Florida tourism on target for another record breaking year
Florida tourism is on track for yet another record year of arrivals.
While the Red Tide bloom continues to impact many communities reliant on tourism, the first half of the year showed arrivals were up nearly 6% on last year.
Preliminary figures show an estimated 65.5 million came to the Sunshine State from January-June this year.
"If we have that sort of growth for the rest of the year, we’re going to have 125 million tourists," Gov. Rick Scott said.
Domestic visitation was up more than 7% in the first six months but international arrivals were flat compared to the same period last year.
Tourism growth means more local employment, Scott says.
"Every 65 to 75 tourists is another Florida job," the Governor said.
Tourism accounts for 1.26 million jobs in the state as of July, according to data published by the Department of Economic Opportunity.
Visit Florida president and CEO Ken Lawson lauded the ‘cutting edge marketing programs that highlight the diversity of our state’ and no let-up in aggressively marketing tourism in both established and emerging markets.
Last month Florida announced special marketing funds for Collier, Lee, Charlotte, Sarasota, Manatee, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, which are suffering as visitors stay away amid the prolonged outbreak of Red Tide.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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