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VISIT FLORIDA Announces FY21-22 Tourism Industry Leadership

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.  – VISIT FLORIDA, the state’s official tourism marketing corporation, is proud to present its Board of Directors for the new 2021-22 fiscal year. Comprised of tourism industry experts, VISIT FLORIDA's 31-member Board of Directors, along with the members of its committees, provide guidance, input, and insight into the evolution of VISIT FLORIDA programs, processes, and messaging. Danny Gaekwad, Owner of MGM Hotels, LLC, will take over as the new Chair of the 2021-22 VISIT FLORIDA Board of Directors. Gaekwad succeeds Dan Rowe, President and CEO of the Panama City Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau, who served as Chair for the 2020-21 fiscal year. “After the most challenging year our industry has ever faced, we are incredibly grateful for the leadership and guidance of VISIT FLORIDA’s Board of Directors on our path to recovery,” said  Dana Young, President and CEO of VISIT FLORIDA.  “As we look ahead to a new chapter, the expertise and experience of our new Board members will position us for continued success. Florida’s economic rebound remains VISIT FLORIDA’s top priority for the new fiscal year, and our Board of Directors will ensure that maximum results are delivered on behalf of Florida’s tourism industry and residents.” VISIT FLORIDA Board of Directors – FY2021-22 Andres Barry, President, Jet Blue, Chair of Marketing Council Jennifer Berthiaume, Vice President/Managing Director, Lion Country Safari Merry Coffman, Director Marketing Communications, Pure Florida Greg Cook, General Manager, Ritz Carlton, Vice Chair Bobby Cornwell, President and CEO, Florida Association of RV Parks & Campgrounds Kelly Craighead, President and CEO, Cruise Line International Association Ernesto Diaz, Chief Experience Officer, The Auto Club Group Carol Dover, President and CEO, Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, Chair of Public Affairs Danny Gaekwad, MGM Hotels, LLC, Chair Virginia Haley, President, Visit Sarasota County Malinda Horton, Executive Director, Florida Association of Museums, Chair of Audit Committee John Lai, President and CEO, Sanibel and Captiva Chamber of Commerce Lino Maldonado, President and Managing Partner, Be Home Eric Marshall, Senior Vice President of Sales, Universal Orlando Jesse Martinez, General Manager, The Alfond Inn Joe Mayer, Director, Government Relations - FL, Lockheed Martin Kerry Morrissey, Director of PR and Community Relations, OPL Hotels Patrick Murphy, Senior Vice President, St. Joe Company David Reese, President, Florida's First Coast of Golf, Secretary Jennifer Rominiecki, President and CEO, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Second Vice Chair, Chair of Industry Services, Small Business and Rural Development Council Scott Rose, Senior VP, Chief Operating Officer, ZooTampa at Lowry Park Dan Rowe, President and CEO, Visit Panama City Beach, Immediate Past Chair Angel Sarria, Director, Marketing and Sales, Walt Disney World Resort Scott Shalley, President and CEO, Florida Retail Federation, Treasurer Robert Skrob, Executive Director, Destinations Florida Sheldon Suga, VP Managing Director, Hawk's Cay Resort John Tolbert, SVP, Asset Manager, BRE Hotels and Resorts Georgia Turner, Executive Director, West Volusia Chip Wile, President, Daytona Speedway

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VISIT FLORIDA Announces FY 2022-23 Tourism Industry Leadership

6/9/22 Visit Florida Board of Directors Meeting

The Official Corporate Blog for VISIT FLORIDA

Sunshine Matters

Visit florida announces three new appointments to board of directors.

Today, I am proud to announce the appointment of Frank Belzer, Susan Jacobs and Scott Shalley to the VISIT FLORIDA Board of Directors. Belzer, Jacobs and Shalley were confirmed as members of the VISIT FLORIDA board during the recent Enterprise Florida Board of Directors meeting held in West Palm Beach on March 15. The new members, who have already been approved by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, fill vacated seats.  

I’m very excited to have these three distinguished leaders join our Board of Directors and I look forward to their contributions. Their diverse experience and perspectives will be valuable as we work to strengthen Florida’s share of the global travel market.

Frank Belzer  is the SVP of Sales Management at Universal Orlando Resort where he oversees all domestic and international sales strategies. He  fills the regional seat and was appointed for a term beginning March 23, 2018, and ending June 30, 2019.

Susan Jacobs is the Senior Vice President of Marketing at The Hertz Corporation where she leads the growth efforts for the Dollar and Thrifty brands, as well as Value Added Services marketing and creative services. She fills the dedicated car rental seat and was appointed for a term beginning April 1, 2018, and ending June 30, 2018.

Scott Shalley is the President & CEO of the Florida Retail Federation (FRF) where he maintains responsibility for all areas of FRF operations including oversight of FRF Services, FRF Realty and other related ventures. He fills the dedicated retail seat and was appointed for a term beginning March 23, 2018, and ending June 30, 2018.

VISIT FLORIDA’s 31-member Board consists of 16 regional seats appointed to represent all geographic areas of the state, and 15 additional seats that represent key sectors of the Florida tourism industry. The VISIT FLORIDA Board of Directors is the organization’s private sector governing body that, along with the members of its 11 committees, provide guidance, input and insight into the evolution of VISIT FLORIDA’s marketing programs.

To learn more about the VISIT FLORIDA Board of Directors, visit  https://www.visitflorida.org/about-us/who-we-are/board-of-directors/ .

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Ray mathews, evette torres.

Chair-elect

Aloft & Element Midtown Tampa

Secretary /  Treasurer

RAUL AGUILERA

Immediate  Past Chair

SANTIAGO C. CORRADA

President & CEO Visit Tampa Bay

Board Members:

JEFF ANTONACCIO

Shaner Hotels

JOHN BENNETT

City of Tampa

DAVE BURTON

Burton Holdings, LLC

BRIAN BUTLER

Vistra Communications 

PAT CIACCIO

The Community Café

STEWART CLARK

Busch Gardens ® Tampa Bay & Adventure Island

JOE COLLIER

Mainsail Lodging & Development

JOE COUCEIRO

ZooTampa at Lowry Park

CHERYL FLOOD 

Florida State Fair Authority

STEVE GRIGGS

Tampa Bay Lightning

GREG HOLLAND

Straz Center for the Performing Arts 

GREG HORWEDEL

Hillsborough County

Retired, Westshore Alliance

CHAD LOBNER

Embassy Suites by Hilton Tampa Brandon

JILL MANTHEY

Yacht StarShip Cruises & Events

RON MCANAUGH

JW Marriott Tampa Water Street / Tampa Marriott Water Street

CHRISTOPHER MINNER

Tampa International Airport 

BOB MORRISON

Hillsborough County Hotel & Motel Association

CHRIS PLASENCIA

The Plasencia Group

CRAIG RICHARD

Tampa Bay Economic Development Council

PATRICK SORGE

Hyatt Place & Hyatt House Tampa Downtown

PETER WRIGHT

Florida Board of Medicine

Meeting Information

The Board meets  bimonthly , generally on the first weekend of the month. The full Board meetings include  disciplinary cases, licensure approvals, correspondence items, committee reports, policy discussion items and other necessary Board actions.  All board and committee meetings start at 8:00 am.  Dates and locations are subject to change.

The Florida Board of Medicine has updated the process to submit meeting materials for upcoming meetings. This standardizes the Board/Committee Meeting agenda process to improve efficiency, quality, and reduce errors. It also creates one point of entry to submit all meeting materials. Please note there are deadlines associated with each meeting and materials submitted after the deadline will be subject to review and approval by the Chair of the Board.  Please submit all meeting materials  here .

Licensees interested in attending a regular meeting of the Board for continuing medical education (CME) credit, please  click here  to visit the Board’s website for meeting information. Licensees must remain in continuous attendance during the disciplinary portion of the meeting. You may report your attendance by completing the  CME attendance form  and returning the form to the board office using the email address provided in the form.

Continuing Education

Visit Florida’s Playbook: Tourism CEO on Marketing, Conventions and Luring Californians

Dawit Habtemariam , Skift

April 28th, 2024 at 8:00 AM EDT

Florida wants to show the world the tourism opportunities the state has to offer.

Dawit Habtemariam

Leaders of Travel: Skift C-Suite Series

What are the top trends impacting hotels, airlines, and online bookings? We speak to the executives shaping the future of travel.

Visit Florida is about to jump start tourism to its overlooked hidden gems in its northwestern region. The destination marketing organization was awarded a $10.5 million grant earlier this month to promote the eight counties in that region, said Visit Florida CEO and President Dana Young.

Young spoke with Skift about the grant, emerging travel trends in the state, how Los Angeles became a top inbound market, visa wait times, and more.

This interview was edited for clarity and length.

$10.5 Million to Drive Tourism to Northwest Florida

Skift: Visit Florida was recently awarded $10.5 million from Triumph Gulf Coast, a state-funded non-profit, to promote its northwestern region.

Dana Young: All eight counties that were included in the group of counties that were deemed impacted by the Deepwater Horizon Oil spill many years ago. All of those counties came together with support of their county commissions and they partnered with Visit Florida to get this grant. 

Northwest Florida is so beautiful, sort of what you would think of old Florida, but beaches in that area, which we call the Florida Panhandle, are absolutely magnificent and uncrowded and certainly not as developed as you would see in South Florida. The counties are geographically large, but they’re less populated, some are more rural. It’s just a different feel up there. 

What’s your marketing strategy for this hidden gem?

We’re going to do a two-pronged marketing approach that aims to level out seasonality and introduce that region to new markets around the U.S. There’s going to be a regional campaign called “Adventure within Reach” that highlights adventure travel opportunities in all eight counties. 

The second prong is we’re developing individual marketing programs for each of the eight counties in coordination with their DMO to highlight the specific things that they want to show to the rest of the country.

What are some other campaigns you have in the works?

We did get $5 million in our budget this year, specifically earmarked for nature-based travel and trails and trail towns. We started this campaign last year. Many people do not realize that Florida has over 15,000 miles of trails, and they aren’t just hiking trails. They are hiking, biking, kayaking, paddle boarding, scuba diving, horseback riding. We even have a fishing trail that’s launched. Focusing on those adventure activities, definitely a push for us.

We are definitely seeing a real trend with impulse travel, people that are just able to get up and go. We are really looking to target these millennials and young adults that are impulse travelers with campaigns that are focused on increasing desirability and bookings in the spring months.

NAACP Travel Advisory’s Impact on Conventions

Last year, the NAACP put a travel advisory on Florida. Skift Meetings reported on a wave of conventions pulling out of the state due to its controversial laws. What was the impact on Florida’s events calendar?

My understanding just from conversations with the DMO heads around the state is that for any meetings that were canceled for any reason, there were three or four lined up to take their place. In 2023, revenue was up by 13% and grew faster for meetings and convention bookings than for leisure bookings. So I think that those sorts of advisories are publicity stunts more than anything. 

Latin America See Strong Rebound, But Visa Wait Times Aren’t Helping

How is Florida’s Latin American tourism source market performing? Has there been an impact from the long visitor visa wait times ?

Latin America is really doing great. Mexico is particularly a shining star right now. Mexican visitation is the highest that we have seen since we started tracking those numbers.

The visa wait time issue is still very, very real and very, very significant in its impact to us. Florida is disproportionately impacted by this because we have such a huge level of visitation from Latin America. 

Brazil tourism recently reached a million. That’s the first time since 2019 that we’ve gotten to that level. A lot of those are new visa holders. 

I have met with the State Department on numerous occasions in person to talk about the wait times and what they’re doing. And after those meetings, it’s kind of funny, the wait times will go down in some markets then a few months later they’re back up. So I don’t know what’s going on over there, but they certainly can do better.

Tourism Recovery of Fort Myers Since Hurricane Ian

In the fall of 2022, Hurricane Ian devastated Lee County, home of Fort Myers. How has that area’s tourism sector recovered? I know it brought lots of negative publicity and destruction.

The negative earned media was huge. It was about $164 million in earned media because what they did is just show the destruction over and over again.

I was down there about six months ago and spent three days touring around the areas and they are actually doing well. So visitation is up, but they’re off about 29% from pre-hurricane 2022. But given that they have had sort of a limited number of accommodations that were open, they’ve been gradually reopening, that’s pretty darn good. 

As of April 11th, 77% of hotel rooms are back open and the airport saw a massive 29% increase this March compared to last year. They’ve got some new properties that have opened. There’s a brand new resort, Margaritaville Resort, on Fort Myers Beach that is stunning.  Everything’s trending in the right direction.

Californians Flock to Florida

During the pandemic, Florida wasn’t locked down for too long and did not stop marketing. Fast forward, what have been the long-term consequences of this?

Our numbers have been really just remarkable since 2019. We’re up 10.2% in travel spending from 2019. We’ve seen an increase in our domestic market share, which largely came from California. So that’s kind of fun. 

Prior to 2020, we had really done no marketing in California. We’ve not done any marketing in Los Angeles or on the West Coast, just because typically folks from California were vacationing in Hawaii or Mexico for warm weather vacations. But during the pandemic in 2020 and early 2021, we started marketing in certain cities in California and Oregon and Washington. 

LA has gone from not even on the radar to one of our top 10 inbound markets. They were looking for freedom and they found it here in Florida.

Florida’s Michelin Stars Attract Culinary Tourism

Like Discover Atlanta , Visit Florida partnered with Michelin to review local cuisines. What’s the payoff?

We are entering our third year of our partnership with Michelin. Orlando, Miami and Tampa each invested $150,000 and Visit Florida invested $150,000.

Prior to our partnership with Michelin, 37% of respondents in a survey that we do saw Florida as having unique local cuisine. Two years into our partnership with Michelin, 51% of respondents see Florida as having unique local cuisine.

When we entered into this, we wanted to make sure we were highlighting cuisine throughout the entire state, not just those three cities. We launched two different culinary based video series highlighting cuisine all over Florida. They’ve been extremely popular.

Has the Michelin Guide helped attract culinary talent to Florida?

Absolutely. We’re seeing chefs move to Florida from other cities because they see opportunity to get a star. A lot of restaurants are opening. Look, I mean that improves the quality of life for Floridians and visitors.

Visit Florida on TikTok

Congress just passed a bill that gives TikTok 12 months to find a new owner or be banned in the U.S. Is Visit Florida on TikTok ?

We were significantly ahead of the legislative push that a lot of states, including Florida, had. We just decided that that was not a platform that we wanted to use and we stopped using it and we’ve seen absolutely no impact to our reach.

We just feel like we were the smartest ones in the room. We did it early and we’ve already made other plans. A lot of state tourism boards are going to be struggling to fill that hole where as we did it very mindfully way back.

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Tags: california , florida , rural tourism , tourism , travel leaders , visa , visit florida

From condo to co-op: can owners avoid Florida's structural reserves law by changing labels?

Live in a home governed by a condominium, co-op or  homeowner's association?  Have questions about what they can and cannot do?  Ryan Poliakoff , an attorney and author based in Boca Raton,  has answers.  

Question: Can we convert to a co-op to avoid these onerous regulations? Signed, S.N.

Dear S.N. ,

Your question doesn’t specify which “onerous regulations” you are referring to. You simply labeled your question “condominium laws.” What I can tell you, though, is that cooperatives are governed by Section 719, Fla. Stat. (the Cooperative Act), which is extremely similar to, and just as “onerous” as, the Condominium Act (Section 718, Fla. Stat.). Both feature things like records and inspection rights, mandatory reserves, the Structural Integrity Reserve Study, detailed election procedures, etc. You really wouldn’t gain anything — the restrictions are slightly different, but just as voluminous.

Even if this were not true, converting from a condominium to a cooperative would be extremely difficult.

You would need to terminate the condominium, which requires substantial owner approval, and then each owner would have to effectively sell their unit, and their share of the common elements, to a new entity which would need to incorporate as a cooperative and then lease the units back to those owners. It would be costly and time consuming, and a small minority of owners would be able to block the action entirely —you would need close to 100% buy-in to make it work. And, we’re not even considering things like mortgagee interests in the units. //

As a practical matter, it would be unlikely to happen except in the smallest of properties. And, you would arguably be downgrading your property rights, given that you would no longer be a property owner — you’d be a corporate shareholder.

More condo questions: Owner furious that condo's no smoking at home policy ignored. Can neighbor be stopped?

Question: We have a non-owner who shows up at our duly noticed HOA board meetings, blurting out comments and basically trying to involve herself in our meetings. She lives with her boyfriend, who is an owner in our community.

Does she have the right to attend meetings in his place (no legal documentation has been filed or provided to our property management firm), and also to speak out? Signed, S.H.

Dear S.H. ,

Board meetings are required to be open to owners. You have no legal obligation to open them to anyone else, and you have no obligation to allow tenants, guests, owner relatives (even spouses frankly, if they are not on the deed) or others to attend.

The only exception to this would be if the person provided a properly drafted and executed power of attorney giving them the right to act in the place of the owner on all matters related to the property — in which event they could attend instead of the owner (as that owner would have assigned their rights to their “attorney.”)

More condo news: Family Church, Related Cos. plan new church school and two condo towers in West Palm Beach

Question: I received a fine from my HOA. I attempted to contact the HOA and the HOA attorney for three months to request a meeting and they were non-responsive to our requests. After the third violation letter, we received notice of a fining committee hearing. We attended the hearing but were not provided an opportunity to speak. The fine was posted to our account in January. We requested an independent hearing per the statute. Our request was denied as, according to the HOA president, the independent hearing we attended was the fining committee hearing.

I don’t understand how the committee that initiated and approved the fine can also be the appeals or “independent committee” that reviews the decision. Signed, P.M.

Dear P.M. ,

The board of directors levies fines. Theoretically, the only way that a committee could be responsible for levying fines would be if the board had delegated to that committee all fining authority (and I don’t know if a procedure like this has ever been validated by a court). However, even if that was done, I do not think that same committee could also serve as the “committee of at least three members appointed by the board” who are charged with an independent review. If the HOA fining process worked as you described, I think it was flawed.

Further, while this is not expressly stated in the statute, I think it is implied that the owner’s right to attend the hearing includes the right to speak at the hearing — how would the committee hearing have any value otherwise?

If you have the means to do so, and based on what you’ve represented, I think the fine promulgated against you is subject to challenge. Of course, depending on the amount of the fine, it might not be worth the fight.

Ryan Poliakoff, a partner at Poliakoff Backer, LLP, is a Board Certified specialist in condominium and planned development law. This column is dedicated to the memory of Gary Poliakoff. Ryan Poliakoff and Gary Poliakoff are co-authors of "New Neighborhoods — The Consumer’s Guide to Condominium, Co-Op and HOA Living." Email your questions to  [email protected] . Please be sure to include your location.

Will Ron DeSantis help Donald Trump's 2024 campaign? The Republicans met privately in Florida

Former President Donald Trump met privately Sunday with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Miami to discuss how the latter can help with the 2024 presidential campaign, according to a person familiar with the meeting.

DeSantis ultimately agreed to aid the former president, according to the Washington Post, which first reported the meeting. The gathering came as a surprise as Trump and DeSantis have had an icy relationship since the governor launched his failed presidential bid.

After the DeSantis withdrew from the 2024 race in January, Trump and aides said they hoped to tap the governor’s fundraising operation for help in the general election. Before his presidential bid plateaued, DeSantis was seen as a prolific fundraiser  and  popular governor  who seemed positioned to try to take the GOP into a post-Trump era.

But it wasn't clear the Republican governor would sign on to help Trump's reelection bid. Though he endorsed the former president after dropping out of the 2024 race, Trump and DeSantis at times had a bitter rivalry.

The former president branded the Florida governor "DeSanctimonious" and other highly personal terms, but DeSantis spent most of his campaign being careful about hitting Trump back as he sought the GOP nomination.

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

While DeSantis hit harder toward the end of his campaign , he ultimately told his supporters "It's clear to me that a majority of Republican voters want to give Donald Trump another chance."

But despite the back-and-forth between the two Republicans, DeSantis did discuss helping Trump on Sunday, potentially granting the president access to a wide network in Florida and across the country as he needs funding for his campaign and sweeping legal bills.

President Joe Biden is currently dominating Trump in 2024 fundraising. In March, Biden and Democrats reported having more than twice as much money on hand than Trump and Republicans.

And Trump is currently facing a cash crunch while has faces four criminal trials and a pair of large financial judgments after losing two civil lawsuits. He posted a $91.6 million bond in  a defamation case brought by the writer E. Jean Carroll , and a $175 million bond in  a fraud case involving falsifying business records.  

But as speculation grows about Trump's potential 2024 running mate, the Sunday meeting between Trump and DeSantis probably won't point to this year's Republican ticket.

Trump aides have said that DeSantis is an unlikely vice president pick, especially after the Florida governor questioned Trump’s criteria for selection of a running mate.

“Ron DeSantis failed miserably in his presidential campaign and does not have a voice in selecting the next Vice President of the United States," said Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt back in February.

Contributing: Karissa Waddick and Zac Anderson, USA TODAY

LIVE UPDATES: NYPD officers in riot gear enter Columbia University as students occupy Hamilton Hall

Trump meets privately with former GOP rival Ron DeSantis

Former President Donald Trump met privately over breakfast with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Sunday, six sources said.

The meeting was described as "nice" and "friendly" by one of the sources, who added that DeSantis plans to help raise money for Trump. A separate source said the meeting was mutually agreed upon and arranged by Steven Witkoff, the chairman of a real estate company, who is a mutual contact of the two men.

"We had a great meeting yesterday," Trump said Monday on Truth Social. "The conversation mostly concerned how we would work closely together to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN."

A Trump campaign official told NBC News that DeSantis reached out to Trump’s team through Witkoff two weeks ago to set up a meeting to “bury the hatchet” and discuss fundraising.

The meeting, which was first reported by The Washington Post , took place in Florida. DeSantis was golfing at Shell Bay Club, a golf club near Miami, where Trump joined him for breakfast.

DeSantis told donors and supporters during a private retreat in April that he planned to help raise money for Trump's campaign, NBC News first reported.

Just months ago, DeSantis slammed Trump during the bitter Republican primary contest, referring to him as a candidate running on personal issues.

"If he’s running for personal retribution, that is not going to lead to what we need as a country,” DeSantis in December in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"You got to be running for the American people and their issues, not about your own personal issues, and that is a distinction between us," he continued.

Separately, DeSantis has said that "the swamp was not drained" during Trump's term. He has also criticized Trump over his stance on abortion, telling a radio show that "all pro-lifers should know that he’s preparing to sell you out."

After he s uspend ed his campaign just days before the New Hampshire primary, DeSantis endorsed Trump, arguing that "we can’t go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear, a repackaged form of warmed-over corporatism that Nikki Haley represents.”

Trump has not yet selected a running mate, but DeSantis has long said he would not seek the vice presidency.

“I don’t want to be VP. I don’t want to be in the Cabinet. I don’t want a TV show,” DeSantis said in January, before he dropped out. “I’m in it to win it.”

He put the message in starker terms the previous month, saying, “I can tell you under any circumstance, I will not accept” the vice presidential nomination.

Dasha Burns is a correspondent for NBC News.

Matt Dixon is a senior national politics reporter for NBC News, based in Florida.

Megan Lebowitz is a politics reporter for NBC News.

Jake Traylor is a 2024 NBC News campaign embed.