Florida: Losing some of its tourist luster?
Despite modest tourism growth nationally, visits to the theme park capital that underpins Florida’s multibillion-dollar industry seem to be sputtering, according to several new reports.
The area has seen double-digit declines in September and October hotel occupancy, according to Smith Travel Research. It ranked worst in year-to-date occupancy declines among the company’s top 25 U.S. destinations (excluding Las Vegas), with a 4.6% drop so far.
At the same time, the average cost of rooms has increased 9 percent to just over $100.
The tax collections for hotel beds were down 4.2 percent in October from the same month in 2005.
The Smith numbers don’t include Walt Disney World hotels, which do not release occupancy figures.
The numbers also don’t reflect the area’s increasingly more prevalent and popular time-shares. Beyond that, passenger traffic at Orlando International Airport is still on the rise — up 2.9% increase to 34.7 million passengers for its fiscal year ending in October, according to airport officials.
Visitors to all areas of Florida are down so far in 2006, which could give the state its first year-to-year drop since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Florida has hosted 66.8 million people, according to figures released last week, down .8% from 67.4 million visitors at the same time in 2005.
Last year Orlando drew 49 million guests, 58% of Florida’s 83.6 million total.
Report by David Wilkening
David
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Phocuswright reveals the world's largest travel markets in volume in 2025
Cyclone in Sri Lanka had limited effect on tourism in contrary to media reports
Higher departure tax and visa cost, e-arrival card: Japan unleashes the fiscal weapon against tourists
In Italy, the Meloni government congratulates itself for its tourism achievements
Singapore to forbid entry to undesirable travelers with new no-boarding directive