A.G. Gancarski
Gov. Ron DeSantis says his COVID-era policies are to thank after another record year for Florida’s tourism industry.
“I can say that for 2024, Florida broke yet another record for tourism. So the new data is 142.9 million travelers to Florida,” DeSantis said at the Miami International Boat Show.
“That is a pretty good increase over 2023. That’s the highest on record, including almost 30 million in the fourth quarter alone, including almost 3 million overseas visitors. And we know a lot of that is here in South Florida. So we’re really excited that our tourism industry is humming.”
Indeed, the new number is up roughly 2 million from 2023’s record, according to VISIT FLORIDA stats at the time.
The Governor credits how he managed the pandemic as a reason for continued growth, driving a “massive boom” in marine-related manufacturing.
“One of the things that was really important for the marine industry was the fact that we were open during COVID, because what happened was you had people fleeing Illinois, New York, all these places where they had really draconian policies, so they’d come to Florida,” DeSantis recalled.
“A lot of them just bought houses and decided they’re going to live here. … If you live in Colorado and you don’t know how to ski or if you’re in Florida, you kind of got to get used to fishing and boating. It’s just kind of what we do, right?”
The Governor reinforced that narrative as he continued touting the newest numbers.
“You know, I remember when people were trying to say, like, ‘Oh, it’s bad. Florida has people fishing and boating. How could you do that during COVID?’ Yeah, I don’t think you’re going to catch COVID, you know, fishing in the ocean,” DeSantis said. “So they came here, they did a really good job and the results really speak for themselves.”
