Florida welcomes a record 70 million tourists; visits from Brazil jump by 56%

Florida has seen an unprecedented surge in international tourists, with a significant contribution from Brazilian visitors.

According to data from Visit Florida, the state welcomed around 70.8 million guests in the first half of 2023.

Foreign and Brazilian visitation rose by 21.8% and 55.7%, respectively. However, domestic visits slightly decreased by 1.1% over the same timeframe.

Dana Young, President and CEO of Visit Florida, remarked, “Our dedicated efforts to bolster our primary markets and reattract international tourists to Florida have been fruitful.

While other states began to welcome more domestic travelers, intensifying competition, Florida has taken the lead in international tourism.

“We’re now ahead of states like New York and California in foreign tourist arrivals and lead the U.S. in recovery rates since 2019.”

Quarterly figures from 2023 show that, compared to the second quarter of 2022, Florida experienced an 11% increase in international tourism and a 46.4% increase in visitors from Brazil.

Domestic tourism in the same quarter was 4.6% higher than in the second quarter of 2019.

The second quarter of 2023 alone brought in an estimated 30.3 million domestic and 1.9 million international tourists, with 224,000 of them being Brazilians.

Early data indicates that Florida topped the charts for the second consecutive year in 2022 in terms of the foreign visitor market share, surpassing New York.

Furthermore, post-pandemic, Florida leads the U.S. in the resurgence of foreign traveler numbers, boasting an 80% recovery rate compared to 2019 figures.

In contrast, New York and California have recovery rates of 75% and 68%, respectively, with the national average trailing at 73%.

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