Visit Florida Plans 2022 In-Person Trade Show

MIAMI (CBSMiami/NSF) -- While online this year, Visit Florida intends to hold its next global trade showcase in-person in early 2022.

With Florida's hospitality and leisure industries facing a slow recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, the state's tourism-marketing arm announced Monday that its "2022 Florida Huddle" will be held in January at the Tampa Convention Center.

"We're thrilled to be able to host this signature event in Tampa next year and open doors to new business possibilities that drive visitation to every region of our great state," Visit Florida President and CEO Dana Young announced Monday as the agency kicked off a five-day online Florida Huddle for 2021.

The trade show is targeted at international and domestic tour operators, wholesalers and media.

Visit Florida is working to widen its marketing efforts during the coronavirus to the West Coast of the U.S., expanding earlier efforts that targeted travelers from East Coast cities who could drive or take short flights to Florida.

With the emergence of COVID-19 vaccines, short- and long-term outlooks from a panel known as the state Economic Estimating Conference indicate people, mostly from other states, could travel to Florida in close to pre-pandemic numbers in 2022. However, foreign travel is expected to continue to lag for several years.

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