ORLANDO, Fla. – An audit conducted by Orange County shows that Visit Orlando, the association that “markets and sells” area tourism, spent some tourism development tax money on items that did not promote tourism, including March Madness skyboxes and a private car allowance for its CEO.
The agency is also accused of incorrectly classifying some TDT dollars as private funds.
The audit, released Tuesday, is the culmination of a monthslong investigation by the Orange County Comptroller’s Office into how Visit Orlando spends TDT revenue, which is collected by the county through a 6% tax on lodging room nights.
“We got into this because they are the biggest recipient of tourist tax dollars from Orange County. They get over $100 million a year. They get 30 percent of all the tourist taxes we collect. So, it’s a big deal. And since it’s such a big deal, it’s important to keep track of what they do to make sure what they do, they’re doing right,” Orange County Comptroller Phil Diamond said.
In 2023, that amounted to $105 million, according to the county’s audit. That was 92% of the agency’s total funding, according to the audit.
County commissioners approved the audit in 2024, after commissioners questioned the necessity of giving the agency so much money every year.
[IN-DEPTH: Orange County’s tourist tax collections break records. Here’s what the money is used for and why]
Audit concerns: Skyboxes and Christmas sweaters
The audit found that from January 2023 to December 2023, Visit Orlando incorrectly marked public TDT revenues as private funds.
This is important because Visit Orlando is limited in how it spends TDT funds according to Florida law. Private dollars can be used at an organization’s discretion, but public dollars must be used in specific ways and require transparency.
According to the audit:
“... At least $3.54 million in other revenue should have been reimbursed to VO’s TDT Funds because the revenues were directly related to TDT expenditures. Further, the Agreement is unclear whether an additional $996,100 from website/newsletter advertising should also have been reimbursed to VO’s TDT Funds. If so, the total amount due to TDT Funds would increase to $4.54 million.”
Visit Orlando was accused of doing this same thing in the last audit the county conducted several years ago.
Auditors said they identified some $379,780 in expenses in 2023 that did not appear to promote tourism. They include:
- $20,600 on two Kia Center sky boxes at the 2023 NCAA March Madness tournament, where only eight of the attendees were potential clients. The rest of the guests were agency staff, members and elected officials.
- $427,700 on a multi-year agreement to develop an environmental sustainability policy.
- $860,000 on three luncheons for local attendees. The audit says that Visit Orlando claimed these luncheons were intended to be marketing and networking events for local businesses and travel agents, but event agendas show no opportunities to do that.
- $12,210 for a car allowance for Visit Orlando’s CEO.
- $6,505 on office decor and design, including a personal refrigerator for the chief operating officer’s office.
- $6,000 for an employee to attend a trade show that they never attended. The agency only got $3,000 back.
- $1,821 on Orange vans sneakers
- $417 on Christmas sweaters and a card
The audit also said Visit Orlando staff engaged in state legislative lobbying activities without prior permission from the Orange County Commission.
“That’s something that their contract says, no, they can’t do. That’s something that they say they don’t do, but we’ve seen videotape of the president, Visit Orlando up in Tallahassee in front of the House Ways and Means Committee in 2023, testifying against a bill that she opposed,” Diamond said.
Additional concerns in the audit include:
- A reserve fund of $15 million, where over half the funds come from TDT revenue, but Visit Orlando can’t provide evidence of the source of some $6.4 million in the account. Only $875,000 is from verified private funds.
- Visit Orlando not complying with policies requiring the agency to evaluate the return on investment for hosted events and business travel exceeding $500 in its summary report.
- Orange County not properly monitoring to make sure Visit Orlando was complying with its agreement with the county.
In the case of return on investment concerns, the audit cites a Michelin event held in New York City that was supposed to showcase a Michelin-starred Orlando restaurant, Capa. But the event was held at The Musket Room and largely featured dishes prepared by The Musket Room’s chefs.
The audit said Visit Orlando paid $75,000 in TDT funds for the dinner and hosted 40 guests at $1,875 a head.
“Given that the event was held out of state and did not prominently feature the promoted Florida restaurant, we question whether it delivered sufficient value in terms of promoting Orange County tourism,” read the audit.
According to its website, Visit Orlando is a “not-for-profit trade association that brands, markets and sells the Orlando destination globally, representing more than 1,600 member companies comprising every segment of Central Florida’s tourism community.”
Those 1,600 companies pay fees to be part of the agency, including membership fees.
The audit shows those membership fees have contributed to a smaller and smaller portion of Visit Orlando’s budget as tourist development tax revenue increased.
A graph in the audit on page 6 shows that in 2013, the agency’s budget was $52 million, with 25.3% coming from non-TDT revenue.
In 2024, the budget was $113 million, with 8.2% coming from non-TDT revenue.
[From 2024: Orange County commissioners vote to reduce Visit Orlando funding]
Comptroller’s recommendations to the county
Diamond said the 2019 agreement with Visit Orlando needs revision to be less vague.
“We think that contracts ought to be clear and people ought to follow them,” Diamond explained.
He said Visit Orlando must reimburse at least $3.5 million to the tourism development tax fund.
“All we’re saying is put it in a transparent account and spend it by the rules,” Diamond said. “And they still get to spend it, still get to spend it to promote tourism. But it’s not private money. They have to play by the rules, and they have to disclose it.”
The audit also recommends that the county order an independent analysis on Visit Orlando’s return on investment.
The agency says that every dollar provided to Visit Orlando generates $33 of economic activity, but auditors say it’s unclear how the agency came to that conclusion.
News 6 reached out to Visit Orlando to discuss the audit. Casandra Matej, President & CEO of Visit Orlando, sent the following statement:
“As a long-standing partner with Orange County, Visit Orlando worked collaboratively with the Comptroller’s team to complete their current audit of our organization. We thank the Comptroller’s Office and are proud of our ongoing commitment to transparency and financial accountability. Visit Orlando is a good steward of the funding it receives, both TDT and non-TDT, which directly supports our mission to inspire, promote and grow global travel to Orlando for economic and community benefit. The audit centers primarily on new requests to re-classify funds (for accounting purposes) to our non-TDT account. We’re working with the county on some of these re-classifying requests as a majority of funds did not originate from hotel tax collections and nearly half of the funds in discussion were a COVID-era tax credit. In addition, recommendations were made to update certain processes and procedures that were not addressed in previous audits. Recognizing that audits are opportunities to learn and improve processes, Visit Orlando has already worked through and implemented many of these new requests and will be working with the county to clarify others. We value our work and partnership with Orange County, which continues to result in significant economic and community impact."
Barb Bowden, Chair, Visit Orlando Board of Directors and Visit Orlando Executive Committee, also sent a statement:
“We appreciate the recent completion of Orange County’s audit of Visit Orlando. As an organization dedicated to transparency and financial responsibility, we welcome thoughtful external reviews and view them as valuable opportunities for ongoing learning and improvement. Our Board of Directors takes audits and financial stewardship with the utmost seriousness. Visit Orlando is regularly subject to comprehensive oversight, including routine reviews by our audit and oversight committee, annual financial audits by an independent accounting firm, and detailed, transparent reporting to the Board, Orange County, and other stakeholders. We fully support Visit Orlando’s official response to the audit and stand behind the efforts of the organization’s leadership and staff. We recognize some of the insightful recommendations provided by the audit and look forward to seeing them implemented. As a Board, we remain proud partners in Visit Orlando’s ongoing commitment to integrity, transparency, and continuous improvement.”
Calls to relax TDT spending rules
The audit comes as more people call for relaxing Florida’s restrictions on spending tourist development tax dollars.
Defenders of current laws point out that the TDT is a tax that the tourism industry placed on itself to pay for promotion and tourism-related facilities.
[FROM 2023: Orange County leaders push for tourist tax dollars to go toward community needs]
But critics say a portion of the revenue should be spent on things like roads, utility facilities, public transit, or even affordable housing for tourism and hospitality workers. They argue that tourists directly benefit from these things that residents need as well.
The Florida Legislature, in recent years, has made some changes, allowing TDT dollars to be used for things like lifeguards in coastal communities.
Earlier this year, State Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, and State Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, both pushed to allow TDT funds for public transit or affordable housing. Those efforts failed to pass.
Smith also sponsored a bill to cap the amount of money convention and visitor’s bureau agencies can get from TDT revenues to $50 million. That provision was included in the Florida Senate’s tax proposal and made it through much of the budget negotiations.
It was pulled at the last minute.
In a series of posts on X.com Tuesday, Smith once again called for the state to consider another of his TDT bills, which would require a one-to-one match of private to public contributions to fund these agencies.
“Every public dollar we invest should have a required match of private dollars. That’s what @VISITFLORIDA does— why not @VisitOrlando?" he wrote.
[READ Orange County’s Visit Orlando audit]
Visit Orlando Audit by Christie Zizo on Scribd