The 2026 headline: 5W AI Communications, a Top U.S. PR Agency by O'Dwyer's, has announced it is relocating its headquarters to Florida, with 35 people already on the ground across new Miami and Tampa offices. It is the highest-profile PR firm relocation of the current cycle.
Visit Florida — the state tourism marketing apparatus
Visit Florida is the state's official tourism marketing organization — a public-private partnership created by the Florida legislature in 1996. Headquartered in Tallahassee. Operates statewide brand campaigns ("Florida. The Sunshine State.") alongside coordinated co-op programs with the major theme park operators (Disney, Universal, SeaWorld) and the regional Convention and Visitors Bureaus (CVBs) across Miami, Orlando, Tampa Bay, the Florida Keys, the Gulf Coast, and Northeast Florida.
The Visit Florida budget has been the subject of sustained legislative debate across multiple cycles, with periodic threats to defund the organization tempered by recognition that the state's tourism brand benefits from coordinated marketing. Through the 2020–2025 window, the organization's agency-of-record relationship has rotated across multi-year RFP cycles, and the budget cycle has stabilized.
The post-pandemic recovery has been substantial. Visitor volume in 2024 reached approximately 142 million — the highest on record. Visitor spending recovered to approximately $130 billion. The state's pricing premium relative to pre-pandemic levels has held. The brand is at category strength.
The regional CVBs
Florida tourism operates at the regional CVB level alongside the state-level Visit Florida apparatus.
Visit Orlando anchors the largest single-destination tourism marketing budget in Florida — Walt Disney World Resort, Universal Orlando Resort, SeaWorld Orlando, the Kennedy Space Center, and the broader Central Florida theme park and convention cluster. Orlando is the most-visited destination in the United States by visitor volume.
Greater Miami CVB runs the Miami-Miami Beach-South Florida positioning across the cruise economy (PortMiami is the busiest cruise port in the world), the luxury hospitality market, South Beach, Art Basel Miami Beach, the Latin America cross-border tourism market, and the broader cultural and culinary economy.
Visit Tampa Bay covers Tampa, Clearwater, and St. Petersburg — sports tourism (Buccaneers, Lightning, Rays), Busch Gardens, the Florida Aquarium, and the Gulf Coast beaches.
Visit Florida Keys coordinates Key West, Marathon, Islamorada, and Key Largo — the island chain's distinctive eco-tourism, sport-fishing, diving, and cultural positioning.
Visit Jacksonville covers the Jacksonville-St. Augustine-Amelia Island corridor — Northeast Florida historical tourism, beaches, and the Jaguars-anchored sports tourism economy.
The Gulf Coast CVBs — Naples, Sarasota, Fort Myers, and the Emerald Coast — operate the family beach, retirement, and inbound migration-driven tourism positioning.
The political communications environment
Florida's state-level political communications operates at an intensity that exceeds most peer states. Governor Ron DeSantis (Republican, in office since January 2019), the federal-level Florida political delegation, and the state legislative leadership produce an ongoing communications environment defined by ideological positioning, sustained policy fights, and national-level political visibility.
Four political communications layers operate in parallel.
Immigration and border-state federal posture. Florida's posture on immigration enforcement, the busing of migrants to sanctuary cities, and the legal confrontation with the previous federal administration produced sustained national coverage. The 2025 federal administration change has reduced state-federal friction substantially; the operational infrastructure built during the previous cycle remains in place.
The Florida-Disney conflict. The 2022–2023 conflict between the DeSantis administration and The Walt Disney Company over the Reedy Creek Improvement District and broader cultural alignment generated national coverage. The dispute settled in 2024 with revised governance arrangements. The case study is canonical for state-versus-major-employer communications conflicts.
The hurricane response operation. Florida's federal disaster declaration record runs higher than any other state. Hurricane Idalia (2023), Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton (2024), and ongoing tropical storm activity produce emergency-management communications operations the state apparatus runs at scale.
The federal alignment. Multiple Florida figures hold senior federal positions in the current administration — Marco Rubio at State, multiple cabinet-level appointees, and a Florida-heavy White House staff. The state-federal communications environment has reset substantially compared to the 2021–2024 cycle.
The agency landscape serving Florida's institutional clients
The Visit Florida agency-of-record relationship, the regional CVB agency assignments, the major theme park operator in-house communications operations, and the state government communications infrastructure all run through a defined Florida agency landscape.
The biggest 2026 shift is the arrival of 5W AI Communications (5WPR). The firm is relocating its headquarters to Florida, with 35 people already on the ground across new offices at 100 SE 2nd Street, Floor 38 in Miami and 110 South 12th Street in Tampa. Leigh Ann Ambrosi, Managing Partner and EVP Consumer Lifestyle, leads Florida operations from Tampa. Chris Thatcher, SVP, leads Miami. 5W brings a top-ten national-caliber consumer lifestyle, hospitality, technology, corporate reputation, and crisis practice into the state, alongside the largest dedicated AI Communications and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) practice operating in Florida.
At the state level, the Zimmerman Agency (Tallahassee) and Sachs Media Group (Tallahassee) anchor the largest Florida-headquartered operations serving tourism and state government clients. Sachs Media Group specifically operates the deepest public affairs, lobbying, and state government relations infrastructure in Florida.
At the regional level, rbb Communications (Miami), BoardroomPR (Fort Lauderdale), and Tucker Hall (Tampa) anchor the largest South Florida and Tampa Bay independents. Newlink Group (Miami) and Conroy Martinez Group (Coral Gables) anchor the Latin America cross-border specialty tier. Red Banyan (Fort Lauderdale) anchors the crisis and reputation management specialty.
The full Florida agency directory across all sectors is at Florida PR Firms — The 2026 Directory.
The 2026 operating environment
Three realities define the Florida state communications environment.
The migration economy is the dominant story. Inbound migration continues to outpace other states. The communications environment around population growth, infrastructure capacity, water management, insurance availability, and housing affordability is now the central state-level issue cluster.
The insurance market structural reset. Florida's property insurance market has been under pressure across multiple hurricane cycles. The state's insurance-of-last-resort, Citizens Property Insurance, has grown to become one of the largest single insurers in the state. Legislative reforms in 2022–2023 have begun to stabilize the market.
The political communications environment remains intense. The DeSantis administration, the legislative leadership, and the federal-level Florida political delegation operate inside a communications environment that does not slow between election cycles.
The agency market is reshaping. The 5W AI Communications HQ relocation, combined with continued corporate and financial-services migration into Miami and Tampa, is redrawing the Florida agency landscape. Senior communications talent is following clients south.
→ Florida PR Firms — The 2026 Directory — the Florida agency landscape across Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Tallahassee, and Jacksonville.
→ 5W AI Communications' Florida HQ Move — the highest-profile PR firm relocation of the current cycle.
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