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Florida on track to see 115 million visitors in 2016

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Visitors keep flocking to the Sunshine State. State tourism officials announced Friday 57.4 million people traveled to Florida in the first half of the year. The number marks a 4.3 percent increase from the first six months of 2015. “It’s exciting to have a record tourism number,” said Gov. Rick Scott during an event at the Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers. “That’s a record number. We’ve had record numbers in the last five-and-a-half years.” Since January, more than 49.3…

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Daytona International Speedway revs up lobbying efforts by hiring Johnson & Blanton, SSG

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After getting rebuffed in another attempt to secure state incentive money for improvements at its historic track, the Daytona International Speedway has signed on two new lobbying teams with the start of another state fiscal year. The speedway has hired Johnson & Blanton and Southern Strategy Group to represent its interests in Tallahassee. The speedway, which opened in 1959 and is nearing the completion of a $400 million “Daytona Rising” renovation, was one of three sports facilities that sought incentive…

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Enterprise Florida board approves staff cuts, cost reductions

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Enterprise Florida board members approved a plan to slash spending and restructure the state’s public-private economic development agency. The EFI board of directors voted overwhelmingly to approve recommendations to cut about $6 million. The board approved about a dozen recommendations, including closing offices, ending contracts and eliminating 26 positions. Eliminating the positions will save the organization more than $2.1 million, said Alan Becker, vice chair of the Enterprise Florida board. The group voted on the recommendation to eliminate the positions separately…

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Review says it’s mostly sunny for state tourism agency, Visit Florida

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State officials have given a good review of Florida’s tourism marketing agency and a second outfit that promotes the aerospace industry. Gov. Rick Scott earlier this year called for the reviews of both Visit Florida and Space Florida. Scott ordered the review of Visit Florida after the Orlando Sentinel reported taxpayers paid thousands of dollars for Chinese and other foreign journalists to vacation in the Keys. The state also paid unknown amounts to celebrities, race car drivers and soccer teams…

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Nearly 30 million people visited Florida in first three months of 2016

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Millions of people traveled to the Sunshine State in the first three months of 2016, according to first-quarter tourism estimates released Monday. Approximately 29.8 million tourists came to Florida in the first quarter. That’s up 6.6 percent from the same three-month period in 2015. “I’m thrilled that Florida continues to break records in the amount of tourists visiting our state. Nearly 30 million visitors have enjoyed our beautiful beaches and attractions so far this year, and a record high of…

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Budget writers close out TED, justice budget silos

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Legislative budget writers met Friday evening to take up another pair of unreconciled budget areas – Transportation & Economic Development and Civil & Criminal Justice – and came to a final agreement, closing out millions in funding items in a multibillion dollar move when the House and Senate accepted each others’ offers. Among the most notable changes that became closer to becoming law Friday was a Conference Chair Rep. Richard Corcoran-favored move to stop the Florida Department of Transportation from adding…

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Florida tourism hits record high for 2015

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Florida tourism is on pace to pass the highly anticipated 100-million visitor mark for 2015, with over 54.1 million visitors coming to the Sunshine State in the first half of 2015. New quarterly numbers released Wednesday from VISIT FLORIDA, the state’s tourism arm, show a 5.8 percent increase over last year and the highest number of visitors of any six months in the state’s history. In just the second quarter of 2015 ending June 30, 25.8 million visitors came to Florida, an increase of 5.5…

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