Florida Realtors® Part of Gov. Scott's Business Mission to France

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Jun 24, 2015, 03:42 ET

ORLANDO, Fla., June 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Representing Florida's Realtors and the interests of the state's real estate industry, Florida Realtors® President Andrew Barbar and CEO Bill Martin are back from a recent trade mission in France with Gov. Rick Scott and key business leaders. The group met with French companies and individuals to emphasize the affordability and opportunities for real estate investment in Florida and to show "Florida is a great place to do business."

The trade mission took place from June 15-21 at the International Paris Air Show.

"The purpose of the governor's trade missions is to showcase Florida as the No. 1 location for businesses to move to and encourage business investment in Florida," said Barbar, a broker with Keller Williams Realty Services in Boca Raton. "Such growth is important for Florida's future. Florida's economy and real estate markets are connected.

"When international companies make business investments in the state and create new jobs, it opens up so many opportunities for growth. People need homes and to develop locations for their companies – it strengthens the state."

Bill Johnson, president and CEO of Enterprise Florida Inc., added, "Opportunities like the Paris Air Show are critical to Enterprise Florida's efforts to help small and medium-sized businesses grow through trade, and to tell Florida's business story to global leaders. We hosted the largest pavilion of any state at the air show and held more than 60 one-on-one meetings with aviation and aerospace companies. The mission was a great success and we will continue attending events like the air show to create jobs in Florida."

With nearly 2,200 exhibiting companies from 44 countries and more than 139,000 trade visitors from all over the world, the International Paris Air Show is this year's largest aviation and aerospace exhibition and display.

The Sunshine State is home to one of the largest aerospace and aviation industries in the U.S. – Florida has more than 2,000 companies related to the industry, 12 aviation military bases, three spaceports and dozens of colleges and academic programs that offer aerospace and aviation training. The industry employs more than 87,000 workers across the state.

During the event, Barbar and Martin met with members of the French national real estate federation, known as FNAIM, to discuss expanding the ties between the two associations, and developing more real estate opportunities. FNAIM is the largest professional real estate organization in Europe. The organization represents about 8,000 agencies and 37,000 real estate experts specializing in over 12 different professions in the property sale, management expertise and consultancy sector.

"With over $160MM in purchases over the past year, French buyers see Florida as a great destination for a second home," Barbar said. "According to Florida Realtors' latest research (the 2014 Profile of International Home Buyers in Florida), buyers from France are investing all over the state."

Florida Realtors CEO Bill Martin added, "We were there to tell the Florida real estate story to businesses relocating to Florida and assist them in connecting with our members to find the right business location and homes for their employees."

Florida Realtors®, formerly known as the Florida Association of Realtors®, serves as the voice for real estate in Florida. It provides programs, services, continuing education, research and legislative representation to its 140,000 members in 58boards/associations. Florida Realtors® Media Center website is available at http://media.floridarealtors.org.

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SOURCE Florida Realtors