The long-running saga over the future of Visit Florida is still not over, but it lives on, at least for another nine months.
The state tourism marketing agency has been granted nine more months to prove its worth, along with a reduced budget of $50 million.
That at least prevents it going out of business on October 1, which had been looking increasingly likely.
The House has long been critical of Visit Florida’s frivolous spending and wanted to see it close when but now gets another chance thanks to support from new governor Ron DeSantis.
House Speaker Jose Oliva was a vocal critic of the agency but reluctantly yielded to a request from the governor’s office to keep it alive through June 30, 2020.
It gives DeSantis time to ‘make an assessment of his own of how unnecessary it is," Oliva begrudgingly said.
"It is something that the governor wants to see and be able to assess."
Visit Florida President and CEO Dana Young said the agency is relieved and ready to continue providing a great return on investment.
"We have great, talented people who work for our organization, and we are very good at what we do, and I have no doubt in my mind that we will continue to produce great results," Young said.
Critics point to the agency’s past spending mishaps, notably lavishing rapper Pitbull with a secretive $1 million contract to promote the state.
They say Florida – which welcomed 126 million visitors last year – doesn’t need a tourism marketing budget as it sells itself.
On the other hand, supporters say a single state-wide tourism marketing body is essential to counter and respond to negative media attention over recent events such as Zika, Hurricane Michael and the red tide outbreak.
