Posted on 11/23/2021 9:30:52 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Just-released numbers show that 32.5 million travelers poured into Florida in July, August and September, exceeding the number of visitors during the same period in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was the second consecutive quarter of growth in domestic visitors, with 31.2 million Americans flocking to the Sunshine State in the third quarter of the year, according to Visit Florida, the state’s official tourism marketing corporation.
That number was up from pre-pandemic numbers by almost 7 percent.
Meanwhile, across the country the total number of domestic travel trips was expected to reach just 85 percent of the 2019 level, according to the fall forecast of the United States Travel Association.
And international arrivals to the U.S. overall were expected to reach only 27 percent of pre-pandemic levels.
In 2019, U.S. domestic travel had increased 1.7 percent, with the number of trips taken reaching 2.3 billion, the report showed.
Leisure travel accounted for 80 percent of all travel. International visits experienced a 0.7 percent downturn in 2019, but still accounted for 79 million trips.
That year, domestic and international travelers spent $1.1 trillion in the U.S.
The industry was supporting nine million jobs in 2019, and generated $277 billion in payroll and $180 billion in tax revenues for federal, state and local governments.
Then COVID-19 struck, and tourism ground to a halt.
Domestic trips across the nation are predicted to finally climb out of the slump caused by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus in 2023, and finish with growth three percent above pre-pandemic levels.
International arrivals are not expected to recover to 2019 levels until 2025.
But tourism is charging forward again in Florida. About 1.2 million visitors traveled to Florida from overseas, and 85,000 came from Canada during this year’s third quarter.
That number of visitors represents a 597 percent increase from the same time in 2020, and a 16.1 percent increase from the second quarter of this year.
While tourism in other states was practically paused, Florida aggressively marketed outside its borders for seven months and saw steady growth in visitor volume each quarter.
“In 2020, the experts thought Florida’s economy would be among the most impacted in the nation, because of how important tourism is to our state,” said Gov. Ron DeSantis. “Instead, we are setting the pace for job creation and visitation in the U.S.
“We have been able to set these records because, in Florida, we kept businesses open and made sure Floridians could keep working. In just 15 months, Florida’s visitation numbers have surpassed past pre-pandemic levels, helping drive revenue, job growth, and economic activity to all 67 counties in our state.”
The influx of visitors “is a huge win for our state and has pushed the recovery of Florida’s tourism industry to new heights,” said Danny Gaekwad, owner of MGM Hotels and chair of the Visit Florida board of directors.
“Florida regularly outperforms the nation in hotel occupancy, demand, and revenue, and is an undisputed leader in the U.S. travel sector,” Gaekwad said.
“We are incredibly grateful for Gov. DeSantis for paving the way to this success and allowing our tourism community to thrive.”
Come on down, but leave your mask at home. (Unless you are traveling by air.)
And we have the best governor in the country !
The heat and humidity have gone away and the native Floridians are starting to wear coats, but many of us non-natives are still in shorts.
It would be very nice to be in Florida right now. My in laws spent their winters in Boca Raton for several years. We went there for Christmas one year and the weather was just perfect. It was like being in paradise. Lately I have been thinking about going to Albuquerque for the Winter. It gets cool there but they still have sunshine almost every day. I am thinking that it would probably cost me a lot less to spend 3 months there then it would in Florida.
DeSantis has been selling the state’s ports for opening up the supply chain. Does anyone know how that is working?
My mask karen spouse would not be happy, but, we moved to Colorado, near home of Lauren Boebert, so she has a whole new world to bitch about now .
Wow, you must have very poor judgement to have chosen such a miserable woman.
I guess that explains why the traffic has been horrendous
I’m guessing many of these folks are checking out Fla as a possible relocation destination.
Went down with the family last month. Weather was perfect, no mask requirements, everything was open.
So I moved to FL in April from NW NJ, which is 10-15 degrees colder year round than the rest of the state.
When it's 45 out in NJ, I used to put on a light jacket.
This morning, I took the dog for a walk, it's 44 degrees here in central Florida. I'm bundled up like Nanook of the North! It's cold, the sky just won't snow ;)
Being one of those “blue refugees (we’re scheduled to close on a house at the end of December),” I get a little concerned. Apparently, much if calipornia and NYC is taking up residence in the Sunshine State, including many major and minor celebrities. As an example, Mick Jagger bought a house in Sarasota. My realtor says the influx from the SF Bay area is tremendous.
These folks may have had reality smack some sense into them on some issues, but I have my doubts that they will all have become thorough-going conservatives.
you don’t need a broker to sell your house in FL. Put it on zillow and it’ll sell in less than two weeks. Save the 30k in commissions. Called my attorney and he’ll handle the paperwork and closing for less than 5k.
Word to the wise...if selling by owner, don’t allow a broker to bring the buyer to see your home, or you’ll be on the hook for that broker’s commission. Every potential buyer should be screened and notified that you will not cooperate with a broker.
Overdue to travel, visiting a free and open state, and visiting to see if they possibly want to relocate there...yeah, tourism would climb.
So, how many of these tourists are actually potential migrants, checking out the place before deciding to come down for good?
I’m a FL resident as of this past Nov. 15. I always tell people down here, when they ask where I’m from, that I am from Maryland, but I’m not bringing that down here with me. :-)
They keep building housing development after housing development .
When the next water shortage comes and the aquifers can't handle the draw downs and sink hole after sink hole appears they will be crying like babies!
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