Florida Enjoys Record Year with 94.7 Million Tourists in 2013

According to preliminary estimates from Visit Florida, the state’s official tourism marketing corporation, 94.7 million people visited Florida in 2013, an increase of 3.5% over 2012.

This represents a record year for visitation to Florida, exceeding the previous high of 91.5 million in 2012.

The number of direct travel-related jobs in 2013 was also a record high, with 1,088,200 Floridians employed in the tourism industry - up 2.9% from 2012.

Florida Governor, Rick Scott, said, “With nearly 95 million visitors traveling to the Sunshine State, today’s news that Florida broke another record year for tourism is a victory for Florida families. Every 85 visitors to Florida equals one job in our state – and it is clear that more visitors to the Sunshine State means more jobs for Florida families. That is why my ‘It’s Your Money Tax Cut Budget,’ commits $100 million to Visit Florida so we can grow more job opportunities for Florida families.”

Universal Orlando will be creating nearly 3,500 new jobs this year as the company is currently constructing the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley, adding a new on-site hotel and expanding its CityWalk Entertainment complex.

"We are excited for our future in Florida and we are glad to be able to bring new jobs and economic growth to our community and to the state," said Bill Davis, president of Universal Orlando Resort. "We are also grateful for the strong public-private partnership that continues to help our industry grow."

Visit Florida estimates that 11.5 million overseas visitors and 3.7 million Canadians came to Florida in 2013, both of which are record highs and represent 11.1% and 4.1% increases over 2012 respectively. Estimates reflect a 2.5% increase in domestic visitors to Florida in 2013 and show that Floridians took a record total of 20.1 million in-state pleasure trips.

“Three years of record-breaking visitation and a record number of tourism-related jobs proves that tourism continues to be a vital force in Florida,” said Tammy Gustafson, Chair of the Visit Florida Board of Directors. “It also proves that our industry is directly tied to Florida’s economic growth. This means we cannot let go of our effort to continuously advance Florida tourism.”

Tourism and recreation taxable sales for Florida increased every month year-on-year from January through November 2013 (last reported month), representing a 5.9% increase over the same period in 2012. For 2013, the average daily room (ADR) rate rose 4.6% and the occupancy rate for Florida hotels increased 3.5% compared to 2012. Both ADR and occupancy increased every month year-over-year in 2013.

Preliminary data from STR indicates Florida tourism has been steadily regaining market share since January 2013, outpacing the rest of the U.S. by 1.3 percentage points. According to the same study, room revenue in Florida for 2013 was up 8.2% compared to 2012, while the U.S. is only up 6.2%.

“We are incredibly encouraged to see domestic, Canadian and overseas visitor numbers all peaking together in 2013, and look forward to continuing to build on this momentum in 2014 to make Florida the No. 1 travel destination in the world,” said Will Seccombe, President and CEO of Visit Florida.

For fourth quarter 2013, preliminary estimates show a record 21.9 million people visited the Sunshine State. This represents the largest fourth quarter visitation number Florida has ever seen and reflects an increase of 2.2% over the same period in 2012. Visit Florida also reports that an estimated 3.2 million overseas visitors traveled to Florida in the fourth quarter of 2013, an increase of 12.1%, and 724,000 Canadians traveled to Florida, reflecting an increase of 4.2% over the same period in 2012.