In spite of Omicron spread, tourism officials are hopeful

Saturday, January 8, 2022

A top Florida tourism official called the future of travel to the state “bright”. The expert has also suggested that there are no plans to slow down on marketing efforts despite the rapid spread of the omicron variant.

On Wednesday, Visit Florida President and CEO, Dana Young, explained that the agency continues to expand its winter marketing in the United States and isn’t slowing international efforts.

To quote Young, “This has been a tough road for our international folks, but we have not stopped for one second working in those markets to make sure that Florida stays top of mind.”

A panel of state economists in December slightly lowered expectations through the middle of 2022 for Canadian and travellers from abraod, anticipating the omicron variant would slow, at least temporarily, resurging Florida tourism.

Amy Baker, coordinator of the Legislature’s Office of Economic & Demographic Research, said during a Dec. 20 meeting the highly contagious variant likely would affect people’s decisions to travel to and from Florida.

“I think omicron kind of changed the environment,” Baker said. “I know of two people who were planning to travel internationally. They canceled their trips because of omicron, not knowing what additional lockdown restrictions (would be) if they got some place. Would their country be open? What’s happening in the United States? What would be their requirements on them going?

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