TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Rick Scott wants to boost funding for the state’s tourism-promotion arm by $11 million in a quest to increase the annual number of visitors to Florida to 100 million.
But some members of the Senate Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee raised questions Tuesday about the return on investment if they hike funding for Visit Florida to $85 million during the fiscal year that starts July 1.
Subcommittee Chairman Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, said it appears the increase in tourism numbers has gone up at a slower rate than the state’s spending.
“To me, potentially, we’re getting to a situation where maybe we’ve spent or are spending what we need,” Latvala said.
Public dollars for Visit Florida’s marketing efforts have grown from $28.5 million in the 2010 fiscal year, when there were an estimated 80.8 million visitors, to $74 million for the current year that ends June 30.
The state estimated a record 93.7 million visitors in 2013. Visit Florida President and Chief Executive Officer Will Seccombe said that number should be surpassed when the 2014 figures are released in the couple of weeks.
Seccombe said the increased investment by the state, which is used for year-round national and international marketing efforts, is responsible for more people coming to Florida.
“If you were to be back to a $30 million budget, you’d probably see us go back down to the lower number of visitor volume,” Seccombe said.
With state economists projecting Florida to reach an annual count of 123 million visitors by 2020, Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, wondered if the state could continue to handle the growing number of visitors.
“It’s not even full season yet, and the roads are crowded. We can’t get in restaurants in our towns. Do we have a point of diminishing returns?” Detert said. “If we have 93 million (annual visitors) now, I’m hesitant to want 100 million today.”
However, Sen. Maria Sachs, D-Delray Beach, praised Visit Florida’s efforts, which she said have resulted in busy restaurants throughout Palm Beach County.
“Whatever we can do to make sure this is part of our income for the state of Florida, we should,” Sachs said.
A year ago, Scott asked for a record $100 million in funding for the state’s tourism-promotion arm.
Legislators gave him $74 million, a $10.5 million increase. The overall amount is still a record for public funding to Visit Florida, which has also received $138.5 million this year in private contributions.
Seccombe estimated about 50 million visitors each year would come to Florida regardless of advertising, because of family, friends and other personal interests. But the competition has grown as other states realize the economic impact of tourism, he said.
“We’re by far the biggest destination in the U.S.,” Seccombe said. “And everybody is trying to take those visitors from us.”