Embattled Visit Florida, the agency responsible for promoting global tourism to the state of Florida, is finding itself in the middle of more controversy this week after local media discovered that the agency's newest marketing campaign includes promoting tourism to travelers from Syria.
Syria, of course, is considered a "state sponsor of terrorism" by the U.S. Department of State.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, Visit Florida contracted with a German marketing firm in March to develop a tourism marketing campaign targeting Middle Eastern travelers. The contract called for in-country promotions in ten nations, including Syria. After reporters from the Naples Daily News started pressing for more details about the campaign, Visit Florida signed a new contract with the European agency, stipulating the marketing campaign will only appear in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Visit Florida says the mistake was a clerical error and that the state does not do business in Syria.
"Visit Florida has zero marketing efforts in Syria and did not plan to market in Syria," said John Tupps, a spokesperson for Visit Florida told the Sentinel in a statement.
The mistake could be a costly one for the state agency as it battles with state legislatures to protect its funding. Visit Florida has come under intense scrutiny after it signed a $1 million contract with rapper Pitbull last year to help promote the state's beaches.
[READMORE]READ MORE: Visit Florida Faces Massive Budget Cuts[/READMORE]
In part, the Pitbull contract received an intense outcry because Visit Florida claimed the fee did not need to be revealed publicly since it did not meet the state's open records laws. The amount was only revealed after House Speaker Richard Corcoran sued to have the contract made public. Eventually, Visit Florida's CEO was forced to resign over the matter and the agency has been battling for its life ever since.
Last week, the state legislature announced that it is planning to reduce funding for Visit Florida to $25 million, down from $75 million last year. Earlier in the year, the legislature considered cutting the agency altogether but changed course after more than a hundred tourism representatives spoke about the economic benefits the agency brings to the state.
[READMORE]READ MORE: Should Taxpayer Money Pay for Tourism Marketing?[/READMORE]
The proposed state funding also includes strict conditions on how the funding can be used.
Florida governor Rick Scott is firmly opposed to the budget cuts and says they will cost the state jobs and has been publicly vocal about his support of the tourism agency. He has even hinted he may veto this year's budget.
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