Florida ready to welcome back Brits with open arms
Sophie GriffithsFlorida is gearing up to reopen to Brits, and is hopeful the UK could once again become the state’s second-biggest market after being overtaken by Brazil during the past 18 months.
Speaking to TTG, Dana Young, president and chief executive of Visit Florida, said the state was ready to welcome back UK holidaymakers with open arms. “We have been open throughout the pandemic in Florida – our hotels never closed and now we are fully open.
“We have no restrictions on capacity at events; we have no restaurant restrictions; no mask mandates other than in the airport. So really Florida has been open for over a year. There’s no gearing up required.
“There are many cities in the US and probably around the world that are going to have months and months just to gear up,” she added. “But we are very fortunate and delighted that in Florida, we are ready.
"Our theme parks are all open; our state parks, our national parks, our restaurants, nightclubs, shopping outlet malls – anything that a Brit would want to do in Florida is open and ready to go.”
Young said the state had already exceeded its 2019 domestic visitor levels by 6% in the first six months of 2021. “And 2019 was our 10th consecutive record year for domestic visitors,” she added.
Meanwhile, on the international side, Young said Florida had been “very aggressive in our marketing”. “We’ve been very targeted and forward-thinking in our marketing, more than any other US destination,” she said.
“And we’re not satisfied to just regain what we had – our goal is to increase market share across the board internationally and domestically. And I am confident at this point that we will get there.”
Young noted that while other tourist boards were focused on discussing Covid safety protocols, she believed “nobody wants to hear about that any more”. “[Consumers] don’t want to talk about Covid," she said. "People that want to travel want to travel, and they don’t want you to tell them what to do any more.”
Fam plans
Instead, Florida is focusing its marketing on showcasing all that the state has to offer “beyond the gateways”.
“If you fly into Orlando, you can go south to Kissimmee and you can go kayaking at Shingle Creek – and you have no idea you’re that close to the [theme] parks. And the headwaters of the Everglades actually start in Kissimmee, where you can take airboat rides and some people may not have thought of that before. That’s a different kind of theme park – a whole different type of adventure.”
Elsewhere, Young revealed plans are under way to host agents on a fam trip to the state in the new year, tying in with the travel trade show Florida Huddle, which takes place from 24-26 January.
“That’s the first event since the pandemic started where we’re going to be inviting everyone to come see us," she said. "Many people couldn’t attend IPW [International Pow Wow] so I think Florida Huddle is going to have its biggest year ever.
“There will be fams for both media and trade surrounding Huddle, both pre and post,” Young added.
IPW is also due to take place in Florida next year, in Orlando in June, with Young hinting that Visit Florida “already has evening events planned at Disney and Universal”.
“It's going to be amazing,” she said. “It'll be great. And the timing is perfect.” Young added that trade fams will also take place before and after IPW, which in line with the state’s marketing messages, will showcase alternative experiences in Florida, away from the theme parks.
“We have such a huge opportunity with both of those things because while we want people to come for what they want to come for, which a lot of times are theme parks and the beaches, we also have a lot more to offer than that,” she said.
“So part of those fams will include smaller “off the beaten path”, more nature focused outdoor adventures - some of the things that maybe Brits aren't as familiar with. So that agents can start selling those packages and experiences that people haven't read about 100 times.”
Elsewhere Florida has added training tools for agents wanting to learn more about the state’s LGBTQ+ offerings. “Florida is a huge destination for the LGBTQ plus community and at Visit Florida we've added a portal module on our website for LGBT travellers.”
Meanwhile asked if she was confident whether Brits would be able to reclaim the number two market spot from Brazil (Canada is number one) Young replied: “I would not be surprised”.
“One of our trade partners said on the day of the announcement [to allow Brits into the US] they had a 600% increase in bookings to the US. Another partner said that Orlando is on fire.
“I think that's where our marketing was really effective because rather than pulling back and waiting until the borders open to start marketing again we gave people something to dream about, and we kept Florida top of mind.
“For about seven months, we were the only state doing any marketing at all outside their borders. I feel like the strategic advantage that we have built through our marketing planning has been tremendous and we're not going to let that go to waste.
“That's why I said, we're not happy to just get back where we were,” Young added. “We think we're in a great position to regain, to build and increase our market share pretty much everywhere… We're not going to look back. We're not slowing down. In fact, we're hitting the accelerator.”
Sophie Griffiths
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