Visit Florida is to axe jobs to save money after its budget for promoting the Sunshine State’s to tourists was slashed from $76 million to $50 million.
The marketing body spends $12.1 million employing 135 members of staff, but it wants to cut this budget by $3.65 million.
It is planning to save a further $17.8 million on strategic marketing.
The cuts are necessary even though the state saw a record number of visitors in the first quarter.
"It is critical that we keep visitation to Florida, and the revenue it generates, healthy and robust. Visit Florida plays an important role in this goal and we will continue to support their work on behalf of Florida and our hardworking taxpayers," said Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is a fan of the organisation despite strong opposition from Florida lawmakers.
The state welcomed 35.7 million visitors in the first three months of 2019, a 6% year-on-year rise.
However, the tourism marketing agency Visit Florida has to prove its worth this year or it will lose all its funding in mid-2021.
"I remain confident in the value provided by tourism marketing. We must continue our efforts to promote and protect visitation to Florida," said Visit Florida CEO Dana Young.
The Florida Association of Destination Marketing Organizations said the marketing agency is key to the state’s economy and Visit Florida’s marketing budget is money well spent.
"People don’t come to Florida by accident – it takes the partnerships between businesses, local marketing organizations and Visit Florida to help small and local tourism-reliant businesses thrive and grow," it said.
The Florida House had sought to eliminate the agency in the last session but allowed an extra fiscal year after support from DeSantis.
A change in marketing strategy will see Visit Florida cut back on expensive TV advertising and concentrate more on digital and social media channels.
