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Politics

Florida Off to a Record Year for Tourism Based on First Half of 2017

August 15, 2017 - 11:00am

Based on the first half of 2017, Florida is primed for another record breaking year for tourism. 

On Tuesday, at an event at the Florida Aquarium in Tampa, Gov. Rick Scott announced that 60.7 million tourists visited the Sunshine State in the first six months of 2017, an increase of 4.1 percent from last year when more tourists came to Florida than ever before. Last year marked the sixth year in a row of record tourism and Scott and his team sounded confident 2017 will keep that streak going. 

Most of the 60.7 million visitors--53.2 million--came from the U.S. while 5.3 million came from overseas and 2.2 million were from Canada. 

“I am proud to announce today that Florida has continued its record breaking success by welcoming more than 60 million visitors to our state over the first half of 2017- the highest number of visitors of any six months in our state’s history,” Scott said on Tuesday. “This means back-to-back record quarters for our state."

Scott made a pitch for Visit Florida, the public/private partnership, which is the state’s official tourism marketing company. Earlier this year, Scott battled fiscal conservatives in the Florida Legislature led by House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Lutz, over Visit Florida’s funding. While Scott first asked for $100 million for Visit Florida, during a special session, the Legislature approved $76 million in funding, a far cry from the $25 million proposed by some of the Republicans in the House. 

“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,” 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 for our families.”

The numbers were boosted by 29.9 million tourists coming in the second quarter of 2017, an increase of 6.8 percent from last year. This led to a 6.1 percent jump in airport traffic in the second quarter of 2017 compared to last year and a 4.2 percent increase in hotel rooms sold compared to the second quarter of 2016. 
 
Ken Lawson, the president and CEO of Visit Florida, sounded confident that his team will continue to play an important role in bringing tourists to the Sunshine State. 

“With more than 60 million visitors to the state so far this year, this is an exciting and historic time for the Florida tourism industry," Lawson said. “Visit Florida is committed to continuing to create cutting-edge marketing programs for our industry partners of all sizes that showcase the state to visitors and help make Florida the number one vacation destination in the world.”
 
The business community’s leadership also weighed in as Carol Dover, the president and CEO of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, noted how tourism impacts the state’s economy. 

“Florida continues to set record tourism numbers, which supports our economy and the 1.4 million industry jobs across the state,” Dover said. “As ambassadors of Florida’s tourism industry, we will continue to work diligently to attract even more visitors to enjoy our incredible state. The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association is proud to be a champion of the tourism industry and honored to share Florida’s world-renowned hospitality with residents and visitors alike.”

 


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Comments

"Visit Florida".....So successful (and Citizen Taxpayer costly) a "promotion" that there are ALMOST NO, or VERY FEW, parking spaces in beach and Park areas, and local roadways not designed for greatly increased vehicle traffic; fights among beach residents, visitors, beach umbrella/chair rental vendors, etc.; and undeserved, increase & exorbitant restaurant fees.. for less quality, "Public Service" costs are becoming prohibitive in all aspects. Disappointment and anger among residents, and visitors, is palpable. Politicians, both Local and State, are well into the process of "killing the goose that laid the golden egg"...

I voted for Gov. Scott twice. No other choice. Like the prez lection. Don not my first choice. Ballot could have said Hillary or " Anybody Else" . Rick hoodooed several hundred million from a flawed health care system and could not recognize his own signature. Ah, yes, the plot thickens Florida could charge an impact fee to cross the state line. We need to spend money getting business to come here like we need to release pythons in the Glades.

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