Visit Florida brings the Sunshine State north

Last night, Visit Florida hosted over 100 guests at a Mix n’ Mingle in the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto.

Together with Visit Florida partners, they celebrated the Canadian travel market and the 3.8 million Canadians that visited the state in 2014. According to Visit Florida’s preliminary estimates, 97.3 million visitors went to Florida in 2014, an increase of 3.8 per cent from 2013. Canada was the top international country for visitation to Florida in 2014.

Visit Florida partners included Visit Central Florida, The Florida Keys and Key West, Fort Myers & Sanibel, Experience Kissimmee, Visit Orlando, Discover Palm Beaches, St. Petersburg/Clearwater, Visit Sarasota and Visit Tampa Bay. Each destination spoke briefly of the new and exciting activities and attractions that Florida has to offer in 2016.

"Canada is our number one when it comes to international visitors,” said Meagan Dougherty, public relations representative for Visit Florida. “Canada is a very important market. Canada is number one in spending, 23 per cent of our international guests and we are constantly changing to provide Canadians with the best possible vacation. Whether baby boomers, family or beyond the family, Florida offers everything you could want or need.”

Visit Central Florida was excited to announce LEGOLAND’s new and improved family resort opening in late 2015. With 152 rooms, four different themes (Pirate, Kingdom, Adventure and Lego Friends) and early entrance into the park, LEGOLAND resort and its new ‘World of Chima Park’ are a big part of Central Florida’s family-focused attractions. 

Famous for their 38 miles of beach, Sarasota’s Siesta Beach was rated one of TripAdvisor’s top beaches in the USA for 2015. With white quartz sand that never gets hot and gentle waves, Siesta Beach attracts many Canadian families in the summer as well as wintertime snowbirds. Sarasota boasts a strong cultural scene, home to the only opera company in the world to perform every opera composed by Verdi. Starting in December, WestJet will be flying direct from Toronto to Sarasota once a day.

The Florida Keys is praised for its wide variety of activities to captivate the young and young at heart on land, air and sea. A chain of 125 islands, the Florida Keys & Key West provide a taste of the Caribbean with a rich, natural environment, flourishing creative community, balmy subtropical climate and a friendly laidback vibe that seems worlds away from the everyday. There is a Key West Express Ferry from Fort Myers for those looking to explore both Florida districts.

Fort Myers and Sanibel Island is home to two major baseball spring training facilities, as well as some of the best shopping in the state. Sanibel Island, accessible by Sanibel causeway, is a slice of nature captured and preserved. Two thirds of the island is comprised of national parks, with over 300 species of birds. In addition, all facilities (except for a 50-year old Dairy Queen) are locally owned and operated.

St. Petersburg/Clearwater is home to the Toronto Blue Jays spring training facility and was listed among the New York Times top 52 places on the planet to see before you die. As well as showcasing the largest Salvador Dali collection outside of Spain, Clearwater Beach was also voted ‘Best Beach in the USA’ by USA Today.

Tampa Bay’s Busch Gardens continues to grow with new rides and attractions. This week, they launched a brand new outlet mall with the nation’s top brands and designers. Tampa Bay announced an increased capacity on their Air Canada rouge flight from Toronto and is introducing a seasonal direct flight from Montreal to Tampa Bay.

Florida’s Palm Beaches are home to 160 golf courses as well as two MLB spring training facilities. With their slogan, ‘The best way to explore Florida,’ Palm Beach proudly proclaims the most dynamic, luxurious culinary, shopping and cultural activities across 35 cities in 15 unique districts. WestJet now offers direct flights from Toronto to and from Florida’s Palm Beaches twice a week on Fridays and Mondays.

Both Orlando and Kissimmee are known for their theme parks but were proud to show the complexity of their destinations. Orlando is constructing a brand new soccer stadium while shining a new light on their downtown area and the number of James Beard nominated chefs that are setting up shop in the area.

In addition to offering Everglade tours and ziplining, Kissimmee will be hosting the 2016 World Food Championship, previously held in Las Vegas, with nine diverse categories and a number of Canadian chefs.

More information is available at www.visitflorida.org.