WHY IT RATES: Florida always has been and remains one of the top travel destinations in the United States and the world.-Donald Wood, Breaking News Senior Writer.
Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that Florida broke an all-time record for visitation during the first quarter of 2019 with 35.7 million people visiting the Sunshine State from January to March. This is a 5.8 percent increase from the first quarter of 2018.
"An all-time record quarter of visitation is exciting news for the entire state," said Governor DeSantis. "As we work to diversify Florida's economy, it is critical that we keep visitation to Florida, and the revenue it generates, healthy and robust. VISIT FLORIDA plays an important role in this goal and we will continue to support their work on behalf of Florida and our hardworking taxpayers."
"The record-breaking success of Florida's visitation is the result of the hard work of our state's entire tourism industry," said VISIT FLORIDA President & CEO Dana Young. "It's exciting that VISIT FLORIDA continues to play a major role in bringing more people to Florida and I remain confident in the value provided by tourism marketing. Every Floridian should be proud that people from around the world come to explore our state. We must continue our efforts to promote and protect visitation to Florida."
VISIT FLORIDA estimates that a record 31.6 million domestic visitors traveled to Florida in Q1 2019, a 6.8 percent increase in domestic visitors over the same period last year. Following VISIT Florida's enhanced focus on attracting visitors from Canada through a cutting-edge marketing campaign, 1.4 million Canadian visitors came to Florida in Q1 2019, an increase of 1.3 percent from Q1 2018. Florida saw more than 2.6 million overseas travelers in Q1 2019. Total enplanements at 19 major Florida airports in Q1 2019 increased 6.8 percent over the same period in the previous year, with Orlando International Airport reporting the most enplaned passengers at more than 6.4 million.
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