Visit Pensacola Celebrates 2023 Tourism Successes at Annual Meeting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Nicole Stacey, Visit Pensacola, nstacey@visitpensacola.com

Pensacola, Florida – On Wednesday, Visit Pensacola welcomed members of the community and tourism industry professionals to its Annual Meeting. Marking the beginning of a new fiscal year, Visit Pensacola and company thanked the outgoing FY 2023 board of directors, voted, and welcomed in the FY 2024 board of directors, and celebrated industry successes.

“Visit Pensacola’s mission is to lead, connect, collaborate, and communicate the importance of tourism in our community,” President and CEO Darien Schaefer said. “By continuously sharing The Way to Beach™, we’ve seen positive data on how Tourism Works for Pensacola and remains an economic driver throughout the county.”

Adding to the 2023 fiscal year industry successes, Schaefer highlighted a detailed list of Visit Pensacola’s leading accomplishments:

Fiscal Year 2023 By the Numbers

  • $21,582,336 in tourism tax development collections
  • Welcomed over 2 million visitors to Escambia County 
  • The Visit Pensacola team shared The Way to Beach™ in front of over 40 marketsGarnered 77 new community partners, generated 600 pieces of social content, attracted over 639,00 partner listing views, and completed over 2,000 partner assists
  • Over 2.2 million people used visitpensacola.com
  • Received 285 combined print, online, broadcast, and social features
  • Gained over 51,000 new social media followers
  • Generated over $194 million in group sales bookings
  • Welcomed over 21,000 to the visitor information centers
  • Continuing the momentum, incoming Board Chair Rachael Gillette remarked on her goals and theme for the year.

“As the incoming chair of the board, I am grateful to take the helm. Visit Pensacola is a strong ship with a great crew,” Gillette said. “It is my goal to help chart a strong course, apply good tactics, and help the team bring home the trophies of more visitors and tourism dollars, that will bolster our economy and create an even more vibrant community for visitors and residents alike.”

Serving with Board Chair Rachael Gillette for the 2024 fiscal year will be:

Chair, At-Large: Rachael Gillette, VMG Solutions
Vice-Chair, Dining/Entertainment: Warren Sonnen, O’Riley’s Irish Pub
Treasurer, Arts/Culture/History: Sid Williams-Heath, The Clark Family Cultural Center
Secretary, Pensacola Beach Lodging: Terry Branch, Hilton Pensacola Beach
Immediate Past Chair, At-Large: Brent Lane, Cat Country 98.7 / ADX Communications
Attractions/Retail/Events: Capt. Sterling Gilliam, USM (ret), National Naval Aviation Museum
Lodging/Perdido Key: Tim Carn, Southern Vacation Rentals
Sports/Recreation: Greg Harris, Pensacola Ice Flyers
Lodging/Downtown/Airport: Amanda Mills, Hilton Garden Inn Pensacola Airport
Lodging/Mainland West: Darpan “Dae” Patel, Rameshwar Hospitality, Pine Forest Hospitality
At Large: Ali Green, University of West Florida

Visit Pensacola would like to extend a special note of gratitude to its outgoing board chair Brent Lane.

For a full look at the past year, watch the video here. For pictures from this year’s annual meeting, tap here. For more information on how Tourism Works for Pensacola, visit http://www.visitpensacola.org/.


About Visit Pensacola
Visit Pensacola is the destination organization for Escambia County, which includes Pensacola, Pensacola Beach, and Perdido Key. With over 460 years of rich history and nearly 40 miles of sugar-white sand beaches bordered by the emerald-green waters of the Gulf of Mexico, visitors from all over the world are lured to our pristine shores every year. Visit Pensacola supports the community vision of tourism by serving as the central body responsible for building tourism as an economic engine for our community through leadership, connection, collaboration, and communication.