https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/florida-tourism-numbers-up-despite-drop-canadian-visitors/#
Domestic travelers continue to bolster Florida's tourism industry, while the state hopes to make up for a decline in Canadian visitors by drawing people from other countries.
Visit Florida on Tuesday estimated 34.435 million people traveled to Florida from April 1 through June 30, up from 34.279 million people during the same period last year. The estimate for this year would be a second-quarter record, according to the state tourism-marketing agency.
Florida sees uptick in overseas visitors
U.S. travelers made up 31.499 million of this year's total, or 91.5 percent, up slightly from 31.419 million during the second quarter of 2024. Visit Florida estimated 2.295 million overseas travelers during the quarter this year, an 11.4 percent jump from the same period in 2024. But the estimated 640,000 Canadian visitors to Florida during the quarter marked a 20 percent drop from 2024.
"I know the nation is seeing some Canadian visitors not traveling at the moment, but Florida actually is seeing an increase in visitors from other places, including Brazil, which I think it's part of that overseas visitation increase, and it's something that we're really monitoring and looking to see if we can shift some efforts there to continue that good trend," Visit Florida President and CEO Bryan Griffin told members of the agency's Executive Committee on Monday.
Florida has struggled since the COVID-19 pandemic to rebuild its numbers of overseas and Canadian travelers. Overseas travelers made up 6.7 percent of the estimated visitors during this year's second quarter, while Canadians made up about 1.9 percent.
