Pow Wow International 2007
Florida should now be considered a mature holiday destination if the trade is to combat the rise of customers creating their own packages.
Visit Florida director Colin Brodie said the British public are now so familiar with the destination they are confident enough to package up holidays themselves.
To combat this, he said the trade must look at offering customers additional value on all bookings.
He said: “Florida is like Spain now because it has become a mature destination and, like Spain, business is going through a lot of distribution channels.
“As a result some operators are struggling to sell it while others are still doing well.”
He added the state must also do more to market itself as a mini-break destination if it is to reverse last year’s 4% fall in UK visitor figures to around the 1.5 million mark.
Brodie said: “We need to recognise that is a very strong part of the market, especially with increased competition from rivals such as Dubai (see this week’s Dubai feature) and Las Vegas.”
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