Florida Nabbed Record High of 105 Million Tourists in 2015

Governor Rick Scott announced that Florida set another record in tourism by welcoming 105 million visitors in 2015, according to VISIT FLORIDA. This is the fifth consecutive record year for visitation to Florida, exceeding the previous high of 98.5 million in 2014 by 6.6 percent.

The average number of direct travel-related jobs in 2015 was also a record high, with 1,199,200 Floridians employed in the tourism industry – up 53,400 or 4.7 percent over the same period last year. Governor Scott made the announcement at Walt Disney World in Orlando.

VISIT FLORIDA estimates that a record 89.8 million domestic visitors traveled to Florida in 2015, reflecting an 8.0 percent increase over 2014. Estimates also show that 11.2 million overseas visitors and 4.0 million Canadians came to the Sunshine State last year.

Total enplanements at 18 Florida airports during 2015 jumped 8.2 percent over the previous year, representing a record 6.1 million more enplaned passengers than in 2014.

Tourism and recreation taxable sales for Florida increased every month year-over-year from January through November 2015 (last reported month), representing an 8.6 percent increase over the same period in 2014.

For 2015, the average daily room rate (ADR) rose 5.9 percent and the number of rooms sold grew by 4.5 percent compared to 2014. Florida’s average occupancy rate for 2015 was 72.0 percent, an increase of 3.2 percent over 2014. This represents a record year for the statewide calendar year occupancy rate, exceeding the previous high of 69.8 percent in 2014.

For fourth quarter 2015, preliminary estimates show a record 25.2 million people visited the Sunshine State.

This represents the largest fourth quarter visitation number Florida has ever seen and reflects an increase of 6.7 percent over the same period in 2014. VISIT FLORIDA also reports that an estimated 2.9 million overseas visitors and 671,000 Canadians traveled to Florida in the fourth quarter of 2015.