Florida Breaks Visitor Record for Fourth Consecutive Year
For the fourth year in row, Florida broke visitor records, according to Visit Florida’s preliminary estimates for 2014. According to those estimates, Florida welcomed 97.3 million visitors last year, which represented a 3.9 percent increase over the 93.7 million visitors it received in 2013.
Also, last year the state welcomed 11.5 million overseas visitors and 3.8 million Canadians for increases of 2.6 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively, over 2013, according to estimates. The number of domestic visitors traveling to the state, meanwhile, increased by 4.2 percent over 2013, for a total of 82.1 million visitors.
The fourth quarter of 2014 was an especially fruitful one for the state, with 22.4 million visitors traveling to Florida, up 2.8 percent from 2013 – and representing the highest fourth-quarter visitations number ever.
“Anyone would be happy to see their business grow by 4 percent year-over-year. But it is absolutely amazing when an entire industry keeps beating record numbers, while adding jobs and supporting the rest of the state’s economy.” - Andrew Hertz, Visit Florida
“In 2014, a record 97.3 million tourists visited the state of Florida, an increase of 3.6 million people. That means there were nearly 4 percent more visitors spending money in Florida last year,” said Andrew Hertz, chair of the Visit Florida board of directors. “Anyone would be happy to see their business grow by 4 percent year-over-year. But it is absolutely amazing when an entire industry keeps beating record numbers, while adding jobs and supporting the rest of the state’s economy.”
The robust visitor numbers also benefited Florida’s hotel industry, with the 2014 average daily room rate (ADR) increasing 5.7 percent over 2013, and the average occupancy rising 4.4 percent to 69.7 percent.
“With all indicators up – taxable sales, ADR, occupancy and rooms sold – the industry is firing on all cylinders,” said Will Seccombe, president and CEO of Visit Florida.
Source: Travel Pulse
