After receiving $80 million in this year’s budget, Florida’s tourism-marketing agency plans to ask for an increase in state funding during the 2025 legislative session.

“We did quite well this year with $80 million, but we’re going to continue to push for that $100 million mark,” Carol Dover, chairwoman of Visit Florida’s Public Affairs Committee, said during a Visit Florida meeting Wednesday at the Tampa Convention Center. Dover is also president and CEO of the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association, “We know the governor supports that (funding),” Dover added. “We’re going to hope that we can get the House and Senate to step behind that as well.”

Heading into the 2024 session, DeSantis proposed providing $105 million to Visit Florida. The $80 million ultimately approved by lawmakers was the same as in the budget for the previous 2023-2024 fiscal year. The agency, which requires matching money from the private sector, received $50 million from the state for the 2021-2022 fiscal year and an additional $30 million through federal stimulus programs tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. State funding held at $50 million in the 2022-2023 fiscal year.

Visit Florida reported 140.6 million visitors to the state in 2023, up 2.3 percent from the previous year and 7.3 percent more than in 2019, the year before the start of the pandemic. For the first six months of 2024, the state had an estimated 74.8 million visitors, a 1.4 percent increase from the first half of 2023. Next year’s legislative session will start March 4.