Visit Florida has been granted more time to prove its worth with a reduced budget of $50 million, down from $76 million previously.
The cash will keep the tourism body afloat until January 2020.
Decision makers in the Sunshine State have long been critical of Visit Florida’s spending and some have called for funding to be withdrawn, but it has been given another chance, thanks to support from new governor Ron DeSantis.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 till for the rest of the year.
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 r’eady 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.
