Visit Florida

Leaders say there are plenty of areas for tourists to love. They say the best way to help the Gulf Coast region recover is by visiting and supporting local businesses.

The Visit Florida tourism-marketing agency reported an 18.3% increase in international tourists compared to 2022.

Visit Florida's CEO says the drop is partly due to increased competition from other states and countries that shut down longer than Florida did during the pandemic.

The state's tourism agency, Visit Florida, estimated a record 37.9 million visitors from January through March.

The U.S. Travel Association estimated that international travel to the U.S. was 34 percent below pre-pandemic levels.

Florida’s tourism-marketing agency has paused advertising as it crafts a campaign to offset the negative images of washed-out communities and damaged bridges.

Tourism in Florida during the first half of 2022 was up 20 percent from the same period last year and was higher than during the first six months of 2019, the last full year of travel before the pandemic.

Florida attracted a record number of tourists during the first three months of 2022, surpassing totals from similar quarters before the COVID-19 pandemic rocked the hospitality and leisure industry.

Florida attracted 31.7 million visitors in the second quarter of this year, as the state continued to expand tourism-marketing efforts and COVID-19 vaccinations became readily available.

Visit Tallahassee gives locals an incentive to explore their own hometown area and share those delights with visiting friends and relatives.