In this context, Travel2latam had the opportunity to speak with Dana Young, CEO of VISIT FLORIDA.
What are your expectations about this incredible exhibition?
We are very excited to be here. Latin America is of great importance to Visit Florida, to the state of Florida. Seven of our top ten inbound markets are in Latin America. That's why we're very focused on making sure people keep coming back to visit us, giving them reasons to come back again and again.
What are the main new features that you are presenting here?
The main news is that travel to Florida continues to grow in each of our Latin American markets. We have seen an increase in airline seat availability. And our main message is that Florida is more than just two cities, it is more than Miami and Orlando. Obviously, those places are easy to get to, but Tampa, Kennedy Space Center, Crystal River, Fort Lauderdale, Saint Pete, Clearwater and many other places in Florida are wonderful. Our job now is to make sure we educate tour operators and travel agents about everything Florida has to offer so they can then sell to their clients.
We are starting the season, what is your plan? What is your next step?
We have a mission in Mexico in a couple of weeks. In fact, we are in the Colombia market right now with a co-op with pricing to travel to Tampa Bay and Saint Pete Clearwater. We have people working for Latin America and great projects ahead in a multiple market. From March to June, we have a campaign in our six Spanish-speaking markets and we will bring 7 content creators to Florida. And then maybe we'll duplicate someone else, but they'll come capture content in Florida and we'll do that campaign. We also have a campaign that will run from April to June with the Cup and that will be: Peru, Colombia, Chile and Ecuador.
Can you share your vision for this season?
The fact that we are seeing an increase in air travel in all of our markets is huge, air seat capacity to Florida has increased by 25% for Colombia. That's huge and we're seeing increases in Mexico. We really see increases everywhere, throughout Latin America. We are delighted to be here in Bogotá, showing our commitment to the market and to all our Latin American countries. And we really think that increasing market share and, again, educating travelers is very important.
What is your challenge for 2024?
No matter how good air transport is, it can always be better. One of the objectives is to continue increasing the number of direct flights to Florida. You may have heard that there is a new flight on Emirates starting in June, which will be from Dubai to Miami to Bogota, and it is very relevant to us. The challenge lies in continuing this growth and opening up to more and more markets.