Apparently the number of visitors in Florida has risen despite the BP oil spill. This is all thanks to a £20 million promotion. Tourism officials in Florida say that money donated by BP has encouraged holidaymakers to visit this state despite the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. This has “saved” the summer.

These new figures show that the total number of visitors to the Sunshine State actually increased during the first months of the crisis. Officials are largely giving the credit to advertising that was funded by a $32 million donation from BP.

The experts went on to say that this allowed the tourism sector to drive home the message that most of Florida’s 663 miles of beach remained untouched by the spill. Nicki Grossman, who is the president of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau, said that it was the best money that BP spent, other than capping the spill. He added that the summer has been saved. Occupancy rates were up 6 percent. There is no question that money talks.

This money that was given to the state of Florida by BP and paid for many things. This included high profile campaigns on TV, newspapers and radio. However, these ads did not just run in America, but in Europe as well. People were encouraged to come and cool down in Miami.

Visit Florida, which is the state’s tourism body, said that almost 21 million people arrived between April and June. This is a 3.4 percent increase on 2009. The number of visitors from overseas during this time span was 1.9 million. This is an 11.9 percent increase.