Tourists visiting Florida pumped $125B into its economy

Travelers to Florida spent a record $124.9 billion in the state in 2022, up $20 billion from the prior year, according to a study by Visit Florida.

The Sunshine State saw 137.4 million people visit in 2022 and 97 cents of each dollar they spent stayed in the state’s economy, according to the 2022 economic impact report released last week.

“Whether for business or vacation, people continue to visit Florida and support Florida businesses because of our commitment to keeping the economy open and allowing businesses to thrive without arbitrary government restrictions,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a statement Friday.

“The impact of commerce and tourism on Florida’s economy cannot be overstated,” said Dana Young, president and CEO of Visit Florida. “Florida has proven that it’s charging faster than the national economic trends which have otherwise set back many other states.”

On average, visitors contribute $333 million a day to Florida’s economy.

Data in the report showed that in 2022:

• Tourism-supported employment surpassed the pre-pandemic peak by 422,000, growing to 2 million jobs, with direct employment making up 66% of the total at 1.3 million jobs;
• Visitors from within the United States spent $112.7 billion while international visitors spent $12.2 billion;
• By comparison, in 2021 domestic visitors to Florida spent $99.4 billion and international visitors spent $5.7 billion;
• Tourism was responsible for 9.5% of all Florida jobs, making tourism Florida’s second largest sector employer;
• Tourism employment increased 16.8% compared to the state’s 7.6% overall job growth;
• Travel and tourism generated $73 billion in wages for Florida workers; and
• One out of every six private-sector jobs was supported by tourism.

The report also noted tourism raised $35.2 billion in taxes, consisting of $18.9 billion in federal tax revenue, $8.1 billion in Florida state tax revenue and $8.2 billion in local tax receipts.

“Tourism continues to set records in Florida,” DeSantis said on X. “We look forward to continuing to set records as people come from across the United States to experience the Free State of Florida.”

In November, the Orlando metropolitan statistical area’s unemployment rate rose to 3.0%, up 0.4 percentage points from 2.6% in November 2022. However, the Orlando area’s labor force increased 3.1% from November 2022. The metro area added 26,600 private-sector jobs, an increase of 2.0% from last November.

The area led all other areas in state job gains on the year in leisure and hospitality in November. Orlando is home to Walt Disney World, Universal Resorts, Seaworld and Legoland.

Florida is rated triple-A by Moody’s Investors Service, S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings; all three assign a stable outlook to the state.

In 2023, Florida ranked fifth in the nation in state and local issuers who sold debt. The state and its municipalities sold $13.4 billion of bonds last year, down 16% from $16 billion in 2022 when it ranked fourth.