Skift Take

Florida's courting of tourists has meant good things for residents as well: Better beaches, improving transportation, and jobs where other states in the U.S. fall short.

It was a banner year for Florida tourism in 2012, as an additional 2 million people enjoyed the Sunshine State, setting the tourism industry up for its second consecutive record year.

An estimated 89.3 million people came to Florida in 2012, up 2.3 percent compared with a year earlier, according to preliminary estimates released Monday by Visit Florida, the state’s tourism marketing agency. That beat out the previous record — 87.3 million — set in 2011.

The state saw particularly large gains in overseas visitors, as well as Canadians. Approximately 10.2 million overseas visitors came to Florida last year, which was an increase of 9 percent compared with a year earlier. About 3.6 million Canadians visited the state, an increase of 7.3 percent from the prior year.

“Surpassing the 10 million overseas visitor mark for the first time ever is a significant milestone for Florida’s tourism industry,” said Glenn Hastings, Visit Florida’s chairman and executive director of the St. Johns County Tourist Development Council. “With over 10 percent of all Canadians traveling to Florida last year, we are exceedingly grateful for the loyalty of our friends and family to the North.”

The added tourists resulted in record jobs as well. Visit Florida said direct travel-related jobs in the state grew to 1,030,600.

Gov. Rick Scott praised the industry’s record year Monday. His administration has pledged to increase Visit Florida’s public funding to $75 million next year, which he said will “continue to support even more economic growth.”

(c)2013 The Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, Fla.). Distributed by MCT Information Services.

 FULL NUMBERS FROM VISITFLORIDA

Calendar Year Visitor Numbers for 2012*

Visitors Percent of Total Most Recent Value Change
Total Visitors

100.0%

January-December

89.3 million  2.3%
Air Visitors

51.9%

January-December

46.4 million  1.6%
Non-Air Visitors

48.1%

January-December

42.9 million  2.9%
*preliminary

Quarter Four Visitor Numbers for 2012*

Visitors Percent of Total Most Recent Value Change
Total Visitors

100.0%

October-December

21.4 million  1.8%
Air Visitors

54.4%

October-December

11.6 million  1.9%
Non-Air Visitors

45.6%

October-December

9.8 million  1.6%
*preliminary

Quarter Three Visitor Numbers for 2012**

Visitors Percent of Total Most Recent Value Change
Total Visitors

100.0%

July-September

22.1 million  4.5%
Air Visitors

45.4%

July-September

10.1 million  0.8%
Non-Air Visitors

54.6%

July-September

12.1 million  7.8%
*preliminary revised

Quarter Two Visitor Numbers for 2012**

Visitors Percent of Total Most Recent Value Change
Total Visitors

100.0%

April-June

22.0 million  1.1%
Air Visitors

52.6%

April-June

11.6 million  0.3%
Non-Air Visitors

47.4%

April-June

10.5 million  2.0%
**preliminary revised

Quarter One Visitor Numbers for 2012**

Visitors Percent of Total Most Recent Value Change
Total Visitors

100.0%

January-March

23.7 million  1.8%
Air Visitors

55.2%

January-March

13.1 million  3.3%
Non-Air Visitors

44.8%

January-March

10.6 million  -0.1%
**preliminary revised

Calendar Year Visitor Numbers for 2011

Visitors Percent of Total Most Recent Value Change
Total Visitors

100.0%

January-December

87.3 million  6.1%
Air Visitors

52.2%

January-December

45.6 million  5.1%
Non-Air Visitors

47.8%

January-December

41.7 million  7.2%
**revised

Calendar Year Visitor Numbers for 2010**

Visitors Percent of Total Most Recent Value Change
Total Visitors

100.0%

January-December

82.3 million  1.7%
Air Visitors

52.7%

January-December

43.4 million  4.5%
Non-Air Visitors

47.3%

January-December

38.9 million -1.2%
**revised

Historic Visitor Numbers (in millions)

Year

Domestic

Overseas

Canadian

Total

2002

67.9

4.4

1.6

73.9

2003

68.7

4.2

1.7

74.6

2004

73.4

4.4

1.9

79.7

2005

77.2

4.4

2.0

83.6

2006

77.6

4.1

2.1

83.9

2007

77.3

4.7

2.5

84.5

2008

76.1

5.2

2.9

84.2

2009*

71.2

7.0

2.6

80.9

2010

71.2

8.0

3.1

82.3

2011

74.7

9.3

3.3

87.3

2012**

75.6

10.1

3.6

89.3

**Preliminary, subject to revision

*In 2009, VISIT FLORIDA changed its visitor estimation methodology; therefore, estimates made prior to that year are not directly comparable.

Historic Economic Impact

Total Tourism Spending (Tourism/Recreation Taxable Sales) 2002-2011:
2002 – $51.1 billion
2003 – $51.5 billion*
2004 – $57.1 billion
2005 – $62.0 billion
2006 – $65.0 billion
2007 – $65.5 billion
2008 – $65.2 billion
2009 – $60.9 billion
2010 – $62.7 billion
2011 – $67.2 billion

Beginning in 2003, DOR revised this calculation to include 12 kind codes versus 14.

Total State Sales Tax Revenues from Tourism 2002-2011:
2002 – $3.0 billion
2003 – $3.1 billion
2004 – $3.4 billion
2005 – $3.7 billion
2006 – $3.9 billion
2007 – $3.9 billion
2008 – $3.9 billion
2009 – $3.7 billion
2010 – $3.8 billion
2011 – $4.0 billion

Number of Persons Directly Employed by Tourism Industry 2002-2011:
2002 – 862,900
2003 – 874,700
2004 – 920,700
2005 – 948,700
2006 – 964,700
2007 – 991,300
2008 – 1,007,000
2009 – 973,800
2010 – 974,700
2011- 1,013,100

Top Origin States – by Percentage of Total Domestic Visitors (2011):

Georgia
New York
Texas
Illinois
New Jersey
Michigan
Ohio
Alabama
North Carolina
Pennsylvania

10.6%
8.9%
5.7%
5.6%
4.5%
4.4%
4.4%
4.2%
4.1%
3.9%

Top International Markets by Number of Visitors (2011):

Canada
Brazil
United Kingdom
Mexico
Argentina
3.3 million
1.5 million
1.3 million
387,000
375,500
*Preliminary, subject to revision

Seasonality of Visitation to Florida by Quarter (2011):

January to March (Quarter 1)
April to June (Quarter 2)
July to September (Quarter 3)
October to December (Quarter 4)
26.7%
25.0%
24.3%
24.1%

Florida Travel Facts:

DOMESTIC VISITORS IN 20111

Florida’s domestic visitors said their primary reason for coming to the Sunshine State was for leisure (88%).
The major type of lodging used by domestic visitors was hotel/motel (54%).
The average length of stay for a domestic visitor to Florida was 4.9 nights.
The top activities domestic visitors enjoyed while in Florida were shopping, beaches, touring/sightseeing, and going to a theme/amusement park.The top origin Designated Market Areas (DMAs) for total visitors to Florida were New York, Atlanta, and Chicago. Top origin DMAs for visitors who came to Florida by air were New York, Chicago, and Boston; for auto visitors to Florida, the top three origin DMAs were Atlanta, New York, and Chicago.

CANADIAN VISITORS IN 2011*2

The primary purpose for Canadians was Pleasure/Recreation/Holiday (82.1%).

The major type of lodging used by Canadian visitors was hotel (28.7%).

The average length of stay for Canadian visitors was 18.0 nights, but the median length of stay was 9.0 nights.

 

OVERSEAS VISITORS IN 2011*3

The primary trip purpose for overseas visitors was leisure/recreation/holiday (68.5%).

The major type of lodging used by overseas visitors was hotel/motel (75.7%).

The average length of stay for overseas visitors to Florida was 11.2 nights, while the median length of stay was of 8.0 nights.

Sources:
1 D.K. Shifflet and Associates; TNS TravelsAmerica, Travel Industry Association
2 Statistics Canada
3 U.S. Department of Commerce, ITA, Tourism Industries
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Tags: florida, tourism

Photo credit: Water sports at Florida's Sanibel Island. Bob Shepard / Flickr

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