Florida continues to see a record-breaking number of tourists heading to the Sunshine State.
On Thursday, Gov. Rick Scott noted the first nine months of this year saw 79.1 million tourists, a 5.5 percent increase from last year. That number was helped by a strong third quarter as 25.5 million tourists visited from July through September, an increase of 6.8 percent from last year.
Scott also noted that almost 1.2 million Floridians held jobs directly tied to tourism, up 5.2 percent from last year.
“I am proud to announce that the Sunshine State continued our record-breaking success and welcomed the most visitors in Florida’s history over the first three quarters of the year,” Scott said on Thursday. “Our growing tourism industry employs 1.2 million Floridians and is helping us meet our goal of becoming first for jobs. We look forward to more than 100 million tourists visiting Florida this year.”
Most tourists during the third quarter--22.1 million--came from the U.S., an increase of more than 8 percent from last year. The third quarter saw 3.4 million international tourists visit Florida.
As Scott and his team noted on Thursday, more tourists means more spending in the Sunshine State. From January through August, there has been an 8.2 percent increase from those months last year in tourism and recreation taxable sales in the Sunshine State. Hotel sales are also on the rise as the average daily room rate (ADR) rose 5.1 percent from that time last year and room occupancy rose 3.6 percent and room demand went up 4.8 percent.
“With three record quarters and a fifth consecutive record year on the horizon, it’s clear that this continued growth does not happen by accident,” Will Seccombe, the president and CEO of Visit Florida said. “It’s the direct result of a global marketing strategy focused on maximizing the economic impact of Florida tourism. Today’s announcement shows tourism marketing works and we have Gov. Scott and the Florida Legislature to thank for their unparalleled support that will enable us to reach our goal of generating $100 billion in visitor spending by 2020.”
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
