Florida says UK ‘more important than ever’
Florida is aiming for a 6% rise in visitors from the UK this year following a rise to 1.6 million in 2014.
Visit Florida vice president of global brand Susannah Costello said the UK was ‘more important than ever’ to the Sunshine State.
Speaking as the tourist board launched its biggest every consumer, shared-brand campaign in the UK, Costello said it was aware that ‘every country in the world wants in on [the UK’s] long-haul travellers’.
"We have always had a strong relationship with the UK, we are like tourist cousins, but now it is more important to Florida than ever before.
"Your economy is great, one of the strongest in Europe, so we think it’s a good time to remind you about Florida," she said.
Florida is working with at least 13 trade partners, including BA, Thomas Cook and Hertz, on a month-long, London-wide campaign.
The events being staged throughout January will be supported by adverts in the national press and competition to win holidays to Florida run on Heart radio. Florida has also created the first multi-destination video for TripAdvisor.
In addition to the month-long campaign, the tourist board is planning to continue with educationals for travel agents throughout the year, said Costello.
"One of our biggest challenges is telling people what they don’t know about Florida because it is one of the most dense travel products in the world," she said. "People might think they know Florida if they’ve been once, but it’s constantly changing.
"Once there was Disney, now there’s Star Wars; once there was Universal, now there’s The World of Harry Potter; Miami changes almost weekly. There is such a lot going on and there are new things being added all the time."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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