Miami Tourism a Big Loser in Sequester

Miami will bear the brunt of the fallout of the automatic budget cuts that are set to begin on Friday due to the share of its tourism dollars that come internationally, according to a Florida TaxWatch report released Tuesday.

The sequestration cuts will have an immediate impact on the airline industry and customs officials, as agencies like U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Security Administration will be affected, thereby elongating wait times and reducing security at Florida's ports of entry.

Miami will experience the worst of the effects, because 97 percent of overnight visitors to the city arrive by air. Miami has the highest percentage of foreign visitors of any U.S. city, according to TaxWatch.

The budget sequestration immediately cuts $85 billion and the Congressional Budget Office has reported that spending will be cut back by $44 billion by the end of September. The effect on Florida will be higher than on other states due to its large ports of entry.

The longer Congress waits to resolve this situation, the more uncertainty and volatility will be introduced into the market, and the more likely our economy will experience another recession, ultimately costing Florida jobs, making it more difficult for Floridas companies and impacting Floridas budget, the TaxWatch report states.

In the fourth quarter of 2012, Florida received 21.4 million visitors with 54 percent of the total arriving by air, according to Visit Florida, the tourism marketing arm of the state.

More than 1 million people are employed by Floridas tourism industry.