PHOTO: Courtesy of Florida's Sunshine Trail 2013.
Florida welcomed a record 94.7 million visitors last year, which represents a 3.5 percent increase over the 2012 high of 91.5 visitors in 2012, according to statistics released by Visit Florida.
"With nearly 95 million visitors traveling to the Sunshine State, today's news that Florida broke another record year for tourism is a victory for Florida families," Florida Governor Rick Scott said. "Every 85 visitors to Florida equals one job in our state - and it is clear that more visitors to the Sunshine State means more jobs for Florida families."
Visit Florida said an estimated 11.5 million overseas visitors and 3.7 million Canadians visited Florida in 2013, both of which are record highs representing 11.1 percent and 4.1 percent increases over 2012, respectively. Estimates indicate a 2.5 percent increase in intra-Florida travel last year, with 20.1 million Floridians traveling within the state.
The number of direct travel-related jobs in 2013 was also a record high, with 1,088,200 Floridians employed in the tourism industry - up 2.9 percent from 2012.
The average daily room (ADR) rate last year rose 4.6 percent and the occupancy rate for hotels increased 3.5 percent compared to 2012. Both ADR and occupancy increased every month year-over-year in 2013.
"We are incredibly encouraged to see domestic, Canadian and overseas visitor numbers all peaking together in 2013, and look forward to continuing to build on this momentum in 2014 to make Florida the No. 1 travel destination in the world," said Will Seccombe, president and CEO of Visit Florida.
Preliminary estimates for the fourth quarter of 2013 show a record 21.9 million people visited Florida, resulting in the largest fourth-quarter visitation the state has ever seen. Estimates also indicate that approximately 3.2 million overseas visitors traveled to Florida in the fourth quarter, an increase of 12.1 percent; and 724,000 Canadians traveled to the state, reflecting an increase of 4.2 percent over the same period in 2012.
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