Destinations Florida today joined with tourism industry partners to celebrate Florida Tourism Day, which recognizes hospitality and tourism as the state’s number one industry, the economic engine of our state, a top employer, and a source of revenue that benefits communities across Florida.
Tourism and efforts to attract visitors to Florida’s many destinations have significant positive impacts for all residents of the state. Thanks to tourism and the revenue tourism generates:
- Florida residents do not pay a state income tax making Florida one of only eight states without a state income tax.
- Every Florida household saves more than $1,500 a year on state and local taxes.
- Communities can provide critical services residents rely on, such as education, public safety, infrastructure, and environmental programs.
- More than one million Floridians have jobs in hotels, restaurants, attractions, and other tourism-reliant businesses.
Florida’s tourism industry was responsible for welcoming 137.6 million visitors in 2022, the highest number of visitors in the state’s history. This represents a 12.9 percent increase over 2021 and a 5 percent increase over 2019. In 2021, Florida visitors contributed $101.9 billion to Florida’s economy and supported more than 1.7 million Florida jobs.
“From the huge economic impact tourism has on the state to the benefits residents experience in their everyday lives, tourism plays a vital role for all Floridians. In order to maintain those benefits, we must continue to invest in tourism promotion at the state and local levels,” said Robert Skrob, Executive Director of Destinations Florida. “We encourage the Florida Legislature to enable Visit Florida to build on their previous years of success by funding them at Governor DeSantis’ recommended budget of $100 million. We also ask that they prevent the expansion of the current uses of Tourist Development Taxes and ensure those funds remain dedicated to local tourism promotion.”
Destinations Florida is the statewide association that serves local tourism promotion organizations. It serves as the unifying voice representing Florida’s destination marketing organizations and strives to increase the effectiveness of local tourism promotion organizations’ efforts.
