Hurricane Ian drastically impacted our hospitality industry in southwest Florida. Approximately half the overnight accommodations in Lee County are out of service leaving thousands without jobs. In addition to the loss of life, the situation is compounded as many also lost some - if not all - of their personal property during the storm.

Some of those affected are team members of FAA member attractions.

The Collaboratory (Community Foundation in SW Florida) in conjunction with the local United Way has established a fund to provide support specifically for Fort Myers hospitality workers, including those in the attractions industry.

Please join me in assisting our tourism colleagues in the Fort Myers area.

Thank you,

Bill

Bill Lupfer

President/CEO

Florida Attractions Association

PS – If you know of anyone needing assistance, please refer them to the Relief Fund Assessment Form.

For decades, the Official Guide Map to Florida Attractions and South Florida Attractions Map have served our attraction members, delivering Florida visitors one of the state’s most popular vacation guides. After decades of publication, numerous circumstances, including changing consumer dynamics and skyrocketing printing costs of large-format maps, the FAA has opted to move the Official Guide Map to Florida Attractions to an online, digital format – Official Guide to Florida Attractions. 

This all-new website will include complimentary listings of every FAA Member Attraction, with search capabilities based on location and key word search. Our members will be able to provide links to images and videos and each listing will include a link to our member’s website. The current FloridaAttractions.com site will be repurposed for this new website. The new website will be mobile friendly, be bolstered by advanced SEO and the FAA will dedicate additional resources for SEM.  Rack cards will be distributed and transparencies displayed in Florida’s Official Welcome Centers and other locations to direct visitors to this new online vacation planning resource.

An additional feature of the new Official Guide to Florida Attractions will be geofencing of our state providing you the ability to purchase a display ad in your choice of 8 Florida vacation regions. These are limited to 3 unique ads per region and will be contracted on a monthly basis. This very economical advertising opportunity is priced beginning less than $2/day and go up to less than $10/day depending on the region.

More details will be available soon, but we wanted to share with you a sneak peak at this exciting new FAA benefit coming exclusively to FAA members in 2023.

Thank you for your continued support.

Moving forward,

Bill

Bill Lupfer

President/CEO

Florida Attractions Association

Join attraction and tourism industry colleagues from your region for an informal evening of networking, sharing and fun! FAA’s Networking Nights are back and in full swing!

Attendees include attraction representatives of FAA Member Attractions as well as Supplier Associate members, Tourism Associate members, and representatives from your local DMO (Convention & Visitor Bureau).

Members of the Florida Attractions Association and non-members are welcome to attend. Refreshments will be provided.

2022 Locations and Dates:

Dear Fellow FAA Member,

On November 8, Floridians will go to the polls to elect the Florida Cabinet, a US Senator, their Congressman, State Senator, and State Representative.  While the Florida Attractions Association works diligently to advocate on behalf of our industry, the non-partisan Florida Attractions Political Action Committee (FAPAC) is focused on electing tourism and business-friendly candidates to the Florida Legislature. 

Our success in the Florida Legislature is reliant on the election of men and women who understand the unique challenges of our industry and a willingness to respect the interests of our member businesses when deliberating Legislative proposals.

Your FAPAC is asking Florida attractions industry leaders to chip in $25 to support this initiative and industry businesses to contribute $100. It’s a relatively small ask that returns huge rewards by electing the right leaders into the Florida Legislature.

Thank you to these individuals and businesses who have already contributed to help us make a difference this November. Please join me and your FAPAC Committee to Back the PAC and elect conscientious leaders to support our interests.

Sincerely,

Cindy Stavely

Executive Director, St. Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum

Chair, Florida Attractions Political Action Committee

The Florida Attractions Association depends on our Associate Members to to help us provide excellent programming to our members. Sponsorships elevate your company's profile before our members and demonstrate your support of our dynamic attractions industry.  

Sponsorship Opportunities:

 If your business is interested in sponsoring an FAA event, or has questions, please contact Mike Donaldson at 850-222-2885 or Donaldson@floridaattractions.org.

Bureau of Fair Rides Releases Required Inspection and Documentation Guidelines

The Bureau of Fair Rides has established a September 1, 2022 deadline for compliance with recent changes in Florida Statutes and Florida Administrative Code. Please review the Industry Letter and the Documentation Requirements below for details.

Industry Letter

Documentation Requirements

In case you missed, the FAA was proud to announce this year's Outstanding Member Award recipients at this year's Annual Conference in West Palm Beach June 12-15. Please join us in congratulating the Outstanding Attraction Member and Outstanding Association Member of 2022 for their unwavering dedication and service to Florida's attractions industry and the FAA...

Matt Johnson

IMAG History & Science Center

Our Outstanding Attraction Member of the year is someone who has exemplified the ideals we all aspire to. We have all benefited from this person’s leadership and most have been elevated by friendship. 

Our honoree’s long-time service to the FAA reaches back 15 years. The FAA has benefited from this member’s wisdom, vision, and compassion. Leadership through a global pandemic wasn’t easy for any of us, but his leadership steered the FAA through the storm and into a brighter future.

Matt has done more than devote himself to the FAA – he has shared his life with us. FAA member Marineland helped Matt “pop the question” to his wife Shannon and the FAA toasted Matt & Shannon the day following their engagement. Matt has been not just a remarkable leader to the FAA, but a wonderful example of a person to follow – authentic in the truest sense of the word.

For his 15 years of volunteer service and leadership, we are pleased to honor our 2022 Outstanding Attraction Member of the Year - Matt Johnson!  

Pam Wells

Dippin' Dots

Our Associate Member of the year has been an active supporter of the FAA for many years – This individual attends every conference, most Networking Nights, our IAAPA event, in fact, its hard to remember an FAA gathering when this person wasn’t there.

Her presence helps us all keep our “cool” when we feel like “dippin”, she’s always there with the frozen “dots”.

We are so grateful for her active participation in the FAA, for her company’s generous support, and for her work to ensure that those cool little tasty frozen delights are never too far way. It is a great honor and privilege to present the 2022 Associate Member of the Year to – Pam Wells!