Florida tourism numbers up despite drop in Canadian visitors

CBS News

7 hours ago

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.
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.
In 2019, before the pandemic, overseas travelers accounted for 7.4 percent of Florida visitor totals and Canadians were at 3.11 percent.
Tourism from Canada is down this year amid controversies about issues such as the U.S. imposing tariffs and President Donald Trump floating the idea of annexing Canada.
Statistic Canada, Canada's national statistical agency, on Aug 11 reported that preliminary numbers of international arrivals to Canada in July including Canadian residents and non-residents were down 15.6 percent from July 2024 and marked six consecutive months of year-over-year declines.
Canadians returning by car from the United States in July were down 36.9 percent from the same period in 2024 and numbers of people returning by air were off 25.8 percent, according to Statistic Canada.
Florida drew an estimated overall total of 75.394 million tourists during the first half of this year, or 0.1 percent lower than during the first half of 2024.
The decrease came after Visit Florida revised first-quarter numbers.
An initial estimate released in May said 41.193 million people visited Florida during the first quarter, which would have been even with the first quarter of 2024. The revised 2025 first-quarter count was 40.959 million.
The state's 2025-2026 budget, which took effect July 1, included $80 million for Visit Florida, the same as in the previous fiscal year.