State Economist Said Florida Tourism Will Take At Least 3 Years To Recover
It goes without saying that the Florida tourism industry has been massively impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. According to a state economist, it will also be the slowest sector to recover. She meet with lawmakers on Thursday to discuss the impact the virus has had on the industry.
According to a piece in the Orlando Sentinel, tourism accounts for 13 – 15% of the states revenue fund. Chief economist Amy Baker said that tourists aren’t likely to start “flocking back” to the Sunshine State in pre-COVID numbers until AT LEAST a year after a vaccine is available to the public. Many anticipate a vaccine will be available next Summer.
“Our belief is that tourism is going to take two to three years to recover, and it will be the longest-recovering sector that we have,” Baker told the Legislative Budget Commission. Baker was presenting the state economic three year forecast known as the Long Term Financial Outlook which is a document used by state lawmakers to anticipate budgetary needs over the upcoming years.
As of going to print, the projections aren’t great. The state of Florida is projected to have a $3 billion deficit for the fiscal year that stars July 1, 2021. The forecast is equally a glum for 2022 with a deficit of $2.4 billion. In addition, as the Orlando Sentinel tells us, the unemployment rate for the state which currently sits at 11.3% isn’t expected to fall down to 6% until April 2023. This results in higher Medicaid costs particularly given that laid-off workers no longer receive health insurance through their employers.
However, Governor Ron DeSantis maintained a degree of optimism saying during a meeting at Fort Myers yesterday, “We have had a lot of places in Florida that have done very well this summer, which is a good sign.” The governor continued, “There’s been some other places not as much, but I do think that I think the theme parks are picking up steam. I think they’ve done a really good job. And so hopefully we’ll get the Central Florida [area] going some more.”
This is a story that we’ll be following closely here at MickeyBlog. Readers are encouraged to keep checking in with us for further news and updates!
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