For many northern visitors, a trek to the state’s 825 miles of beaches and local attractions like Disney, Universal and SeaWorld marks the official start of summer. Despite a slow 2023 and forecast for this summer to be about the same, Visit Orlando reported that vacation bookings this week are up 16% over last year. Some visitors WESH 2 News spoke with at the Fun Spot said vacations have certainly cut into a big chunk of their household budgets. Still, they felt it was important to get out this week. Kealia Hilton brought her son, Ice, to the park for his seventh birthday. “I think it’s higher than it’s been in the past. I think gas prices are higher, room rates are up,” Hilton said. Park managers said the record first quarter for tourism across the state appears to be continuing, with vacationers and locals looking for day trips as July rolls around. “People still make plans to get out with their families every holiday season, and it’s not something they want to postpone every year. It’s something they want to do every year,” John Chidester said. Brett Laken of the Florida Tourism Board said a $5 million investment in national television and social media advertising that began last fall has resulted in a surprisingly high number of visitors in a year when visitor numbers were expected to be down. The campaign, which showcases biking, hiking and snorkeling trails on lakes, rivers and offshore coasts, was so successful that it was extended through last month. Another $5 million will be invested this month to extend it through the spring. Central Florida has been the biggest beneficiary of this investment, both in terms of in-state and out-of-state visitors. “When we did the trails campaign, Orlando accounted for 17% of the total number of visitors in Florida because of the trails campaign. “That’s the highest it’s been compared to the rest of the state, and it’s proven to be a very big success,” Laken said. Some encouraging news came from the latest Tourism Development Tax collection report. May revenues were up 8.3% over last May, the highest May on record. This is the fourth of the last five months where collections have increased year-over-year. The reserve fund is $395 million, but a slowdown last summer and fall has led to flat collections for the fiscal year. Indeed, 2025 could be a blockbuster year for tourism, when Universal will open at least part of its Epic Universe theme park along Universal Boulevard near the convention center, which will also create 14,000 new jobs. Looking further ahead, Disney recently announced a deal with the Central Florida Tourism Supervisory District to add a fifth major theme park.
ORLANDO, Fla. —
For many northern visitors, a trek to the state’s 825 miles of beaches and local attractions like Disney, Universal and SeaWorld marks the start of summer.
While 2023 was expected to be slow and this summer about the same, Visit Orlando reported that vacation bookings this week were up 16% over last year.
Some Fun Spot visitors WESH 2 News spoke with said taking the time off certainly puts a strain on their finances, but they still felt it was important to get out and about this week.
Kealia Hilton brought her son, Ice, to the park for his seventh birthday.
“I think it’s gotten more expensive. I think gas prices have gone up, room rates have gone up,” Hilton said.
Park managers said the record first quarter for tourism across the state appears to be continuing, with vacationers and locals looking to take day trips into July.
“People still make plans to go out with their families every holiday season. This is not something that we want to postpone every year. We want to do it every year,” John Chidester said.
Brett Laken with the Florida Tourism Commission said a $5 million investment in national television and social media advertising that began last fall has resulted in a surprising number of visitors in a year when fewer tourists were expected.
The campaign, which features biking, hiking and snorkeling trails on lakes, rivers and off the coast, has been so successful it was extended until last month, and this month another $5 million is being invested to extend it through the spring.
Central Florida has been the biggest beneficiary of this investment from in-state and out-of-state visitors.
“When we implemented the trails campaign, Orlando saw 17 percent of Florida’s total visitation because of the trails campaign, which is higher than any other part of the state and it proved to be a tremendous success,” Laken said.
Some encouraging news came out of the latest Tourism Development Tax collection report: May revenues were up 8.3% over last May and the highest ever for May.
This marks the fourth of the last five months in which revenue has increased year-over-year.
The reserve fund is $395 million, but a slump last summer and fall has led to flat revenues for the fiscal year.
Indeed, 2025 could be a blockbuster year for tourism, with Universal opening at least part of its Epic Universe theme park along Universal Boulevard near the convention center.
It will also create 14,000 new jobs.Looking further into the future, Disney recently announced that it has signed a deal with the Central Florida Tourism Authority to add a fifth major theme park.
