Orange County hotel tax revenue hits highest amount on record for November

Ferris wheel and palm tree, blue sky,
December's tourism figures could be big too.

There’s good news for Orlando’s tourism industry.

November’s tourist development tax (TDT) generated the highest revenue for the month ever, Orange County Comptroller Phil Diamond said.

The 6% surcharge on short-term stays and hotel rooms brought in $31.8 million for November, a time when the theme parks shift gears to Christmas and the holiday season kicks off.

“Strong travel demand was driven by Orlando’s extensive holiday offerings, sports events, concerts and festivals, including Electric Daisy Carnival,” Visit Orlando President and CEO Casandra Matej said in a prepared statement.

Metro Orlando’s hotel occupancy jumped nearly 5 percentage points to about 73% occupancy for the month. The average daily rate at Orlando hotels reached about $187 per night, up 3% from November 2023, according to Visit Orlando.

Diamond plans to release the December TDT figures in early February.

Officials are expecting December’s numbers to be lucrative too.

“Current booking pace data suggests that Orlando hotel demand will surpass last December’s figures, with on-the-books room nights currently ahead by 8.5%,” Matej said. “The 2024 Christmas-New Year’s holiday period and early 2025 are also looking strong, with hotel bookings continuing to pace 8% ahead.”

The biggest event happening in Orlando’s tourism industry this year is the opening of Epic Universe. Universal Orlando Resort’s official grand opening is May 22 for the new theme park it built in the shadow of the Orange County Convention Center, a short drive away from its two other theme parks.

Visit Orlando, which gets some of the proceeds from the hotel tax, said it has launched an Orlando tourism campaign through February “to establish Orlando as the premier destination for holiday and early 2025 travel.”

“Campaigns include 30-second TV ads during major holiday programs such as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade and NBC’s Christmas in Rockefeller Center, and dynamic billboards in cold climates like the U.S., Toronto, and Montreal. Additional promotions include the Winter Village Activation in Toronto, Visit Orlando’s Skate Nights in NYC’s Bryant Park, and a UK radio sweepstakes with Heart Radio, all enhancing Orlando’s appeal as a sunny, vibrant destination,” Matej added.

The organization did not immediately respond Monday to say how much it spent on the campaign.

Gabrielle Russon

Gabrielle Russon is an award-winning journalist based in Orlando. She covered the business of theme parks for the Orlando Sentinel. Her previous newspaper stops include the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Toledo Blade, Kalamazoo Gazette and Elkhart Truth as well as an internship covering the nation’s capital for the Chicago Tribune. For fun, she runs marathons. She gets her training from chasing a toddler around. Contact her at [email protected] or on Twitter @GabrielleRusson .


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