Sunshine Matters

I am pleased to share that today Governor Rick Scott announced during a press conference at the Miami International Airport that Florida has set another record in tourism by welcoming the highest amount of visitors of any six months in the state’s history with 54.1 million visitors.  This record amount of visitors represents a 5.8 increase over the same period last year.  In the second quarter of 2015 (April-June), 25.8 million visitors came to the state, an increase of 5.5 percent over the year.  The average number of direct travel-related jobs in quarter two of 2015 was also a record high, with 1,213,500 Floridians employed in the tourism industry – up 4.9 percent over the year. Continue reading »

In 2013, an estimated 69 million international tourists visited the United States spending approximately $180.7 billion on tourism-related goods and services.  Florida captured 22% of these visitors as we hosted over 15 million international tourists last year, a 9% increase over 2012.  The United States’ Travel and Tourism Strategy, launched in 2012, sets a goal of attracting 100 million international visitors by 2021.  This is in sync with VISIT FLORIDA’s own goal to reach 100 million visitors by 2015. Continue reading »