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Record Tourists Coming To Florida, Even As International Visitors Decline

Disney properties in Orlando are still attracting a significant numbers of tourists to the state.
Courtesy of Disney
Disney properties in Orlando are still attracting a significant numbers of tourists to the state.

More visitors are coming to the sunshine state, according to new figures released by the state. But the state is losing ground on tourists from out of the country.

Florida announced today that 35.7 million visitors came to Florida in the first quarter – a new record.

“As we work to diversify Florida’s economy, it is critical that we keep visitation to Florida, and the revenue it generates, healthy and robust,” said Gov. Ron DeSantis in a press release.

The state saw a 2.6 percent drop in international tourists. That drop, though, was far overshadowed by a 6.8 percent increase in domestic tourists — and a 1.3 percent increase in tourists from Canada.

Economic analyst Hank Fishkind said the decline in international tourists is a continuing trend.

“And in part, it’s a function of a slower economic growth or recession or worse in many of the South American countries and in Europe,” Fishkind said.

Copyright 2019 WLRN 91.3 FM

Health News Florida reporter Abe Aboraya works for WMFE in Orlando. He started writing for newspapers in high school. After graduating from the University of Central Florida in 2007, he spent a year traveling and working as a freelance reporter for the Seattle Times and the Seattle Weekly, and working for local news websites in the San Francisco Bay area. Most recently Abe worked as a reporter for the Orlando Business Journal. He comes from a family of health care workers.