Florida needs jobs. Plain and simple. It’s been nearly two years since Florida’s average unemployment rate has dipped below double digits. We’re facing another $1.5 billion revenue shortfall that will once again force us to make cuts to our education, public safety and health care budgets.

Fortunately, as we start another year and another legislative session, Florida is uniquely poised to make great strides toward putting thousands of Floridians back to work and urging our economy towards recovery by taking advantage of the economic benefits of a unique destination resorts proposal.

As an advocate for creating employment opportunities for Florida’s nearly one million jobless, Associated Industries of Florida (AIF) believes the creation of up to three specific and limited destination resorts in South Florida will jump start the economy and provide relief to tens of thousands of unemployed citizens in one of Florida’s hardest hit areas. The resort destination proposal will put paychecks back in the hands of nearly 100,000 unemployed Floridians and help relieve the burden of rising unemployment compensation taxes on employers.

The jobs created by the destination resort industry would be well-paying jobs with benefits. Many would be available within the next 12 months, providing immediate unemployment relief for Floridians who can’t wait any longer. Florida’s construction industry, which has been hit particularly hard by the recession, stands to gain approximately 20,000 to 30,000 new jobs. This major influx of jobs would make the destination resort industry the largest job creator in the state’s recent history.

These proposed resort complexes will also require a minimum $6 billion construction and development investment and are designed to attract visitors from across the country and world to the eclectic and culturally diverse areas of South Florida, which are already a huge attraction to millions of visitors each year. While the gaming facilities are a component of these resorts, they consume a small portion of the square footage amongst the variety of other amenities available to guests.

In contrast to other gaming-centric resorts, such as those in Las Vegas, the proposed Florida destination resorts are not modeled around or dependent on gaming. Instead, they create a diverse experience for their guests that enhances the countless amenities South Florida already has to offer.

Florida is already an international destination. Destination resorts offer travelers one more reason to plan a trip to the Sunshine State and have the potential to attract an additional 10 million visitors to Florida each year. This, in turn, not only helps to stabilize state revenue, but will also increase revenue to airlines, hotels, restaurants, high-end retail, spas, entertainment venues, convention space, local businesses, outdoor recreational activities and other industries.

This is Florida’s chance to embrace an opportunity that will create thousands of jobs, billions in revenue, jump-start economic development and give immediate relief to hard working Floridians. We must put words into action and take advantage of this opportunity that gets our state back on the track to recovery and prosperity.

Brewster Bevis is Vice President of External Relations at Associated Industries of Florida, known as “The Voice of Florida Business since 1920,” and can be reached at bbevis@aif.com