WTFlorida?!? (again)

OMFG: The Florida House just proposed eliminating ALL county-level Tourist Development Councils (TDCs) by December 2025. That’s right—62 local tourism offices could vanish.

The bill would:

• Kill every TDC statewide

• Allow counties to redirect hotel tax dollars to “general” funds

• Strip destination marketers of their mandate to promote anything at all

• Put Visit St. Pete, Visit Tampa Bay, Visit Orlando and every other local org on the chopping block

And guess what? VISIT FLORIDA isn’t even touched.

This isn’t restructuring. It’s scorched earth.

Florida’s local tourism boards are being gutted in broad daylight—and if it happens there, it could happen anywhere. Let’s be honest: TDCs have been under fire for a while. But this? This is political, performative, and dangerous.

🌴 TOURISM IS A STRATEGY, NOT A SLOGAN. If we don’t protect the infrastructure that supports it, we’ll be left with no story, no data, no brand—and no say.

If you’ve ever said “tourism is economic development,” this is your moment to mean it.

Because the industry isn’t just being ignored. It’s being dismantled.

🔗 Read the full bill coverage from Florida Politics