Tourism Falls in Florida in the Spring
Visit Florida just revealed the most recent tourism numbers.
To the surprise of nobody who has paid attention, tourism is down in the Sunshine State. Here’s what we know.
Spring Travel in Florida
Let me preface this by saying that the big picture here is better than the specifics may sound.
Overall, Florida remains on a record pace for annual tourism. In 2023, Florida could feasibly break the existing record. But that’s growing less likely.
By way of explanation, Visit Florida reported that 33.092 million domestic tourists visited the Sunshine State from April through June.
That’s terrific in a vacuum. However, tourism fell from 33.485 million during the second quarter of 2022.
Overall, Florida’s tourism suffered a modest drop of 1.2 percent, which is perfectly reasonable.
The catch is that out-of-state tourism dropped 2.4 percent, which is literally twice as bad.
Unfortunately, if the state continues its current trend, the second half of 2023 will witness a sustained drop in tourism numbers.
During the first quarter of 2023, 34.646 million Americans traveled to Florida, with a grand total of 37.9 million people visiting the state.
So, we’re talking about a loss of roughly 1.46 million American tourists in April through June, which ostensibly should be a strong travel period.
Florida’s Unique Post-Pandemic Position
As analysts point out, Florida’s tourism behaviors are in direct conflict.
Now that the entire country has reopened after the pandemic’s end, tourists can visit anywhere they like.
In 2022, Florida held a competitive advantage as one of the few fully reopened states.
The state’s hot tourism quarter at the start of 2023 reflects the end of that momentum and an anticipated downshift throughout the rest of the year.
Florida’s second quarter reflects that evolving behavior. But it only applies to domestic travelers.
The rest of the world has been locked out of Florida and, most importantly, Walt Disney World since the start of 2020.
Remember that many countries closed earlier than the United States.
China had already entered lockdown in January 2020, thereby forcing the closure of Shanghai Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland.
Residents of many impacted countries wanted to visit Florida. They legally couldn’t, though.
What Will Happen Later This Year?
Florida tourism officials remain optimistic that the influx of international travelers will offset the expected downturn in domestic tourism.
If so, Florida still has a shot at its best year ever for tourism. If not, it’ll likely finish with one of its top three years to date, which is still pretty great.
The Orlando Sentinel also points out other factors that could negatively affect tourism during the second half of 2023.
Here are their comments:
“Groups such as the NAACP, Equality Florida and the League of United Latin American Citizens in recent months have issued travel advisories about Florida because of their opposition to decisions backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis limiting how Black history is taught and restricting diversity, equity and inclusion programs.”
Dana Young, the President and CEO of Visit Florida, counters that such protests have yet to impact tourism data in “any meaningful way.”
We’ll have to wait and see whether that holds true from now through the end of the year.
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