Visit Florida leader set to leave post

by | Feb 4, 2025

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Visit Florida President and CEO Dana Young said Monday her retirement will take effect Friday, two months after announcing she was stepping down after leading the tourism-marketing agency since 2019.

“I really am retiring. I’m not taking another job,” Young told the Visit Florida Board of Directors during a meeting at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has not recommended a replacement for Young. When her departure was announced in early December, she was expected to remain in the post until a new leader was in place.

Visit Florida Board of Directors Chairman John Lai, president of the Sanibel and Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce, said the “calm (Young) brought to the storm when you first entered, has been nothing short of phenomenal.”

As DeSantis was coming into the governor’s office, he recommended that the Visit Florida board select Young to serve as president. Young, an attorney, had represented parts of Hillsborough County in the state House from 2010 to 2016 and in the state Senate from 2016 to 2018.

When Young was appointed in January 2019, Visit Florida was coming off a record year for tourism. But it faced budget cuts from the Legislature that resulted in slashing staff.

House leaders at the time expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of tourism-marketing efforts and pointed to questionable past contracts — including $2.875 million to sponsor an auto-racing team known as “Visit Florida Racing” and $1 million for Miami rapper Pitbull to promote the state.

DeSantis maintained support for the agency, which weathered the House attacks.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the state, largely shutting down the tourism industry for months before the economy reopened. Young had to help craft strategies to bring tourists back to Florida in the ensuing years.

Visitor totals plunged from about 131.07 million in 2019 to about 79.4 million in 2020, according to Visit Florida. The total grew to 140.62 million in 2023, according to Visit Florida.

During the first three quarters of 2024, Visit Florida estimated the state had 109.7 million visitors, 1.8 percent more than during the first nine months of 2023.

Visit Florida received $80 million in state money this fiscal year, compared to $50 million during the 2019-2020 fiscal year. DeSantis released a budget proposal late Sunday that proposed $80 million again for the agency during the 2025-2026 fiscal year, which will start July 1.

Lawmakers will set an amount as they negotiate a budget during the legislative session that will start March 4. Carol Dover, a Visit Florida board member and president and CEO at the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association, said the goal remains $100 million.

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