Visit Orlando will have to work on reducing its marketing budget in 2025.
Visit Orlando, one of the nation's largest tourism agencies, lost $15 million from its budget as a result of a recent vote by the Orange County Commission.
Funds cut from Visit Orlando's budget will instead be directed to local projects. The Orlando Sentinel reports that about $10 million of the organization's budget cuts will go to local sports incentive funds and $5 million will go to local arts and culture projects.
Cutting $15 million from Visit Orlando's budget may seem like a lot, but some Orange County commissioners actually wanted to make even bigger cuts to the marketing organization's budget.
Funding cuts aren't the only changes Visit Orlando faces. County commissioners will now serve on the marketing decision-making committee. Additionally, auditors audit the authorities.
All of these changes are the result of a year-long discussion about how to distribute the benefits from a local 6 percent surcharge on hotel rooms and short-term rentals in the county.
Visit Orlando expressed relief that the budget cuts were not more severe. “Today was another successful step in Visit Orlando's funding negotiations with Orange County,” Visit Orlando President and CEO Cassandra Matei said, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Stated.
Orlando's 2024 marketing budget is $100 million, making it one of the largest marketing budgets in the nation.
More than 74 million people will visit the city in 2022, making the Florida hotspot one of the most visited destinations in the United States.
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