Oil spill or not, tourism rose in Florida

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MIAMI, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- A jump in international travelers helped push tourism-dependent Florida to a 3.4 percent boost in visitors overall April through June, the state said Tuesday.

Visits from abroad rose 11.9 percent, while visits from Canada rose 10.4, the state's tourism bureau Visit Florida said, The Miami Herald reported.

Domestic travelers rose 2.4 percent, as the state spent millions of dollars on advertising with British oil firm BP distributing $32 million to state and regional travel offices to offset fears that water and beaches were soiled by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the worst aquatic oil disaster in U.S. history.

"The good news is that obviously, the numbers are up and that speaks to in some ways the strength of the Florida tourism brand," said Will Seccombe, chief marketer for Visit Florida.

Advertisements were run across the country by various offices, but the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau spent most of its funds on promotions in Britain, Germany, Brazil and Argentina, the newspaper said.

In London, promotions included handing out free ice cream with participants advised to "Come cool down in Miami this summer."