Record number of Florida tourists but overseas visits down

ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida had more than a 5% increase in tourists in the first half of the year, but visits from international travellers were down.

Figures released Thursday by Visit Florida, the state tourism promotion agency, shows 68.9 million visitors came to Florida from January through June, the largest number of visitors during any six-month period.

More than 61 million visitors came from within the United States, and 7.6 million visitors came from outside the U.S.

Excluding Canada, the number of international visitors was down by about 2%. That is part of a nationwide trend blamed on competition and trade tensions.

Visitor Florida also updated last year’s figures. The tourism agency says 127 million visitors came to Florida in 2018, 1 million tourists more than originally reported.