Gabrielle Russon
With Epic Universe open for its first-ever July 4 holiday, Orange County’s hotel tax revenue soared 11% to about $29.6 million for the month compared to July 2024.
“July 2025 delivered the strongest July collections on record. Summer performance continued to heat up,” Orange County Comptroller Phil Diamond said in a statement announcing the latest record-breaking figures.
The hotel tax — otherwise known as the tourist development tax, or TDT — is a 6% surcharge on Orange County hotel rooms and short-term stays.
Hotel tax revenue has gotten a boost since Epic Universe held its official grand opening ceremony in late May before the Memorial Day holiday.
In June, Orange County’s TDT revenue rose 10% year-over-year to $33.7 million. It was also the highest amount ever generated for any June in the tax’s history.
Epic Universe features five lands, many of which are based on popular intellectual properties from Universal movies. The gateway into the park is Celestial Park, with other lands themed in Harry Potter’s Wizarding World, Super Nintendo World, How to Train Your Dragon and Dark Universe of Universal Monsters.
Mark Woodbury, the CEO of Universal Destinations & Experiences, recently discussed how Epic is boosting Orlando’s multibillion-dollar tourism industry.
“We’re in a really strong position to continue to drive incremental growth to the overall marketplace, to take share in the process of that. You know, our chief competitor, Disney, is a strong competitor,” he said during an investors conference this week. “They’re going to be investing pretty heavily in the market, too. I think it’s a case of, you know, all ships rise with the tide.”
Meanwhile, as Orange County’s TDT continues to bring in millions every month, local officials are scrutinizing how the regional marketing agency spends the money.
Diamond’s Office audited Visit Orlando, which receives about $100 million annually from the TDT to promote the community’s tourism industry. The audit raised concerns about Visit Orlando’s alleged misspending of public money and mixing it up with private funds.
After last month’s meeting, the county board is expected to resume discussions on the issue in December.
