Things To Do In SW Florida

TALLAHASSEE — The number of people traveling to Florida during the second quarter of 2023 fell compared with a year earlier, according to figures released Wednesday by the state’s tourism-marketing agency.

Florida drew an estimated 33.092 million visitors during the quarter, keeping the state slightly ahead of an overall record pace of visitors in 2022. But the figure from April through June represented a 1.2% drop from the second quarter of 2022 when it totaled 33.485 million.

Tourists from other parts of the U.S., who make up the bulk of Florida travelers, were off an estimated 2.4% from the same period in 2022.

Dana Young, president and CEO of the Visit Florida tourism-marketing agency, pointed to increased competition from other states and countries that shut down longer than Florida during the pandemic. But she also touted an increase this year in international tourists in Florida.

Yes, tourism has slowed in Orlando, but don’t blame Disney vs. DeSantis

“We compete globally, not just here in the U.S.,” Young said in an interview. “Destinations are opening up. And when they do, they’re going to be using all those dollars they didn’t spend [during the pandemic] to try and lure their people back. So, the fact that we have these massive increases in international visitation is great.” read more

TALLAHASSEE — Heirs and business partners of a Black farmer who vied for a potentially lucrative medical-marijuana license are trying to persuade an appeals court that state health officials were wrong to scrap his application because he died before the licensing process was complete.

The application of the late Moton Hopkins, a Marion County farmer and rancher, received the highest score of a dozen applicants who sought the license. An administrative law judge in February upheld the Department of Health’s decision to reject the application because the farmer died before officials finished evaluating the submissions.

But lawyers for Hopkins’ heirs and partners on Tuesday filed a brief at the 1st District Court of Appeal seeking to overturn Administrative Law Judge Gary Early’s decision.

Hopkins was among applicants who sought a medical-marijuana license earmarked for a Black farmer who was a “recognized class member” in class-action lawsuits over lending discrimination by the federal government, known as “Pigford” cases. read more

What will be the world’s largest cruise ship will have a version of “The Wizard of Oz” on the main stage when Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas begins sailing out of Miami in January.

Rumors it would be the main theatrical offering have been around since the cruise line put out a casting call for the show in March. On Wednesday, Nick Weir, the senior vice president for Royal Entertainment, confirmed it during a cruise line call with travel agents led by Vicki Freed, Royal’s senior vice president of sales.

“Word got out very quickly, because we hadn’t even sent out a PR release but the show is going to be ‘Wizard of Oz,’” Freed said. “How much more family friendly can you get than ‘Wizard of Oz’? So it’s a perfect fit for our ship.”

Weir said the version coming to the ship won’t be a rehash of the 1939 MGM film production or the Broadway version adapted by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jeremy Sams, but something unique to the ship.

“I think everyone knows that I’m a future-forward type of creator. I like to look to the horizon,” Weir said. “‘The Wizard of Oz?’ That’s a classic from from the early 1900s. But here’s the thing, though. We’re going to do something to ‘The Wizard of Oz’ that’s never been done. read more