critical review of some Visit Orlando accounting and spending practices<\/a> sparked the board\u2019s discussion.<\/p>\nUnder the new pact, Visit Orlando accepted new rules governing the expenditure of about $11 million it had previously marked as private funds to spend as its leaders wished.<\/p>\n
Revenues from Orange County\u2019s Tourist Development Tax, or TDT, are more tightly restricted by state law than are private funds, which are paid or donated to Visit Orlando by theme parks and the agency\u2019s other members. Those private funds are just a small portion of Visit Orlando\u2019s total kitty.<\/p>\n
\u201cEleven million dollars is a lot of money,\u201d Diamond said when Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings asked if he was satisfied the agreement will provide the accountability and transparency his auditors had recommended. \u201cI think the taxpayers have every right not just to want but to expect that they have the ability to look at those funds and to see how they\u2019re spent. I also think that the agreement addresses the audit findings we had.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under the contract, Visit Orlando will still receive 30 cents of every TDT dollar the county collects.<\/p>\n
The new pact also expressly prohibits Visit Orlando or its representatives from lobbying without the county commission\u2019s consent.<\/p>\n
Casandra Matej, president and CEO of Visit Orlando, said the agency approached contract talks with \u201ca spirit of collaboration.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have now clarified our agreement and are happy to be aligned with the county and comptroller and are ready to get back to business,\u201d she said after the vote. \u201cOur team at Visit Orlando has one big thing in common \u2013 we love this community and are immensely proud of the work we do to drive visitation to what is number one most visited destination in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the Tuesday meeting, a slew of supporters lauded Visit Orlando\u2019s work, crediting the agency with helping to bring 75.3 million visitors to Central Florida in 2024, a figure that local officials say makes the region the nation\u2019s top tourism destination. The 6% TDT surcharge on hotel rooms and other short-term lodging raised $389.9 million in calendar year 2025, the most ever for the tax which was first levied in 1987.<\/p>\n
The backers included a half dozen people who serve on Visit Orlando boards and others who work in the tourism industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cVisit Orlando\u2019s market investment is not merely promotional,\u201d Maria Triscari, CEO of the international Drive Resort Area Chamber of Commerce, told commissioners during a public comment period. \u201cIt\u2019s foundational to the prosperity of Central Florida as a result of deliberate, data-driven and globally focused marketing strategy that has positioned our region as a premiere destination.\u201d<\/p>\n
Uribe also complimented Visit Orlando\u2019s work, saying the quality of the agency\u2019s performance was never in doubt.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we want to make sure is we\u2019re transparent with the tax dollars,\u201d Uribe said. \u201cOur only question here, and our job is, where\u2019s the money? How\u2019s it being spent? And let\u2019s make sure it\u2019s being spent correctly or classified correctly. That\u2019s all I\u2019m looking.\u201d<\/p>\n
shudak@orlandosentinel.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Despite an unflattering audit that had exposed questionable spending, Visit Orlando won a renewed contract Tuesday from Orange…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150937,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[64912,1335,139,141,140,11018,72893,11020,11022],"class_list":{"0":"post-150936","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-mayra-uribe","9":"tag-orange-county","10":"tag-orlando","11":"tag-orlando-headlines","12":"tag-orlando-news","13":"tag-phil-diamond","14":"tag-private-funds","15":"tag-tdt","16":"tag-visit-orlando"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}