the misperceptions that Florida is destroyed. It’s not. We have invested $2 million dollars in this.”

Addressing airlines, tour operators and others in the room, she added: “Together with our partners, we are stronger, and Visit Florida would not be as successful without your support.”