Storms set to disrupt a busy holiday travel period and the resignation of top Visit Florida executives are the travel industry headlines to watch today.
Storms to Disrupt Holiday Travel
Winter storms across the United States are set to disrupt holiday travel, Accuweather.com reports. A storm system could cause snow in parts of the Midwest on Wednesday, before heading into the Northeast Thursday and Friday. That could spell trouble for major Northeastern airport hubs, including those in Boston, New York City and Washington, DC.
In the Northwest, a storm system passing through the latter part of the week could bring steady rain, potentially leading to air travel delays in Portland and Seattle, according to Accuweather. Heavy snow could also fall across the Cascades Thursday, expanding into the Bitterroots and Tetons Thursday night.
The rough weather comes during a busy holiday travel period. According to AAA, holiday travel is poised to set a new record this season.
More than 103 million Americans, the most on record, are expected to travel for the year-end holidays, according to AAA. This represents a 1.5 percent increase, or 1.5 million more people traveling, compared with last year. This comes despite one fewer travel day this holiday season. The year-end holiday travel period is defined as Friday, December 23 to Monday, January 2, 2017.
Top Visit Florida Execs Resign Over Pitbull Deal
In Florida, Visit Florida CEO Will Seccombe has stepped down following the news that the destination marketing organization had paid Miami-based rapper Pitbull $1 million to promote tourism to the state, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Florida Governor Rick Scott had called for the resignation, as well as a further series of transparency measures, in a letter to William Talbert, chairman of Visit Florida’s board of directors. Visit Florida Chief Operating Officer Vangie Fields and Chief Marketing Officer Paul Phipps have also resigned, with Seccombe promising to work with Visit Florida’s board of directors on “next steps.”
House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’Lakes, had filed suit against Pitbull’s management company to reveal the details of the entertainer’s contract, which had been kept secret for over a year, according to the Sentinel. Visit Florida officials had said that Pitbull had declared details of the contract, such as how much he was paid, trade secrets that would be exempt from Florida’s public record laws. On Thursday, however, Pitbull posted his contract to Twitter, showing that he had been paid $1 million to promote tourism to the state.
At the same time, State Senate Appropriations Chairman Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, has said that Visit Florida remains important to the state’s economy, according to the Tampa Bay Times, noting that as construction in the state had slowed, the tourism industry has kept the state’s finances strong.
"What has kept our whole financial outlook from softening up has been our strong tourism economy," Latvala told the Times.
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