TORONTO — VISIT FLORIDA’s CEO Bryan Griffin may be relatively new to the job – but he’s not new to the destination. Far from it.
Bryan Griffin, CEO, VISIT FLORIDA
As a fourth-generation Floridian, Griffin knows every nook and cranny of The Sunshine State, and he’s a fan of every city, town and all 2,170 kilometres of coastline.
“I love Florida, I’ve been all over the state,” he tells Travelweek in a new interview. “And I know how important tourism is to Florida. Tourism is the backbone of the Florida economy.”
Griffin, who took over as VISIT FLORIDA’s CEO in August 2025, is in Toronto this week as part of a VISIT FLORIDA sales mission, working with VoX International which represents VISIT FLORIDA in Canada. Earlier this month an industry event at Toronto’s Real Sports Bar reinforced VISIT FLORIDA’s show of commitment to this market, and to the travel trade.
“FLORIDA IS THAT RELIABLY FUN DESTINATION”
Florida’s initial estimates for 2025 from Canada pegs visitation from this market at 2.9 million travellers.
Year over year, that’s down by about 500,000, says Griffin. But on a positive note, the share of U.S.-bound Canadian travellers heading to Florida actually increased. “Florida’s market share of Canadian travellers to the U.S. was 16.8%. In 2025 it was 19.8%. It went up.”
Why? “Because Florida is that reliably fun destination,” said Griffin.
Of course return visits to Florida are “very popular” with Canadians. Plenty of new-to-Florida travellers are arriving from Canada too. Whether vacationers are first-timers or perennial visitors, VISIT FLORIDA is focused on showcasing ‘the new in the known,’ combing iconic highlights with unexpected discoveries.
“People say, I know what I’m comfortable with, but I want to find new experiences in my Florida vacation,” says Griffin. “It speaks to our message of dispersion. We want to spread the economic benefit around the state.”
Travellers are also looking for value. “Not just from Canada. People around the world are cost-conscious. Florida is a state where you can find value everywhere,” he says.
Lastly, vacationers these days are all about experiential travel. “That includes sporting events. Concerts. Experiences they can’t miss. You see people taking shorter but more frequent visits” for these types of trips, he says.
Florida’s world-famous attractions, meanwhile, are as compelling as ever, from Walt Disney World Resort, to Universal Orlando Resort, SeaWorld Orlando, LEGOLAND Florida and many, many more. Florida also has more than 100 brand new hotels currently under construction as of January 2026.
“OTHER STATES HAVE PULLED BACK. FLORIDA HAS NOT”
There’s another reason Florida continues to perform well in the Canadian market, and that’s consistency, says Griffin.
“We have been consistent. Other states have pulled back. Florida has not,” he says. “We remain consistently in this market, and we’ve kept up our trade missions. Canadian travel is very important to Florida and nothing about that has changed. And our desire for Canadian travellers haven’t changed either.”
‘Live More Floridays’, VISIT FLORIDA’s new-for-2026 campaign, is running in both English and French. And more than 1,280 Canadian travel advisors have completed VISIT FLORIDA’s Florida Travel Pro specialist program.
“It’s incredibly important, the work that VISIT FLORIDA does to help travel advisors become specialists in Florida,” says Griffin, adding that making sure travel advisors know all about Florida’s variety of experiences is key. “We want people to be experts in Florida, and give them the opportunity to develop new experiences for their clients.”
Florida is well-served for lift, highlighted this year by Air Canada’s extra 50,000 seats to the state and Porter’s two new direct routes from YHM to Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando.
Also notable: Florida will rejoin Air Transat’s winter 2026-2027 program, with service to Fort Lauderdale resuming after a summer pause. Air Transat plans to operate up to seven weekly flights from Montreal, three from Quebec City and one from Halifax.
“WE’RE HERE TO HELP”
These are challenging times to be sure but Griffin says he’s happy with VISIT FLORIDA’s efforts, in Canada and inbound markets globally.
“We live in an increasingly busy world in terms of attention span,” he says. “But our data shows that 59% of Florida visitors said VISIT FLORIDA-controlled marketing effort influenced their decision to come to Florida.”
Canadian travel advisors can be assured that VISIT FLORIDA is a trusted partner: “Please use us a resource. We want to help make you a Florida expert. Visit our site. Come to our missions. We’re here to help.”
For more information see VisitFlorida.com.
Lead image caption: South Beach, Miami, Florida
