Memorial Day is in the rearview mirror and that means it's (unofficially) summer vacation season. Even better: It looks like there won't be a Special Session to pull us away from the beach and back to Tallahassee.
Experts are expecting high travel volume this summer vacation season — loosely defined as the stretch between Memorial Day and Labor Day — and when it comes to attracting visitors there's no state like the Sunshine State.
The state's tourism marketing arm, VISIT FLORIDA, recently announced that Florida welcomed a record-setting 140.6 million visitors last year and that there's good reason to believe that record could be short lived since the state set a quarterly record of 40.6 million visitors during the first three months of the year.
So, where are all these summer travelers going? All over, but according to Booking.com, a few Florida beach communities should prep for a deluge. The travel site said Myrtle Beach, SC, was the top-searched destination in the category (boo), but it was closely followed by Panama City Beach, with Miami Beach and Destin also listed among the Top 10.
Two of those spots have lobbyists on retainer, with Miami Beach having the most sizable roster. Their team includes Ron Book and lobbying partners Rana Brown, Kelly Mallette and Gabriela Navarro as well as Gary Rutledge, Andrew Rutledge, Diana Ferguson, and Rick Lindstrom of Rutledge Ecenia. PCB, meanwhile, has a deal with Jorge Chamizo and Melissa Joiner Ramba of Floridian Partners.
While beaches are an important part of Florida's brand, the Sunshine State has a couple destinations that no state can compete with: Walt Disney World and Universal Studios Orlando.
Let's get this out of the way before anyone chimes in about California also having Disney and Universal locations: The entirety of Disneyland could fit in the parking lot of the Magic Kingdom, and every single Disney park not located in Florida have a combined footprint about half the size of WDW's — pictures don't lie!
Now that we've cleared that up, it's time to give Disney's Tallahassee team a shout out. Since their roster is as big as an NFL franchise (seriously) we're just going to list the firms: Smith Bryan & Myers, the Vogel Group, Metz Husband & Daughton, The Southern Group, Jones Walker, GrayRobinson, Colodny Fass, Tripp Scott and The Advocacy Partners. We'd be remiss if we didn't also mention their formidable in-house advocates Adam Babington, Jose Luis Gonzalez, Rena Langely and Elizabeth Watkins.
While Disney is widely seen as Orlando's premier attraction, Universal Studios has become a powerhouse since it first opened its turnstiles in 1990, especially after they scored arguably the largest coup in theme park history by snagging the Harry Potter license (sorry, no matter how many box office records Avatar sets, Pandora doesn't compete).
The Tallahassee players handling Universal's business in the capital city include in-house advocates Melanie Becker and Ilia Torres as well as Mike Grissom, Brett Bacot and Kim McGlynn of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, Missy Timmins of Timmins Consulting, Will McKinley, Angela Dempsey, Erik Kirk and Sophie Smith of PooleMcKinley, and Screven Watson of Screven Watson & Associates.
While the Sunshine State welcomes boatloads of out-of-state and international visitors, Florida residents take vacations, too — we just have the benefit of having better staycations! And, come July, some of our favorite events, activities and experiences will be a little less expensive.
Lawmakers kept the "Freedom Month" (née "Freedom Week") tradition that began during Chris Sprowls' tenure in the tax-cut package passed last Session. For those who need a refresher, Freedom Month shaves sales tax off summer items such as pool floats, fishing supplies, and outdoor equipment, in addition to admissions to museums and state parks. This year, it runs July 1-31.
Saving a bit of cash is great for consumers, of course, but the accompanying boost in sales is a boon to retailers. The biggest name in brick-and-mortar advocacy is the Florida Retail Federation, which has in-housers Angela Bonds, Lorena Holley and Jessica Kraynak working alongside contract lobbyists Jon Johnson, Travis Blanton, Marnie George and Darrick McGhee of Johnson & Blanton as well as French Brown of Jones Walker.
Some big-time chains have their own teams, too. Retail juggernaut Walmart relies on Mike Corcoran, Jacqueline Corcoran, Matt Blair, Samantha Sexton Greer, Bethany McAlister, Will Rodriguez and Andrea Tovar of Corcoran Partners. Target, meanwhile, looks to Carlecia Collins, Joseph Salzverg and Jason Unger of GrayRobinson.
Fishing is a blast, but the kiddos could use a little edutainment during summer break, too. Thankfully, Florida has tons of options that deliver the "wow" factor while teaching visitors a thing or two. One of the coolest is Clearwater Marine Aquarium. You may recognize as the set for Dolphin Tale, which still boosts its visitorship to this day.
Still, you don't need to be a Harry Connick Jr. fan to enjoy the trip. That's thanks in part to Alan Suskey and the team at Shumaker Advisors Florida, who ensure that the facility gets the support it needs to keep it's many feel-good efforts, such as manatee rehabilitation, chugging along.
There's some good work going on across the Bay, too, where The Florida Aquarium helps move forward important efforts such as coral reef replenishment. They can thank Ron Pierce, Natalie King, Melody Arnold, Edward Briggs, Natalie Brown, Matthew Herndon of RSA Consulting for making sure lawmakers have them top-of-mind during budget negotiations.
For those looking to get a few days of R&R, Florida just so happens to be the cruise capitol of the world and that's not hyperbole: PortMiami is fresh off its busiest cruise year ever and has a firm grip on the worldwide No. 1 spot in cruise passenger volume.
Carnival is the biggest name in the cruise business — in addition to the Carnival brand, the company also operates under eight under labels, including Holland America, Princess and Seabourn. Florida wouldn't be the cruise capital of the world if there weren't lobbyists working in the state capital.
At the helm for Carnival: Bill Rubin and Heather Turnbull of Rubin Turnbull & Associates. Meanwhile, Cruise Lines International Association, the world's largest cruise industry trade association, have Brian Ballard, Brad Burleson and Kathy San Pedro of Ballard Partners on retainer.
Whether you decide to hit the beach, tour the parks, embark on a voyage or to simply keep it local, Florida Politics hopes you have a blast on your summer vacation.
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