Florida’s international tourism headed for new post-pandemic high

Image via VISIT FLORIDA.

International travel to Florida is on track to reach a record post-pandemic high in 2023, according to new estimates from the state’s tourism marketing corporation.

Through June, the Sunshine State has welcomed 70.8 million visitors this year — an uptick of 1.3% over the first six months of 2022 and 4.5% higher than 2019 pre-pandemic levels, VISIT FLORIDA says.

Domestic travelers have accounted for an enormous share of Florida’s guests, constituting 92% of visitors in the second quarter of 2023. However, the overall growth is due to rises in Canadian and overseas visitation, up 81% and 22%, respectively, compared to a 1.1% dip in domestic visits.

Dana Young, president and CEO of VISIT FLORIDA, attributed the state’s strong performance to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “freedom first” policies, including his decision to reopen Florida early into the pandemic while other states upheld lockdowns.

DeSantis recommended Young, a former Republican Senator from Tampa, to lead the public-private VISIT FLORIDA partnership shortly after he took office in January 2019.

“VISIT FLORIDA has been laser-focused on building our key international markets and ensuring the return of international visitors to Florida, and that work has paid off,” Young said in a statement.

“While other states have finally opened their doors to domestic visitors and created more competition, Florida is again leading in international visitors. Florida has the largest share of international visitors ahead of New York and California and we lead the nation in overseas arrival recovery compared to 2019.”

Preliminary data from VISIT FLORIDA shows the state leading the nation in recovering the number of overseas travelers visiting post-pandemic, with an 80% recovery rate over 2019 numbers. New York and California trail Florida at 75% and 68% recovery, respectively. The national recovery rate for overseas arrivals also trails Florida at 73%.

In 2022 — the second consecutive year in which Florida led the nation with the largest market share of overseas visitors — nearly 29% of Florida’s international travelers came from Canada, followed by 11.5% from the United Kingdom, 7.4% from Brazil, 5.8% from Colombia and 4.6% from Mexico.

Regionally, 33.5% came from North America, followed by 26% from South America, 25.6% from Europe, 7.2% from the Caribbean, 4.9% from Central America, 2.4% from Asia/Oceania and 1.7% from Africa and the Middle East.