Now, this is impressive.
A new report from Visit Florida shows that Sunshine State tourism numbers in the third quarter of this year surpassed those from the same period in 2019, prior to the pandemic.
The Daytona Times and News Service of Florida report that the estimated total of 32.517 million tourists between July 1 and Sept. 30 bested 2019 figures by just over 0.3 per cent. That’s nothing short of remarkable, and one of the strongest signs yet that travel and tourism are bouncing back.
Tourism officials said most of the visitors were domestic, as the U.S. border was closed to many major markets until November 8. Now that Canadians can drive to Florida, and folks from many European countries can fly to the U.S., those numbers should start to go even higher.
Destinations tend to value international visitors more highly than domestic ones as they spend more time on vacation and spend more money.
“I’m not a betting woman and I don’t make a lot of predictions, but I will tell you that I feel very, very good about our position internationally when those borders open,” Visit Florida President and CEO Dana Young told Florida state lawmakers on Oct. 11.
“We are going to see a lot of Brits and Germans and Canadians and Mexicans and Colombians and Brazilians coming to our state and spending money, starting in November.”
