visit florida ceo

'We must align with the state,' Visit Florida CEO explains removal of LGBTQ travel section from website

On the eve of Visit Florida’s annual Governors Conference on Tourism, in Tampa this year, the group’s CEO provided a short and, what appeared to be, scripted statement explaining why they quietly removed its LGBTQ+ travel section from organization’s website.

“It’s fairly simple. Visit Florida is a taxpayer funded organization and, as such, Visit Florida our marketing strategy, our materials and our content must align with the state,” said Visit Florida CEO, Dana Young.

Young’s explanation comes nearly one week after the group received national criticism for removing dozens of pages dedicated to LGBTQ+ travel, including a landing page boasting Florida beaches as, “a draw for people of all orientations, but especially appealing to a gay community looking for a sense of belonging and acceptance.”

Despite questions, Visit Florida has remained silent about the links’ removal.

One Tuesday, Investigative Reporter Katie LaGrone approached Young in person at the Tampa Convention Center where the Governor’s Conference on Tourism is scheduled to begin Thursday.

“Katie, I’m not going to talk about this right now,” Young said as she walked away from LaGrone.

Last year, Florida welcomed more than 140 million out-of-state visitors, a state record according to Visit Florida. The organization is touted as the state’s official tourism marketing agency, but it’s not a government agency. It’s budget, however, heavily relies on state funding each year. This year, Visit Florida received $80 million from the state coffers.

In her brief statement, Young added while the organization must align with the state, they “have and will always be a welcoming state and that is evident by our tourism numbers.”

“It doesn't make any sense from a business perspective,” said Rachel Covello, a St. Pete- based LGBTQ travel blogger who first discovered the missing link about a month ago.

“It makes the LGBTQ people living in Florida and traveling to Florida think that the state just doesn't care about us,” Covello said.

Despite reaching out to Visit Florida for answers, Covello said she never got an explanation on why the link was removed. On Wednesday, she attended the group’s Board of Directors meeting in Tampa with hopes of hearing substantive answers. She left disappointed.

“It was a very blanket, surface answer,” she said. “They’re saying they’re falling in line with administration, but they welcome all to Florida. That doesn’t make sense together,” Covello said. She has started a petition to get Visit Florida to put the pages back up on its website.

“It’s not an answer. I really do believe the people of Florida and all the hardworking people deserve an answer,” said Maryann Ferenc, a small business owner in Tampa who’s also a former board member for Visit Florida. Ferenc spoke during public comment to express her disappointment with the removal of LGBTQ material from Visit Florida’s website and left the meeting asking more questions.

“It just doesn’t make sense,” she said. “There was a lot of money and effort put into these campaigns, so it just doesn’t make sense. I mean if this is the number one industry, what’s the reason why would we do this? If this is an economic decision, it’s not a very good one,” she said.

Earlier in the today, Governor Ron DeSantis answered questions about removal of pages from Visit Florida’s website. He said he didn’t know about it until after the fact but kept to his message that Florida is not a state segregating people into categories and that everyone is welcomed.

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Political Connections Interview: Dana Young, President and CEO of Visit Florida

In the upcoming legislative session, there are two bills that will extend the life of Visit Florida.

Dana Young, president and CEO of Visit Florida, joined us Sunday for Political Connections.

Use the video player above to watch the interview.

Political Connections airs each Sunday at 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Spectrum Bay News 9.

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Visit Florida Tourism CEO Dana Young, Staff Get Pay Raises

June 9, 2021 / 11:02 AM EDT / CBS Miami

TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) -- Visit Florida President and CEO Dana Young got an 8 percent boost in pay and a $7,500 bonus Tuesday, as leaders of the tourism-marketing agency pointed to Florida being in a "position of strength" against other states trying to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Visit Florida Board of Directors, meeting in person for the first time in more than a year at the Hutchinson Shores Resort & Spa in Jensen Beach, also directed Young to distribute up to $130,000 in performance raises among staff members.

"She has led our recovery, and we are increasing market share," outgoing Chairman Dan Rowe said of Young, whose salary after July 1 will go from $175,000 a year to $189,000.

Young's salary currently comes from state and private money, with taxpayers covering $120,000. With the vote Tuesday, the board shifted her entire pay to private sources.

"I think it sends a powerful message that it is the private sector in the state of Florida that wants to support our CEO and the work that she's done," said board member Virginia Haley, the head of Visit Sarasota County. "To hear that it was such a careful, fairly long thought-out process, that she is evaluated, she is reviewed, I think should have a level of confidence for our political leaders, that it's been done in a very thoughtful manner."

The staff raises, along with Young's bonus, also are expected to come from private sources.

Board member Frank Belzer, a former senior vice president of sales for Universal Parks and Resorts, said Florida should be "embarrassed" by its pay to officials of the public-private agency.

"You start thinking about a state like California, without getting into details, a person in Dana's position, they're probably making four to five times what Dana is making," Belzer said. "And they have wine. And they have industry and they have technology. We have tourism. That's what we have. And we should be embarrassed. And I hope, speaking very freely, I hope this is the first step in this progression of getting the Visit Florida professionals, maintaining the talent that we've developed."

Staff members haven't seen raises since before 2019, when the agency cut one-third of its staff of 135. That came after the Legislature slashed funding for the tourism-marketing agency by 34 percent.

The board on Tuesday also approved a $121.2 million budget for next fiscal year, with $50 million coming from the state. Another $5 million is calculated into the spending from the U.S. Commerce Department Economic Development Administration through a federal stimulus law known as the CARES Act.

An additional $25 million in federal pandemic stimulus money, through the American Rescue Plan Act, is anticipated but not included in the budget as the state has yet to receive the money.

Private tourism groups and businesses are expected to provide $9.1 million in cash and $54.1 through "cooperative advertising" and other offsetting expenses.

The budget accounts for a $3.1 million operating loss due to a required match for federal funding.

Salaries and benefits for 76 positions total $8.5 million and factor in a 3.4 percent increase in health benefit costs.

Florida's tourism industry saw improvement during the first three months of 2021, but the number of visitors was still down 14 percent from a year earlier as the state continues to grapple with the pandemic.

But officials said they believe Florida is better positioned for a recovery because of reopening efforts that started last summer, while many other large states are a year behind.

"For a year that felt like much, much longer, Visit Florida and the Florida tourism industry held fast," Visit Florida Chief Financial Officer Staci Mellman said. "We are already leading the Sunshine State into its recovery, and fortunately we're starting this comeback from a position of strength."

The state has spent $18.8 million on marketing the state over the past year, starting with in-state marketing last summer, and is now preparing for international markets as they emerge from pandemic lockdowns, Mellman said.

Visit Florida reported recently that overseas travel was down 74.4 percent in the first quarter of 2021 from 2020, after falling 70.4 percent for all of 2020 from 2019.

Florida drew 26.162 million domestic and international visitors from Jan. 1 to March 31, down from 30.4 million tourists during the first quarter of 2020, when the pandemic took hold in Florida as theme parks closed and Major League Baseball cut short spring training.

(©2021 CBS Local Media. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The News Service of Florida's Jim Turner contributed to this report.)

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Florida Politics

Visit florida board of directors approves dana young to be president, ceo.

On Monday, the Visit Florida Board of Directors unanimously backed incoming Gov. Ron DeSantis’ nomination of former state Sen. Dana Young to be the president and CEO of Visit Florida.

On Monday, the Visit Florida Board of Directors unanimously backed incoming Gov. Ron DeSantis ’ nomination of former state Sen. Dana Young to be the president and CEO of Visit Florida .

DeSantis nominated Young to the post last week and weighed in after the vote.

“Dana Young is an exceptional leader who has worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life for all Floridians. Her leadership ability and experience make her an excellent candidate to lead Visit Florida in its mission to maximize the economic impact of travel and tourism to our state. I look forward to working with Dana, who will be the first woman to lead Visit Florida, to strengthen our tourism industry and build on the economic success of our great state,” DeSantis said.

“I want to thank Governor-elect DeSantis and the Visit Florida Board of Directors for this opportunity to lead Visit Florida,” Young said. “As a Floridian, with a family tradition of public service, I understand the vital importance of tourism to our state and look forward to working with industry businesses to inspire travel to Florida, stimulate the economy and create more jobs.”

Lino Maldonado , the Vice President of Operations, Growth, and Innovation for Wyndham Vacation Rentals North America and the chair of the Visit Florida Board of Directors, pointed to the Sunshine State’s record breaking tourism numbers in recent years and how important it it to Florida’s economy.

“The Florida tourism industry has achieved seven consecutive years of record visitation and visitor spending, and according on the latest economic impact study, Florida visitors spent $112 billion and supported 1.4 million Florida jobs. Dana Young is a strong leader who will continue to elevate Visit Florida’s efforts to strengthen our state’s share of the global travel market,” Maldonado said.

First elected to the Florida House in 2010, Young, an attorney, quickly moved up the GOP ranks in Tallahassee. She served as House majority whip and later House deputy majority leader under Speaker Will Weatherford in her second term before being picked by Speaker Steve Crisafulli to be majority leader in her last term in the House. In 2016, she moved up to the Florida Senate but only served two years before being defeated by Democrat Janet Cruz in November. Gov. Rick Scott named Young to the Florida Defense Support Task Force in 2013.

Florida Daily offers news, insights and analysis as we cover the most important issues in the state, from education, to business and politics.

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WELCOME TO THE ECONOMIC CLUB OF TAMPA

Dana Young, President and CEO, VISIT FLORIDA

August 22, 2022

As VISIT FLORIDA’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Dana Young leads Florida’s official destination marketing organization in partnership with its Board of Directors and the statewide tourism industry.

Throughout her career, Dana has served in leadership positions working to cultivate and protect Florida’s exceptional business climate and a world-class quality of life. Dana served in the Florida House from 2010 through 2016, rising to Majority Leader for the 2015 and 2016 legislative sessions. In 2016, she was elected to the Florida Senate, where she represented parts of western Hillsborough County for two years. Dana was appointed to the VISIT FLORIDA position by Governor Ron DeSantis in January of 2019. In addition to her duties as President and CEO, she is a member of the U.S. Travel Association’s Chairman’s Circle.

Dana is a sixth-generation Floridian and was born and raised in Tallahassee. She received her undergraduate degree in Political Science from Florida State University and, in pursuit of her interest in law and public policy, graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1993, and maintained a robust environmental law practice for many years. In her free time, Dana enjoys spending time in natural Florida and tarpon fishing with her husband, Matt, and two daughters, Alexandra and Carson.

Visit Florida CEO, staff get pay raises

MIAMI BEACH, FL - JUNE 30: Beach-goers are seen on the beach after a mandate to wear face masks in public spaces went into effect on Tuesday June 30, 2020 in Miami Beach, Florida. Miami Beach has issued a mask mandate to anyone in public areas where

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Visit Florida President and CEO Dana Young got an 8 percent boost in pay and a $7,500 bonus Tuesday, as leaders of the tourism-marketing agency pointed to Florida being in a "position of strength" against other states trying to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Visit Florida Board of Directors, meeting in person for the first time in more than a year at the Hutchinson Shores Resort & Spa in Jensen Beach, also directed Young to distribute up to $130,000 in performance raises among staff members.

"She has led our recovery, and we are increasing market share," outgoing Chairman Dan Rowe said of Young, whose salary after July 1 will go from $175,000 a year to $189,000.

Young’s salary currently comes from state and private money, with taxpayers covering $120,000. With the vote Tuesday, the board shifted her entire pay to private sources.

"I think it sends a powerful message that it is the private sector in the state of Florida that wants to support our CEO and the work that she's done," said board member Virginia Haley, the head of Visit Sarasota County. "To hear that it was such a careful, fairly long thought-out process, that she is evaluated, she is reviewed, I think should have a level of confidence for our political leaders, that it's been done in a very thoughtful manner."

The staff raises, along with Young’s bonus, also are expected to come from private sources.

Board member Frank Belzer, a former senior vice president of sales for Universal Parks and Resorts, said Florida should be "embarrassed" by its pay to officials of the public-private agency.

MORE NEWS: Construction workers rescued after being trapped 40-feet in air around live wires

"You start thinking about a state like California, without getting into details, a person in Dana's position, they’re probably making four to five times what Dana is making," Belzer said. "And they have wine. And they have industry and they have technology. We have tourism. That's what we have. And we should be embarrassed. And I hope, speaking very freely, I hope this is the first step in this progression of getting the Visit Florida professionals, maintaining the talent that we've developed."

Staff members haven’t seen raises since before 2019, when the agency cut one-third of its staff of 135. That came after the Legislature slashed funding for the tourism-marketing agency by 34 percent.

The board on Tuesday also approved a $121.2 million budget for next fiscal year, with $50 million coming from the state. Another $5 million is calculated into the spending from the U.S. Commerce Department Economic Development Administration through a federal stimulus law known as the CARES Act.

An additional $25 million in federal pandemic stimulus money, through the American Rescue Plan Act, is anticipated but not included in the budget as the state has yet to receive the money.

Private tourism groups and businesses are expected to provide $9.1 million in cash and $54.1 through "cooperative advertising" and other offsetting expenses. 

The budget accounts for a $3.1 million operating loss due to a required match for federal funding.

Salaries and benefits for 76 positions total $8.5 million and factor in a 3.4 percent increase in health benefit costs.

Florida’s tourism industry saw improvement during the first three months of 2021, but the number of visitors was still down 14 percent from a year earlier as the state continues to grapple with the pandemic.

But officials said they believe Florida is better positioned for a recovery because of reopening efforts that started last summer, while many other large states are a year behind.

"For a year that felt like much, much longer, Visit Florida and the Florida tourism industry held fast," Visit Florida Chief Financial Officer Staci Mellman said. "We are already leading the Sunshine State into its recovery, and fortunately we're starting this comeback from a position of strength."

The state has spent $18.8 million on marketing the state over the past year, starting with in-state marketing last summer, and is now preparing for international markets as they emerge from pandemic lockdowns, Mellman said.

Visit Florida reported recently that overseas travel was down 74.4 percent in the first quarter of 2021 from 2020, after falling 70.4 percent for all of 2020 from 2019.

Florida drew 26.162 million domestic and international visitors from Jan. 1 to March 31, down from 30.4 million tourists during the first quarter of 2020, when the pandemic took hold in Florida as theme parks closed and Major League Baseball cut short spring training.

Watch FOX 35 Orlando for the latest Central Florida news.

• Florida Politics

Seccombe out as Visit Florida CEO, Ken Lawson named as replacement

• Jeremy Wallace Former Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau

ORLANDO — Political pressure mounting around a previously secret $1 million marketing contract with musician Pitbull was too much to save the head of Florida's tourism marketing agency.

Even as board members praised Visit Florida CEO Will Seccombe for his work in helping set state tourism records four years in a row, they voted 26-0 on Tuesday to fire him, a move they said will hopefully save the agency as the Florida Legislature threatens deep budget cuts.

The board then, in a voice vote, approved as an immediate replacement Ken Lawson, the former secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. While Lawson has no experience in tourism marketing, board members said he was a perfect fit because Gov. Rick Scott already endorsed the move and Lawson has experience in Tallahassee as a former agency head.

"He knows the process," Visit Florida chairman William Talbert III told board members.

It's a process that has been complicated of late by extra scrutiny on Visit Florida's spending.

Its 2015 deal with Pitbull to promote Florida beaches, plus other multimillion dollar contracts to advertise with a car racing team and a British soccer team, have been roundly criticized by lawmakers — specifically Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O'Lakes.

Corcoran sued Pitbull's management company in December to force the disclosure of the contract with Visit Florida after Seccombe refused to do so. After Pitbull disclosed that the contract cost $1 million, Scott called on Seccombe, 50, to resign.

While Talbert lauded Seccombe — who was not at Tuesday's meeting — he acknowledged that Visit Florida could not politically afford to lose Scott's support for the agency.

"That is a critical component because the governor recommends and fights for our budget," Talbert said.

Board member Gene Prescott, president of Coral Gables' Biltmore Hotel, was even more blunt. He suggested a looming political reckoning unless action was taken.

"We have the speaker of the House who has said he wants to take away all of our funding," Prescott said. "So we really have our work cut out to save our money."

Corcoran said Seccombe's departure changes nothing. He said Tuesday's termination meant board members were equally responsible for bad decisions.

"Our position with Visit Florida is philosophical," Corcoran said. "We question whether the government should be in the business of private companies' advertising.

"If somebody has been asked to resign, then de facto, they did something wrong. There was a failure of the mission," Corcoran said.

Visit Florida is a quasi-governmental agency that receives more than $140 million a year from mostly private tourism related business and about $78 million from state government. Scott cannot fire or hire the CEO. Only the 31-member board of directors can do that.

Corcoran has questioned Visit Florida's role in hitting tourism records. He said the agency's funding has grown faster than the number of tourists have grown.

Since 2009 Visit Florida's funding has grown from $29 million to $78 million.

Lawson said his mission is to instill a "cultural change" in Visit Florida to encourage greater transparency and accountability.

"We need to makes sure that folks know clearly who we are and what we are doing," Lawson said.

Unlike other traditional government agency appointments, Lawson's selection does not have to be confirmed by the Florida Senate.

Seccombe will only get a fraction of the $440,000 he could have received in severance pay. Talbert said through negotiations he was able to persuade Seccombe to leave with just $73,000 — to be paid by Visit Florida's private funds.

Corcoran was unimpressed by the negotiated terms: "If it's for cause, he's not supposed to get anything."

Seccombe was not available for comment Tuesday. In previous interviews, he has defended spending on soccer, a racing team and Pitbull as part of a strategy to reach foreign tourists who stay in Florida longer and spend more and to compete against other states — like California — that have increased tourism marketing and started to eat into Florida's market share. He said on each of those deals, Florida got big returns on its investment. However, Seccombe did say he would never do another deal like the one with Pitbull where he could not release details of the contract.

That, however, was not enough to help Seccombe keep his job leading the agency he has guided since November 2012.

Lawson agreed to a $175,000 salary, or about $120,000 less than what Seccombe was paid.

Times/Herald staff writer Steve Bousquet contributed to this report . Contact Jeremy Wallace at [email protected]. Follow @JeremySWallace

Former Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau

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Tourism CEOs: The Link Between Pay and Performance

Dawit Habtemariam , Skift

May 30th, 2024 at 10:58 AM EDT

CEOs at destination marketing organizations are compensated based on the economic impact they have. Independent research is needed.

Dawit Habtemariam

• What are the main challenges Brand USA faces in proving the effectiveness of its marketing campaigns?
• What factors complicate the assessment of a tourism CEO's performance?
• How do tourism boards typically support their CEOs in achieving their goals?

Select a question above or ask something else

• Challenges in attributing tourism success to individual DMO CEOs
• Case studies on Visit Florida and Brand USA's ROI and marketing effectiveness
• Role of DMO boards in evaluating and supporting CEOs

The article explores the link between pay and performance for CEOs of U.S. destination marketing organizations (DMOs). It discusses the challenges in attributing tourism success to individual CEOs and the various metrics used to evaluate their performance. It also examines specific cases like Visit Florida's fluctuating ROI and Brand USA's marketing effectiveness during the Covid-19 pandemic. The article highlights the role of DMO boards in supporting and scrutinizing their CEOs, and the complexities involved in objectively assessing their economic impact.

Skift recently reviewed the pay for more than two dozen top bosses at U.S. destination marketing organizations (DMOs) and results varied widely: From less than $200,000 a year to more than $1.5 million — 14 made more than a half-million dollars in 2022, the most recent data available. 

But determining a DMO’s value isn’t clear-cut. One issue is that it’s difficult to assess how much credit a DMO should take for tourism. After all, there are several reasons a tourist may visit that have nothing to do with marketing. 

It’s even harder to attribute results to the CEO. 

“A core part of the job is to promote the destination, but I think that the question then is how much of the success is attributable to that particular CEO,” said Michele McKenzie, former CEO of Destination Canada. “I would be a bit wary of directly attributing a full economic impact to one person.”

As part of a CEO’s compensation review, a DMO’s board of directors considers a range of metrics, according to Mike Gamble, president of SearchWide Global, an executive recruiting firm. 

For example, did the DMO’s marketing efforts lead to higher visitor spending, convention bookings, and higher hotel occupancy rates? Those are factors that drive critical tax revenues for a local economy.

Visit Florida’s Return on Investment

Florida’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research released a review in March and estimated, for every dollar the state invested in Visit Florida between 2019 and 2022, it received just 58 cents in return. 

That’s a low return on investment, but the researchers said Covid was to blame and that Visit Florida has typically returned much more. 

“They are absolutely the three worst Covid-impacted years to be measured against what happened in that period,” said Amy Baker, chief economist for the state legislature and coordinator for the agency.

The researchers expect the return on investment to climb to $3.30, in line with past levels, said Baker. In its analysis for the 2016-2019 cycle, Visit Florida had an estimated ROI of $3.27.

“If you’re thinking about the program going forward, we fully expect that they’re going to be back at the levels we’ve seen in the past,” said Baker, adding that those levels make it “among the top programs of the state.”

The state government invested $146 million in Visit Florida in the 2019-2022 cycle. Visit Florida CEO and President Dana Young made $214,876 in 2022. The state limits the amount of CEO compensation that can come from government funds to $120,000.  

Brand USA’s Impact

Brand USA, America’s destination marketing organization, has shown varied results from its marketing: a return of $34.36 for every $1 spent in 2013 to as low as $1.05 in 2021 during the Covid pandemic, according to a report in November 2023 by the Congressional Research Service . 

But the CRS report notes that Brand USA commissioned the firm that did the ROI analysis and cites a 2014 Skift article that questioned Brand USA’s findings. 

One 2019 academic study cited by CRS found Brand USA’s advertising has had “little effect on inbound international travel to the U.S.” once economic factors like exchange rates were taken into account. 

“The organization presents a picture of success to sustain funding given that, when adding social, economic, and other controls for the nations targeted, their marketing efforts abroad do not work well,” the study said. 

“It’s a challenge to tap into those psychological reasons of why people want to visit,” said Staci M. Zavattaro, co-author of the study and professor of public administration at the University of Central Florida, told Skift.

“Considering these factors, Congress may be interested in authorizing a neutral, third-party evaluation of Brand USA,” the CRS report said.

Brand USA’s ROI analysis was completed by Tourism Economics, a research firm and subsidiary of Oxford Economics.  Tourism Economics President Adam Sacks said its ROI studies isolate external factors that will influence tourism to accurately capture Brand USA’s impact.

“We include those in the model as offsetting effects. Because one of the control factors is how is the U.S. performing relative to expectations based on exchange rates, economic performance, and that overall outbound market as it — as it ebbs and flows,” he said.

Sacks added that Tourism Economics’ study goes deeper than other studies thanks to its access to data. The study, for example, uses mobile device location data to determine how many travelers visited the U.S. after they saw a Brand USA digital advertisement, he said. 

“Tourism Economics is widely respected as a trusted source of information, data, and analytics related to the travel and tourism industry. In fact, Adam Sacks, Tourism Economics president, also serves on the [U.S. Secretary of Commerce’s] Travel and Tourism Advisory Board,” said a Brand USA spokesperson.

Tourism boards have an easier time measuring the impact from meetings, conventions, and large events, according to Don Welsh, CEO and president of Destinations International. Events have a scheduled start and end date, and group-room bookings. DMOs know how many attendees came who wouldn’t have otherwise visited. 

“The easiest thing to measure for the most part are meetings and events,” said Welsh. 

Board Members Support the CEOs 

Some DMO board members credit their destination’s success to the CEO.

“Atlanta is doing extremely well, and I credit that to the leadership that has a fantastic team that is at the Greater Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau,” said Leona Barr-Davenport, a board member for Atlanta’s convention bureau and president and CEO of Atlanta Business League.

Tourism board CEOs can open up new markets through creative campaigns, said Travis Wilburn, a former board member of Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau and co-founder of the 100 Collection , a vacation-rental company.

“Some of the tourism is going to come no matter what,” said Wilburn. “You can look at the individual success of the individual campaigns that they [the CEO] have created and/or worked on.”

Tourism board CEOs entice meeting planners to come to pick their destination for conventions and events, both of which bring large groups of business to hotels and downtown businesses.

“They are hugely important. That’s the only organization that can talk collectively with meeting planners,” said Vijay Dandapani, a member of NYC Tourism’s board of directors and CEO and president of the Hotel Association of New York City.

According to Welsh, CEOs have to defend their budgets, room night goals, estimated convention sales, and expected economic impact in front of their boards of directors.

“I’m not exaggerating, in many cities it’s a good 30-60 day discussion before you arrive at that number, both at a budget and a goal standpoint,” he said.

Welsh said executives are heavily scrutinized by their boards.

“Every destination organization has an annual business plan that is approved by their board of directors,” he said. 

It’s Tough to Evaluate Economic Impact Objectively 

But some boards of directors and their compensation committees may not be in the best position to evaluate performance. 

Independent research is limited. And a lot of economic analysis doesn’t take into account alternative places tax dollars could have gone, including other projects or government programs.

Many boards are dominated by tourism and hotel industry veterans and local businesses, and their members serve on a non-paid, voluntary basis.

“The people there, they’ve been there for a few years. They’re usually friends with the CEO,” said McKenzie. 

McKenzie said having someone not hired by management to evaluate impact is key to transparency and ensuring that CEOs are paid what they are actually worth.

Still, McKenzie said you can’t paint with a broad brush.

“Some of these CEOs are probably underpaid, some of them are probably overpaid,” she said.

U.S. Tourism CEOs Get Paid

Today’s podcast looks at tourism CEO pay, Spirit Air’s industry complaints, and Expedia’s tech outage.

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Tags: brand usa , ceo pay , destination marketing

Photo credit: Times Square, New York City. Nelson Ndongala / Unsplash

The Official Corporate Blog for VISIT FLORIDA

Sunshine Matters

Visit florida selects will seccombe as new president & ceo.

Today, VISIT FLORIDA is proud to announce the selection of Will Seccombe as its new President and CEO.  Will, our Chief Marketing Officer since 2008, has been serving as the Acting President and CEO since Chris Thompson’s departure to head Brand USA.  Today’s unanimous vote by the VISIT FLORIDA Board of Directors to have Will become Chris’ permanent replacement is the culmination of a deliberate process by a six-member executive search committee in concert with the national recruiting firm SearchWide.

With Will as our new President and CEO, VISIT FLORIDA’s future is in great hands.  In his four years as CMO, Will’s vision and drive to succeed have elevated the state’s tourism marketing efforts to an unprecedented level and have put VISIT FLORIDA in a very strong position to pursue our vision of establishing Florida as the No. 1 travel destination in the world.

During Will’s four years as Chief Marketing Officer for VISIT FLORIDA, the organization has transformed into a national model for its highly-effective, public-private, industry-driven tourism marketing efforts.  Since 2008, the Florida tourism industry has experienced record visitation, visitor spending and job creation.  Under Will’s direction, VISIT FLORIDA has achieved all-time highs on its return on investment of $258 in tourism spending and $15 in new sales tax collections for every $1 spent on tourism marketing.

“For the past four years, Will has been the creative genius behind all of VISIT FLORIDA’s “big ideas” and the bulldog who sees those projects through to their successful conclusion,” said Chris Thompson, President and CEO of Brand USA and former President and CEO of VISIT FLORIDA. “He is a proud and tireless representative of the Florida tourism industry and an innovative thinker who constantly challenges himself to stay on the cutting edge of travel marketing strategy. I have watched Will inspire and motivate the VISIT FLORIDA team to perform at the highest level and am confident that the organization and, by extension the industry, will continue to lead the nation with him at the helm.”

Will has over twenty-three years of professional experience including nineteen years in the Colorado tourism industry.  After holding executive positions in the ski industry, with the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau and PRACO, LTD, he founded Revolution Communications, LLC, a travel marketing firm based in Denver, Colorado.  Since joining VISIT FLORIDA in 2008, he has been named one of the “Top Twenty-Five Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales & Marketing” by the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International and is included in Social Media Marketing Magazine’s list of the Top CMO’s on Twitter.

His leadership efforts while at VISIT FLORIDA have led to numerous award-winning programs, including the “Your Florida Side Is Calling” advertising campaign, a rebranding of the VISITFLORIDA.com consumer website, the creation of the unique social media platform “Florida Live,” the in-state advocacy campaign “Share a Little Sunshine,” the “Great VISIT FLORIDA Beach Walk” grassroots photo fest and the highly-targeted “Sunshine Moments” social media campaign.

Will recently announced several new VISIT FLORIDA initiatives, including a new advertising campaign launching in January, a Florida lifestyle television show on the Cooking Channel hosted by celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse, a strong commitment to content through our expanded network of freelance journalists, and a multi-marketing platform for Viva Florida 500 to commemorate the state’s quincentennial in 2013.

“I am incredibly proud of what VISIT FLORIDA and the Florida tourism industry have accomplished together and am honored by the opportunity I’ve been given to lead this amazing organization,” said Seccombe.  “The record growth in visitation, our incredible strategic partnerships and the outstanding return on investment that our marketing efforts have achieved are truly a testament to the strength of Florida’s tourism product and the creative and passionate work being done by VISIT FLORIDA and our partners statewide.”

“I look forward to building on the momentum and energy that we’ve established so that the Sunshine State truly becomes the No. 1 travel destination in the world,” continued Seccombe.

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: Brand USA , Chris Thompson , No. 1 travel destination in the world , VISIT FLORIDA , VISIT FLORIDA Board of Directors , Will Seccombe | Comment »

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Visit Lodi names new president and CEO

Sep. 10—The Visit Lodi Board of Directors announced this week that Wes Rhea will become Visit Lodi's new president and CEO on Oct. 1.

Rhea, currently CEO of Visit Stockton, will succeed Nancy Beckman, who will retire this fall after 23 years.

Rhea has spent 19 years as Visit Stockton's CEO, spearheading several initiatives and events, expanding the city's tourism profile, and cultivating strong relationships with business and government partners.

The Visit Lodi Board said his experience, passion, and strategic vision made him the perfect choice to build on the organization's achievement.

"As a lifelong resident of San Joaquin County, I've always admired Lodi's charm, community spirit, and thriving tourism industry," Rhea said. "I look forward to meeting and working with Lodi's hospitality community and local stakeholders to continue building on the great work that has already been done. I'm eager to help Lodi reach new heights and welcome visitors to experience all this amazing city has to offer."

Throughout his career, Rhea has served as president of the Destination Marketing Association of the West and the Central Valley Tourism Association. He has also served on the boards of the California Travel Association and the US Travel Association's Destinations Council.

Rhea earned his Certified Destination Management Executive credential in 2013 and currently sits on the CDME Professional Credential Program Committee.

His accomplishments have earned him significant accolades, including the DMA West Spirit of Leadership Award and Destinations International's Destination Organization Leadership Award.

In addition to his professional achievements, Wes served 11 years on the United Way of San Joaquin Board of Directors, including a term as board chair in 2011. He currently serves on the San Joaquin County Aviation Advisory Committee and the board of the Stockton Maritime Museum.

Rhea served in the U.S. Army for 10 years, and he and his wife Kristi have two sons — Max, who serves in the U.S. Navy, and Jack, a sophomore at the University of the Pacific.

"The Board is thrilled to have hired Wes Rhea as the new CEO of Visit Lodi," Visit Lodi Board chair Annette MacKay said. "With his extensive experience and expertise in destination marketing and his passion for Lodi we are confident that he will be instrumental in increasing tourism to Lodi both domestically and internationally. We wish Nancy Beckman smooth sailing as she explores the waters of retirement."

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The four-person crew is made up of billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, founder and CEO of the payment processing company Shift4; retired Air Force Lt. Col. Scott “Kidd” Poteet; and SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon. Isaacman, who funded and took part in the first all-civilian SpaceX mission to orbit in 2021, is bankrolling the Polaris Dawn mission in partnership with SpaceX.

The crew members rode to orbit in a Crew Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket.

Shortly after the capsule reached orbit, Isaacman thanked everyone who had supported the mission and went out to watch the liftoff.

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The spacewalk is scheduled for 2:23 a.m. ET Thursday. SpaceX will stream the event live. The company said there is a backup spacewalk opportunity Friday if needed.

Isaacman and Gillis are expected to exit the Crew Dragon spacecraft on a tether, but because the spacecraft does not have a pressurized airlock, the entire capsule will be depressurized and exposed to vacuum conditions. All four astronauts will wear and test newly designed spacesuits during the spacewalk.

If successful, the outing will make history. Previously, only astronauts from government space agencies have ventured into the vacuum of space to build or upgrade space stations in orbit, repair satellites and conduct scientific experiments.

During the mission, the Crew Dragon capsule’s orbit will be distant enough for the spacecraft to pass through the inner regions of the Van Allen radiation belt, a zone of high-energy radiation particles trapped by Earth’s magnetosphere.

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In a post-launch statement on X, the Polaris Dawn crew described their lofty goals.

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The Polaris Dawn launch was initially planned for late August, but it was postponed after a helium leak was detected  at the launch pad, then delayed again because of poor weather off Florida, where the SpaceX capsule would splash down to end the expedition.

Isaacman launched the Polaris program in partnership with SpaceX to test technologies and maneuvers for exploration beyond Earth’s orbit. Polaris Dawn is the first of three planned spaceflights that the billionaire is funding. He has not disclosed the cost of the program or the possible objectives and timing of the other missions.

Denise Chow is a science and space reporter for NBC News.