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Chairman's
Message
Florida busts
through tourism records
Governor
DeSantis' determination to keep Floridians free and Florida open for
business continues to pay off for the state and Americans everywhere
as more people than ever are flocking to Florida for vacations. They
are escaping more than just cold weather. Lockdowns, mask mandates and
weariness over the endless authoritarianism in many other states makes
Florida a refuge from crushing policies.
The
Governor announced that 30.9 million visitors came to Florida between
October and December 2021, marking the second consecutive quarter that
visitation has surpassed 2019, pre-pandemic levels. That brings the
overall totals for 2021 to nearly 118 million domestic visitors to our
state — the highest level in state history, as residents of other
states flocked to Florida as a haven from lockdown
policies.
“In
Florida, we put freedom first, and as a result people are choosing to
vacation in our state from across the country and the world to escape
lockdowns, including the politicians who advocated for those reckless
policies and who are often spotted vacationing here,” Governor
DeSantis said. “While tourism in other states is only just beginning
to recover, Florida is at the front of the pack — now we are
surpassing pre-pandemic levels and setting new visitation records. I’m
thankful that VISIT FLORIDA continued to market our state throughout
the past two years, and I am confident that 2022 will be another great
year for Florida’s tourism industry.”
Here are a few highlights from the report:
- Estimates
from VISIT FLORIDA show that 29 million domestic visitors traveled to
Florida in the fourth quarter of 2021, reflecting a 57 percent
increase from the same period in 2020, and a 7 percent increase from
pre-pandemic 2019.
- Approximately 1.5 million overseas visitors came to
Florida in the fourth quarter of 2021, an increase of 198 percent from
2020, and 43 percent from the third quarter.
- About
359,000 Canadian travelers visited Florida in the fourth quarter of
2021, nearly three times as many as in the previous
quarter.
- Latin
America was the driving force of overseas visitation in 2021, with
Colombia becoming the state’s No. 1 international market with a record
710,000 visitors.
-
In addition,
Florida’s total hotel revenue reached its highest ever in 2021 at
$17.3 billion, a 2 percent increase over 2019.
Read more here: https://www.flgov.com/2022/02/15/florida-tourism-continues-to-surpass-pre-pandemic-levels/
For
more details on the tourism numbers: https://visitflorida.app.box.com/s/yybwlayqp5ul95851p1vobhwjpsxr2cr
Story here: https://thecapitolist.com/2021-saw-the-highest-rate-of-domestic-tourism-in-state-history/
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Tourist-related
businesses and organizations praise the Governor
The
principled, freedom-driven policies of Governor DeSantis are drawing
high praise from businesses and organizations around the state, who
realize that those policies set the foundation for VISIT FLORIDA’s
marketing successes.
Richard
Gonzmart, fourth generation Co-Owner of Columbia Restaurant Group,
said, “Florida’s food and beverage sector heavily depends on
visitation to our state, so tourism’s record year in 2021 is a huge
win for our industry. We sincerely appreciate everything Governor
DeSantis and VISIT FLORIDA have done to generate visitors and support
businesses.”
Darien
Schaefer, President and CEO of Visit Pensacola, said, “Tourism in
Pensacola and beyond is thriving thanks to Governor DeSantis and VISIT
FLORIDA’s unwavering commitment to our industry. Their efforts have
allowed us to take full advantage of the national pent-up travel
demand and introduce millions of new visitors to everything our great
state has to offer.”
Philip
McDaniel, CEO of St. Augustine Distillery said, “As one of Florida’s
top destinations, St. Augustine runs on tourism, and VISIT FLORIDA has
been crucial for boosting our visitation share this past year. We are
grateful for Governor DeSantis’ support of Florida’s No. 1 industry
and keeping our tourism economy strong.”
Loretta
Shaffer, Director of the Ocala/Marion County Visitors and Convention
Bureau, said, “Florida tourism’s amazing year further underscores the
value of Governor DeSantis’ leadership and VISIT FLORIDA’s marketing,
which has helped drive visitation to Florida’s destinations large and
small. Marion County was one of Florida’s fastest growing counties for
domestic visitation in 2021.”
More about what they’re saying: https://www.flgov.com/2022/02/16/what-they-are-saying-florida-tourism-industry-is-booming/
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FLORIDA
Governor DeSantis denounces Biden administration
denial of individual assistance for victims of SW Florida
tornado
Governor
DeSantis announced today that Florida will appeal the federal
government’s denial of emergency aid for Southwest Florida after a
series of severe storms in the early morning of January 16 generated
an EF-1 tornado in Charlotte County and an EF-2 tornado in Lee
County.
The victims
of the disaster represent a significant elderly population, with 84
percent of the impacted population receiving Social Security Income.
On January 24, Florida requested all programs under the Individual
Assistance program, including the Individuals and Households program,
Disaster Case Management, Crisis Counseling and Training program,
Disaster Legal Services and Disaster Unemployment
Assistance.
The Florida
Department of Emergency Management will appeal the denial due to the
amount of destruction and number of displaced residents caused by the
tornadoes. FDEM is also helping residents in identifying other forms
of disaster assistance that may be available to help them
recover.
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$91 million for Panhandle communities hit by
Hurricane Michael
Governor
DeSantis announced more than $91 million to 14 communities across the
Panhandle region to strengthen infrastructure, including improvements
to wastewater and sanitary sewer, potable water and stormwater
systems.
“I’ve said
from the beginning that recovery from Hurricane Michael would be a
long-term process,” Governor DeSantis said. “Michael has forever left
a mark on Panhandle communities, but through the funding provided
today, we can ensure these communities are stronger and better
equipped for the future.”
“More than
three years since Hurricane Michael devastated the Florida Panhandle,
Governor DeSantis continues to make good on his promise to support
these communities with vital resources to recover from this historic
storm,” Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis said. “This additional
$91 million in recovery funding will go a very long way in improving
the infrastructure needed to support the families and businesses
impacted by Hurricane Michael.”
Read more: https://www.flgov.com/2022/02/11/governor-ron-desantis-announces-over-91-million-in-funding-to-support-storm-mitigation-and-recovery-for-communities-impacted-by-hurricane-michael/
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AG Moody fights to end federal contractor vaccine
mandate
Continuing
to fight for Floridians, Attorney General Ashley Moody is leading 17
other states in filing an amicus brief in support of the state of
Georgia’s multi-state suit against President Joe Biden's federal
contractor vaccine mandate.
The suit
seeks an immediate end to the unlawful requirement that federal
government contractors require all employees receive a COVID-19
vaccine. Not only are there many Florida companies that will be
negatively impacted by the unlawful requirements, but the vaccination
requirements intrude on Florida’s laws expressly restricting
employer-vaccine mandates.
Attorney
General Moody filed a similar action in October 2021 and won a
preliminary injunction against the unlawful mandate. The federal
government is currently appealing the state of Georgia’s
case.
“While COVID-19 infections are rapidly decreasing,
President Biden is showing no signs of relenting in his pursuit of
power over the personal medical decisions of Americans,” Attorney
General Moody said. “As Florida’s Attorney General, I am fighting to
protect Floridians from Biden’s unlawful federal overreach and I am
proud to lead a multi-state effort in support of Georgia’s case to
stop the unlawful vaccine mandate for federal contractors.”
Read more: http://www.myfloridalegal.com/newsrel.nsf/newsreleases/FAD4A0728E0899E8852587EB00594996
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Demings continues embrace of Carville
after his violent, hate-filled rant
Fox News
reports:
Rep.
Val Demings, D-Fla., has been touting the endorsement of veteran
Democratic strategist James Carville as she seeks the Democratic
nomination for the Florida Senate race but is keeping quiet about his
recent comments about punching "piece of sh--" unvaccinated people in
the face.
Demings’ campaign has sent out fundraising emails to
supporters from Carville in which he tells backers that she can "ONLY
win if activists like YOU dig deep and support her every step of the
way."
"I'm
neck and neck with Marco Rubio in the race that will determine Senate
control, and CNN contributors like James Carville have ‘zero doubt’
that I CAN win," she says.
Separately, Demings is scheduled to appear at a
"virtual grassroots rally" next week with Carville. Carville led
President Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential bid and infamously said,
"If you drag a hundred dollar bill through a trailer park, you never
know what you'll find" as an attack against one of Clinton's
accusers.
Despite
sticking close to Carville, Demings’ campaign has remained silent on
controversial remarks he made during a recent podcast about punching
unvaccinated people in the face.
"I wish
what they’d do is pass a law to make you immune from liability if you
punch some unvaccinated person right in the face, which I’d really
like to do," Carville said. "If you ask me what’s my first reaction to
you if you’re not vaccinated, you don’t have any medical reason not to
be, you’re a piece of s---, OK? I just want to punch you in the
god----ed face. That’s the way I look at these
people."
Senator
Rubio is urging Demings to condemn Carville’s violent, hate-filled
rhetoric.
Read more here: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/val-demings-campaign-james-carville-backing-comment
ICYMI
Florida pulling out
of federal illegal immigrant minor program
The Florida
Department of Children and Families is proposing a rule prohibiting
the renewal of licenses for organizations that house Unaccompanied
Alien Children (UAC), mostly older teenagers, whom the federal
government is resettling across the United States, including Florida,
unless there is a cooperative agreement between the State of Florida
and the federal government.
“Through
its policies, the federal government has made a decision to encourage
the mass smuggling of minors to the southern border without their
parents,” DCF Secretary Shevaun Harris said. “No government that
claimed to care for children would ever tolerate this. The federal
government’s careless policies have led to this unsafe situation, and
Florida will no longer be complicit in it. By ending the state’s
involvement with the UAC program, the proposed rule will finally force
the federal government to take full responsibility for the care and
treatment of the UAC population.”
The
proposed rule will not affect the Unaccompanied Refugee Minor (URM)
program because there is a cooperative agreement that governs the
resettlement of URM. Additionally, the rule also bars existing
licensees from adding to their UAC population, and requires them to
conduct regular, in-person welfare checks of any UAC from their
current population who are placed with sponsors in Florida.
These
unaccompanied teens are often smuggled or trafficked by criminals,
sometimes with the knowledge or participation of family members who
are already illegally in the country. The Biden Administration’s
willful refusal to faithfully enforce the nation’s immigration laws
has incentivized this intolerable state of affairs. In President
Biden’s first year of office, the number of unaccompanied minors
arriving at the southern border ballooned to more than 146,000,
compared to approximately 33,000 in fiscal year 2020 and 80,000 in
fiscal year 2019.
Read more: https://www.myflfamilies.com/newsroom/pressreleases/2022/202200210-DCF%20Files%20Proposed%20Rule.shtml
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