Arnie Weissmann
The news organization Axios reported this month that institutions and corporations were retreating from taking stands on potentially controversial issues because doing so is not only a no-win proposition but possibly a lose-lose one.
In travel, no business has felt that more keenly than the Walt Disney Co., whose public positions related to Florida's Parental Rights in Education Act (aka the "Don't Say Gay" bill) managed to antagonize employees, activists and government officials. Depending on who you ask, they either went too far or not far enough.
If the decision to speak up has become solely a business decision, Axios says that most organizations have decided that silence is better for their bottom line.
Most, but not all. Two Florida organizations, each via different paths, make the opposite case: Taking a stand is good for business.
Visit Florida fired the first shot, though its muzzle was fitted with a silencer. Without fanfare, it removed dozens of pages of information designed to promote visitation to the state by LGBTQ+ travelers.
Tourism is Florida's No. 1 industry, and when questioned about why the pages were removed, Visit Florida CEO Dana Young pointed to rising tourism numbers as proof that Florida's marketing plan is sound.
(Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took a different tack, saying, "We're open to all, but we're not going to be segregating people by these different characteristics." That statement was undermined when it was pointed out that Visit Florida's website continues to have sections designed to specifically promote Black and Hispanic visitation.)
Last month, Stacy Ritter, CEO of Visit Lauderdale, told Forbes that "from a business standpoint, it makes zero sense. You can adamantly support people who need your support right now and also recognize there's an economic benefit to doing so. There's nothing wrong with that. That's America, that's capitalism."
Indeed, if viewed through a business lens, anyone who has taken Marketing 101 knows that segmenting and targeting profitable demographics is a tried-and-true means of growing a business. And LGBTQ+ visitors spend one-and-a-half times as much as other visitors, according to Ritter.
"It's a culture war," she said. "They've decided to inject themselves in the culture war, which is bad for business."
Last week, she fired back, launching the "No End to the Rainbows" social media campaign. "We stand by our commitment to provide a welcoming experience for all travelers, including our LGBTQ+ community," Ritter said.
Visit Florida's Young told her board last month that "Visit Florida is a taxpayer-funded organization, and as such, Visit Florida -- our marketing strategy, our materials and our content -- must align with the state."
This past summer, CNBC ranked Florida fifth in the nation among "America's top states for business." If being business-friendly is indeed in alignment with the state's foundational goals, common business sense would dictate that the LGBTQ+ pages that were removed from Visit Florida's website should be reinstated.
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Speaking of Florida-based tourism enterprises, a milestone was reached this week by Space Perspective when it successfully completed its first uncrewed test launch and recovery. The company aims to take tourists 100,000 feet up to "the edge of space" -- above 99% of the Earth's atmosphere -- in a capsule suspended from a high-altitude balloon.
A seat aboard the eight-passenger capsule, named Spaceship Neptune, costs $125,000, and 1,800 reservations have already been accepted. (Some travel agencies have reserved entire capsules on the expectation they'll be in high demand.) The first launch with eight space tourists and one captain is expected to be in 2026.
Space Perspective differs from other space tourism initiatives in several regards. The first is price, the second is sustainability (it's carbon neutral), the third is that no training period is required and the fourth is that it does not go as high, though it does reach black space.
The balloon rises at a speed of about 12 mph, which co-founder Jane Poynter likens to taking an elevator to space.
The capsule used in the test is a fully operational model and was launched from and recovered by a purpose-built floating "marine space port" off the coast of St. Petersburg. The entire operation lasted about six hours, which is the intended length of a manned journey (a two-hour ascent, two hours at altitude and a two-hour descent).
The company reported that the operation unfolded as planned and that data that was recorded will be analyzed before the next test phase.
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And one more Florida item: Travel Weekly's CruiseWorld will be held in Fort Lauderdale Nov. 6 to 8. I'll be interviewing Carnival Corp. CEO Josh Weinstein, Royal Caribbean Group CEO Jason Liberty and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings CEO Harry Sommer onstage.
Cruise line presidents within those companies and their sales and marketing executives will also take the stage.
Supplier- and peer-led workshops and an active trade show are also on tap.
Sign up at www.cruiseworldshow.com. See you there!
Correction: The Space Perspective capsule
holds eight passengers, not six as previously reported. There is also a captain
aboard.