Sunshine Matters

I’m pleased to share that preliminary estimates* of visitors to Florida for the second quarter of 2011 (April-June) show an estimated 21.2 million travelers visited the Sunshine State.  This represents an increase of 6.9 percent from the same period in 2010.  In addition, 5.6 million pleasure trips were taken by Florida residents in-state during the second quarter.

Preliminary estimates for the second quarter of 2011 show a 5.3 percent increase in domestic visitors, a 17.3 percent increase in the overseas market and an 18.4 percent increase in Canadian travel to Florida.  Of the 21.2 million visitors Florida welcomed this past quarter, domestic visitation represents 18.1 million or an estimated 85.4 percent of total; overseas visitors at 2.2 million or 10.3 percent of total; and Canadian visitors at 879,000 or 4.2 percent of total.  Florida’s tourism-related employment for the second quarter of 2011 was 1,029,600, up by 39,400 jobs, which reflects a 4.0 percent increase when compared to the same period of 2010.

“Tourism is a cornerstone of the Florida economy and I’m greatly encouraged by the continued increases in the number of visitors to the Sunshine State,” said Governor Rick Scott. “Visitors create jobs for Floridians and tourism has been the leading industry in job creation every month this year.”

Also up for the second quarter of 2011, total enplanements at Florida’s 14 major airports rose by 5.0 percent, hotel occupancy rates were up 4 percentage points, and the Average Daily Room Rate increased 4.8 percent from the same period in 2010.  The share of Florida residents taking in-state pleasure trips in the second quarter of 2011 was 52.9 percent, resulting in an additional 5.6 million in-state trips.

“There are more people working in Florida tourism than any other industry,” said Tony Lapi, Chairman of the VISIT FLORIDA Board of Directors. “Florida is the No. 1 travel destination in the world because of the hospitality and professionalism of over one million tourism industry employees who provide an unparalleled vacation experience for our visitors.”

Florida tourism has been steadily regaining market share since January 2011, outpacing the rest of the U.S. by more than 1 percent.  The percent of rooms sold in Florida for the first two quarters of 2011 is up 6.9 percent compared to the same time period last year, while the U.S. is only up 5.8 percent.

It’s great news that Florida is increasing market share in a hyper-competitive global tourism market.  The fact that Florida is experiencing increased visitor numbers from domestic and international markets is a testament to our amazing tourism product, our hospitality industry employees, and aggressive marketing by VISIT FLORIDA and our partners around the state.

VISIT FLORIDA is currently in the midst of the second year of its highly successful tourism marketing campaign, Your Florida Side Is Calling.  The campaign’s call to action directs consumers to VISITFLORIDA.com, the No. 1 trafficked state destination marketing organization website in the country.  New this year is the ability for consumers to find VISITFLORIDA.com content in a mobile version.

VISIT FLORIDA conducts an annual Return on Investment Influencer Study to measure the collective impact of our marketing efforts on visitors’ decisions to come to the Sunshine State.  Results for 2010 show 36.9 percent – a nearly ten percentage point increase over the previous year – were significantly influenced in their decision to visit the state by one or more VISIT FLORIDA marketing initiatives. Those factors include VISIT FLORIDA’s television ads, website, print ads, Welcome Centers, print publications, contests and sweepstakes, and radio ads.  Continued optimization of paid advertising, as well as the integration of traditional, digital and social marketing with public relations, promotions and sales, have resulted in maximizing the impact of VISIT FLORIDA’s marketing efforts.

“Destination marketing works and VISIT FLORIDA’s aggressive marketing efforts have clearly had a positive impact on Florida’s visitor numbers and market share,” said Will Seccombe, Chief Marketing Officer for VISIT FLORIDA.

*Preliminary estimates are issued 45 days after the end of each calendar quarter.  Final estimates are released when final data are received for all estimates in the report.