TALLAHASSEE — Tourism officials say a bill passed this week could cripple Visit *******, to the point of wiping out the tourism board at a critical time for attracting international travellers to the state.

According to the Orlando Sentinel the bill passed by a 10 – 5 vote. The bill eliminates funding for tourism marketing and other programs.

Visit ******* has been beset by ******* after it partnered with *******-born rapper Pitbull for a tourism promotion campaign. ******* Governor Rick Scott called for former Visit ******* CEO Will Seccombe to step down after Visit ******* refused to publicly disclose it paid rapper Pitbull US$1 million to promote the state. Visit *******’s new President and CEO Ken Lawson was appointed in January.

Tourism funding critics say increases in visitation to ******* don’t justify current levels of government funding.

According to TravelMole, ******* House Speaker Richard Corcoran, who was in favour of the bill to eliminate funding, said that between 2011 and 2015, Visit ******* funding increased 112% while visitor numbers were up 22%.