The future of Florida’s tourism industry is bright! The Sunshine State has been the number one choice of destination in the U.S. for domestic and international travelers, and we see that trend continuing. In 2022, we welcomed a record 137.41 million visitors – a year-over-year increase of nearly 16 million visitors. In addition to that record-breaking yearly amount, the preliminary numbers from Q1 2023 show that from January to March, Florida saw the largest volume of visitors ever recorded in a single quarter, with 37.9 million visitors coming to enjoy our sunshine.

While domestic visitors make up the majority of all travelers, international travel also shows signs of recovery. With borders open and travel restrictions relaxed, Canadian visitation more than quintupled from the previous years to 2.6 million visitors in 2022, and in Q1 2023 is nearly even with pre-pandemic numbers. Overseas visitation, which does not include Canadian visitors, accounted for 7.0% of visitor volume in 2022, roughly double that seen in 2021.

It is important to note that while we see continual growth in international visitors, our overseas visitation is still negatively impacted by ludicrous U.S. visitor visa interview wait times, particularly among the Latin and Central American origin markets. Because seven of our top 10 origin markets are in these markets, Florida is disproportionately impacted by these long wait times. I personally met with representatives of the U.S. State Department and other federal agencies to discuss these unacceptable numbers and how it negatively impacts our tourism economy. The longer a potential visitor must wait for their visa, the more likely it becomes that they will simply choose another destination.

Despite the return of competition from rival states, Florida continues to maintain our dominant position in the domestic market, where our domestic share rose to 13.8%, the highest ever, putting us ahead of all other states for visitors. International data is not yet available, but preliminary estimates indicate we are maintaining our front-runner status ahead of all other states, even with the return of intense competition for visitors across the globe.

VISIT FLORIDA continues to look to the future for the state’s tourism industry and work to ensure that Florida can compete on the crowded stage. Whether that is supporting partners with cooperative marketing programs, collaborating with industry publications to highlight hidden parts of the state or building and maintaining relationships with the international travel industry, we work to ensure that our tourism industry continues to soar above all competition. We have diversified our approach to marketing the state not only by focusing on our iconic beaches and well-known attractions but also by showcasing the incredible culinary experiences, adventurous outdoor excursions and arts and culture and by expanding information on disability-accessible attractions that can only be found in Florida.

I look forward to seeing the incredible accomplishments of the tourism industry over the next few years; there is no limit to the heights that can be achieved.