Visit Florida lays off one-third of staff

State tourism marketing agency Visit Florida handed out the dreaded pink slips to a third of its workforce Thursday as a result of its reduced budget.

It announced 44 layoffs due to a $26 million shortfall in funding.

It was granted $50 million compared to $76 million previously.

"The decision to downsize staff proportionate to the budget reduction was extremely difficult, but with less funding, there is simply no way Visit Florida could maintain the level of staffing we once had," said Visit Florida President and CEO Dana Young.

In conjunction with the staff cuts, Visit Florida’s marketing strategy has been streamlined too.

It is ditching most of its expensive TV ads and will instead concentrate more heavily on social and digital channels.

Other initiatives like planned sales mission trips to China and Mexico will be scrapped.

"While this reduced budget will require significant changes in our marketing approach, we are confident that we can continue to deliver a great value for Floridians with the funding provided," Young added.