Early 2005 Shows Good Results
Estimates of the number of visitors to Florida in the first quarter of the year show promising signs of growth. The total number of visitors is 23.8 million, an increase of 11.5% over the first quarter of 2004. International visitors make up 4.7% of that number excluding Canada, down by 0.3% from last year. (more)
Of the 19,449,000 domestic visitors just less than half, 48.2% arrived by car or cruise ship, showing that the drive in market is just as important as the fly-in. Hotels, resorts and attractions right across Florida are continuing to report a strong start to the summer; South Florida in particular is very pleased with visitor numbers. Areas hit by hurricanes last year are also surprised to find that tourists are returning in strong numbers. One theme park analyst reports that the new ticketing policy at Walt Disney World by which daily rates become cheaper the longer one stays are encouraging domestic visitors to stay from 3 to 5 days instead of 2 to 3 days. Informal discussions with subscribers suggest that enquiries are thin on the ground for September, but the rest of the summer is no different to usual. Orlando International Airport was the busiest in the state during the first quarter with 4,352,997 enplanements, followed by; Miami, 4,034,785; Fort Lauderdale, 3,172,225; Tampa, 2,470,930 and Fort Myers 1,220,543.
Posted on 4 July 2005
