Visit Florida plans re-run of sunshine campaign
Visit Florida plans to run its ‘Moments of Sunshine’ campaign again in London later this year, and to roll it out to other cities worldwide.
The tourism body ran a campaign in the capital throughout January designed to woo UK visitors by ‘brightening up the days of Londoners’.
Working with industry partners, it surprised commuters in the capital with various free gifts and entertainment.
Speaking at Florida Huddle 2016 in Tampa, chief marketing officer Paul Phipps said the campaign had an immediate impact.
"Although our research is not complete yet we are so taken with the immediate impact that we intend to repeat the London takeover, not once, but at least twice," he said.
"We are the number one destination in the USA for UK visitors we found that we were actually number three in a wish list and we want to change that.
"The London campaign is part of the strategy to improve our positioning."
Phipps said it was likely the visit of the Jacksonville Jaguars to Wembley in early October will herald the start of a new series of events, and Visit Florida plans to ‘invade’ again in January 2017.
Such has been the success of the campaign, it is likely to form the template for similar activity in other cities around the world such as New York and Berlin, he added.
"Tourism is the number one industry in Florida and as such we have been empowered by Governor Rick Scott to continue the enormous progress we have been making over the past three years," added Phipps.
Florida is widely expected to break the 100 million visitor mark for 2015 when statistics are released later in February and aims to be the number one destination in the world.
Phipps said the next major project will be at the Goodwood Festival of Speed where it will display its motor sport heritage with a branded car that will be competing around Europe.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Phocuswright reveals the world's largest travel markets in volume in 2025
Cyclone in Sri Lanka had limited effect on tourism in contrary to media reports
Higher departure tax and visa cost, e-arrival card: Japan unleashes the fiscal weapon against tourists
Singapore to forbid entry to undesirable travelers with new no-boarding directive
Euromonitor International unveils world’s top 100 city destinations for 2025