On the eve of Visit Florida’s annual Governors’ Tourism Conference, being held this year in Tampa, the group’s CEO issued a brief and seemingly memorized statement explaining why the LGBTQ+ travel section had been quietly removed from the organization’s website.
“It’s simple. Visit Florida is a taxpayer-funded organization, so our marketing strategy, our materials and our content must align with the state,” said Dana Young, CEO of Visit Florida.
Young’s statement comes nearly a week after the group faced national criticism for removing dozens of pages dedicated to LGBTQ+ travel, including a landing page that touted Florida’s beaches as “a draw for people of all orientations, but especially appealing to a gay community seeking a sense of belonging and acceptance.”
Despite inquiries, Visit Florida remains silent about removing the links.
On a recent Tuesday, investigative reporter Katie LaGrone spoke to Young in person at the Tampa Convention Center, where the governor’s conference on tourism is scheduled to begin on Thursday.
“Katie, I’m not going to talk about it 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 is not a government agency. However, its budget each year relies heavily on state funds. This year, Visit Florida received $80 million from the state coffers.
In her brief statement, Young added that while the organization must focus on the state, it “has always been and will continue to be a welcoming state, as reflected in our tourism numbers.”
“From a business perspective, it doesn’t make sense,” says Rachel Covello, an LGBTQ travel blogger from St. Pete who first discovered the missing link about a month ago.
“It gives the impression to LGBTQ people who live in and travel to Florida that the state simply doesn’t care about us,” Covello said.
Despite asking Visit Florida for answers, Covello said she never received an explanation as to why the link was removed. On Wednesday, she attended the group’s board meeting in Tampa hoping to hear factual answers. She left the meeting disappointed.
“It was a very blanket, superficial response,” she said. “They say they’re going to join the administration, but they’re welcoming everyone to Florida. That doesn’t make sense,” Covello said. She has started a petition to get Visit Florida to put the pages back on its website.
“That’s not an answer. I really believe that the people of Florida and all hardworking people deserve an answer,” said Maryann Ferenc, a small business owner in Tampa who is also a former board member of Visit Florida. Ferenc expressed disappointment during the public hearing about the removal of LGBTQ material from Visit Florida’s website and left the meeting with more questions.
“It just doesn’t make sense,” she said. “A lot of money and effort has gone into these campaigns, so it just doesn’t make sense. I mean, if this is the most important industry, why would we do this? If this is an economic decision, it’s not a very good one,” she said.
Today, Governor Ron DeSantis answered questions about the removal of pages from the Visit Florida website. He said he only learned about it after the fact, but stuck to his message that Florida is not a state that puts people into categories and that everyone is welcome.
Send your story idea and tips to Katie LaGrone
