ORANGE PARK, Fla.—Today, Governor Rick Scott directed VISIT FLORIDA to launch an aggressive new marketing campaign to highlight Florida following Hurricane Irma. Last year, Florida welcomed a record of nearly 113 million visitors to the state. In 2017, Florida is working to break this record and welcome more than 120 million visitors. The campaign will be multi-phased and include digital, social, broadcast and traditional components in both domestic and international markets. The Governor’s top focus remains the many communities in the Florida Keys and Southwest Florida still recovering from Irma and campaigns promoting these specific areas will be launched at a later date.

Governor Scott said, “As communities around Florida continue to recover from Hurricane Irma, we are doing everything possible to help families and businesses get back on their feet and get people back to work. While our top focus remains on the recovery of Florida families, especially those in the Florida Keys and Southwest Florida, we cannot forget about the many communities which rely on Florida’s incredible tourism industry and millions of visitors. With more than 1.4 million Floridians working in the tourism industry, we must aggressively fight to bring visitors back to our communities.”

Ken Lawson, President & CEO of VISIT FLORIDA said, “Following Hurricane Irma, it’s more important than ever for us to spread the word that the coast is clear and the Sunshine State is open for business. At Governor Scott’s direction, we have put together an aggressive marketing plan that showcases sunshine, blue skies and good times at over 12,000 industry businesses across the state. I want to thank Governor Scott for his leadership as we work to let the world to know that Florida is still the number one place to visit.”

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