Miami, Florida – In the first three months of 2019, the state received a record 35.7 million tourists, 5.8% more than in the same period in 2018, state governor Ron DeSantis reported Wednesday. .
The origin of tourists visiting Florida remains eminently national, but the number of foreigners also increases, with Canadians leading the way.
Of the total visitors, 31.6 million arrived from other parts of the United States, which means an increase of 6.8% over the first quarter of 2018, said DeSantis.
Of the more than 2.6 million foreigners who visited the state from January to March, 1.4 million were Canadians, an increase of 1.3% over the same period of 2018.
For the Orlando International Airport, the city of central Florida that was the main US tourist destination in 2018, more than 6.4 million tourists arrived in the first quarter.
DeSantis defined these figures disclosed by the official agency Visit Florida as “impressive”.
Florida registered 126.1 million visitors in 2018, the eighth consecutive year in which a tourist record was achieved. The figure was a 6.2% increase compared to 2017, when they were 118.8 million.
Of the 2018 total, 111.8 million were tourists from other parts of the United States and the rest from abroad.
Last week it was announced that Orlando again revalidated its title as the first tourist destination in the United States with 75 million visitors in 2018.
The figure meant an increase of 4.2% compared to 2017, when visitors were 72 million.
The record of 2018 was achieved thanks to increased hotel capacity and visits by Latin American tourists, according to the president and executive director of the Visit Orlando agency, George Aguel, who did not give figures on the subject. (EFEUSA)
