Florida tourism records best ever first half
Local political turmoil has done little to dampen demand for Florida tourism, but international arrivals have dipped.
Florida governor Rick Scott announced the best ever six months for tourism with 60.7 million visitors recorded in the first half of the year.
The figures underscore strong numbers for out-of-state visitors although international markets are down slightly.
There were an estimated 53.2 million domestic visitors, 5.3 million overseas visitors and 2.2 million visited the Sunshine State from Canada.
It equates to an overall 4.1% increase in visitation.
"This means back-to-back record quarters for our state. Now, with the investments made in VISIT FLORIDA during this year’s Special Legislative Session, we can continue to break records and work toward our goal of 120 million visitors this year." Gov. Scott said.
"Florida’s booming tourism industry supports 1.4 million jobs across the state, and I know that VISIT FLORIDA and their many local partners are continuing to focus on breaking more records in order to help create even more opportunities."
VISIT FLORIDA CEO Ken Lawson said the agency is ‘committed to continuing to create cutting-edge marketing programs for our industry partners of all sizes that showcase the state to visitors’.
The agency eventually received full funding after months-long political wrangling but new rules mandating strict disclosure over in kind and financial benefits was a step too far for some regional tourism agencies.
A dozen cut ties with VISIT FLORIDA as they were unable to meet the new guidelines.
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