Why Is Tourism Down in Florida, and How Can Disney Fans Benefit?
Florida tourism established new tourism records in 2022. Then, something shocking occurred.
In 2023 thus far, tourists have stopped visiting the state, at least at the levels they were during the heart of revenge travel.
What’s happening in Florida, and how can you benefit as a Disney fan?
Sad Stories from Beaches
Photo: Disney
No, that’s not a Jimmy Buffett song, although maybe it should be.
We are hearing several sad stories from beaches, though. Many of them sound like this one:
Photo: Disney
“The Lee County Visitors and Convention Bureau tracks that information through something called the bed tax.
Tourist tax collection data is out through February of 2023. Year over year, Lee County is down 42% compared to February 2022.”
credit: Disney Cruise Line
Information like that is scary to anyone with a passing familiarity of civics, as it hints at future governmental budget cuts due to revenue shortfalls.
That story isn’t unique to Sanibel Island, either. Naples, Florida, another part of the Gulf Coast, has suffered a 20 percent decline in tourism year-over-year.
Credit: Disney
You’re likely piecing together one of the causes, which we’ll discuss in the next section.
However, both data and anecdotes from across Florida paint the same picture.
Florida’s travel industry ostensibly should improve in 2023 over 2022. After all, we were in the final throes of the pandemic last year.
Photo: Touring Plans
As a reminder, Florida experienced arguably its worst outbreak in early 2022.
So, the first half of 2023 is competing against a lower tourism season than what happened during the rest of the year.
Photo: Disney
That’s when the so-called revenge travel trend exploded. It eventually led Florida to record tourism levels, reportedly 137.6 million.
I must add ‘reportedly’ since Florida’s data transparency has waned in recent years. But 137.6 million is the number government officials have trumpeted.
When we compare 2023 to those totals, well, it’s looking grim. And we have a pretty good idea of what the core problems afflicting Florida tourism are.
Hurricane Aftermath
Parts of Florida still struggle with the aftermath of 2022’s hurricane season.
The frustrating part of typing that information is knowing that the 2023 season starts in a matter of days. Florida’s coast isn’t ready for that and needs a calm season.
Photo: ABC
I say this because two of the less heralded hurricanes still caused extreme damage. Here’s a Weather Channel report regarding Nicole:
"#Nicole did all of this."@JMichaelsNews is LIVE surveying storm damage in Florida: pic.twitter.com/bcbw2FuZUM
— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) November 11, 2022
And here is a bridge breaking in a unique fashion:
Temporary Bridge in Utuado, PR-123 has collapsed. This bridge was installed after Hurricane Maria in 2017. pic.twitter.com/Xuz4WbGIQt
— Roberto Lefranc Fortuño (@LefrancFortuno) September 18, 2022
Florida officials built that bridge as a stopgap solution after a previous 2017 hurricane. It lasted only five years.
While the other hurricanes wreaked havoc on their own, Hurricane Ian proved the most devastating. In fact, it’s arguably the worst in Florida’s history:
Storm surge flooding still increasing. #scwx #Ian @NWSWilmingtonNC pic.twitter.com/IRjYH0wQkQ
— Dave Morford (@daver40) September 30, 2022
Many coastal areas still haven’t recovered from Ian.
Since they are popular tourist regions that are physically incapable of hosting guests right now, the numbers should naturally drop.
Nobody can repair $113 billion in damage in eight months. But Florida’s struggles exist beyond the ramifications of devastating storms.
Passports
International tourism simply has not returned to Florida the way that it had before the pandemic.
Much of the delays have proven beyond the control of any American entity.
Due to COVID-19, many countries fell far behind in their ability to issue passports and visas.
That happened due to staffing issues at a time when social distancing had become a governmental requirement in most countries.
Early in 2023, The Tampa Bay Times quoted some staggering facts regarding visa applications.
“The wait time to get an interview for a visa in Mexico City is 693 days. In Lima, Peru, it is 831 days.”
Credit: Disney
That discussion occurred among members of the Visit Florida Executive Committee, a group that has fretted about international tourism all year.
For many years, a running joke at Walt Disney World involved the likelihood of making new friends at the parks.
If you did meet someone new, the odds of them being Brazilian were about 50 percent. The country’s passion was Walt Disney World is a well-established fact.
For many years, Disney writers passed around this stunning statistic about the country.
Approximately 35.7% of all Brazilian guests in the United States arrived in…Orlando, Florida.
Now consider that when The New York Times discussed international visa backlogs, one of the countries they emphasized was Brazil.
That country’s visa applications require more than a year to process! So, Florida tourism will continue to feel the absence of global travelers.
Politics
Photo: Getty Images
I’m not gonna put too fine a point on this. If you’ve been reading MickeyBlog in 2022 and 2023, you’re acutely aware of the Florida Feud.
This unique faceoff between Florida’s most popular tourism attraction and the state’s governor has altered the outside perception of the Sunshine State.
@HazenWESH on Twitter
The entire situation has proven so perplexing that the Florida Chamber of Commerce doesn’t know how to proceed. It’s refusing to pick sides between two necessary business partners.
Meanwhile, several headlines written by people who aren’t in Florida suggest that tourists are or at least should avoid the state for now.
Photo: Yahoo Sports!
All I’ll say about this argument is that I plan to keep visiting Walt Disney World.
In fact, I was just telling a friend about a reason Disney gave them to visit. And it’s this one…
Disney Fans Can Take Advantage
Photo: Disney
I cannot imagine that anyone in Florida’s government legitimately wants Walt Disney World to dip in attendance.
Should that happen, everyone in Central Florida suffers, as does the overall Florida economy.
Such endeavors would be short-sighted and a quick way to get voted out of office.
Photo: Disney
Still, Disney isn’t taking any chances. The company understands its theme park traffic patterns better than any other competitor in the industry.
Disney has stacked the deck this summer by introducing a series of new admission ticket incentives.
The company just introduced a four-day summer ticket that doesn’t require Park Passes! The ticket IS your Park Pass!
Photo: Disney
Even better, the four-day admission costs just $396 or $99 per day!
This ticket goes on sale next week – May 23rd – and is valid from June 1st through September 29th.
There are two sets of four-day blockout dates – July 1st-4th and September 1st-4th – but those are the only restrictions. Otherwise, it’s the best deal Disney has offered in ages.
By taking this approach, Disney ensures that its attendance remains strong no matter what else is happening in Florida.
So, yes, Florida tourism is trending down significantly thus far in 2023. As a Disney fan, you can benefit mightily from what’s happening, though!
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Photo: MickeyBlog
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