Florida received fewer tourists in 2023

In 2023, the number of tourists who visited Florida decreased, compared to the previous year.

The WebVisit Florida revealed that the southern state received around135.02 million travelers in 2023, which shows a decrease in human arrivals, if evaluated with respect to the 137.4 million reported in 2022.

However, the data also shows that more arrivals were recorded in 2023 than in 2019 when 131.1 million travelers were reported.

Dana Young, president and CEO ofVisit Florida, stated that despite facing economic challenges, tourism in the region has had a remarkable performance.

He placed particular emphasis on the return of international tourists and an increase in air travel. The last quarter of 2023 reflected a 15.9% increase in foreign visitors and a 22% increase in Canadian tourists, compared to the same period in 2022.

However, the global count for the fourth quarter of 2023, with 29.8 million tourists, did not reach the figures for the same quarter of the previous year, which counted 32.9 million.

There was a 12.1% reduction in the influx of domestic travelers, totaling 122.89 million American tourists in 2023 compared to about 127.8 million in 2022, and a mark of approximately 117.2 million in 2019.

With other tourist centers competing strongly after the pandemic,Visit Florida has focused its efforts on attracting tourists from abroad, who tend to stay longer and generate greater income.

The entity reported a total of 8.31 million international visitors and 3.822 million Canadians in 2023, exceeding the 7 million and almost 2.63 million in 2022, respectively.

The state of Florida has registered a significant increase in air traffic, representing 37.3% of total national visits, the highest percentage since 2016.

The ongoing budget negotiations for the 2024-2025 fiscal period indicate that there could be a recovery in the sector.

The Senate proposed allocating $80 million to Visit Florida, maintaining current funding, while the House suggested $30 million and Gov. Ron DeSantis advocated for $105 million to boost the tourism sector in Florida.

In 2022Miami consolidated itself as a tourist destination in South Florida and broke records with more than 26.5 million travelers who left an estimated revenue of 20.8 billion dollars.

The city of the Sun continues to promote the growth of tourism and its leaders assure that the formula of investing in the tertiary sector is leaving economic prosperity.