Sunshine State Breaks Another Tourism Record

TALLAHASSEE — Despite Zika, hurricanes and the distraction over Pitbull's $1 million promotion deal, the Sunshine State managed to set a tourism record in 2016, welcoming more visitors than any other year in Florida history.

In announcing the record 112.8 million visitors who visited Florida last year, Governor Rick Scott said that 2016 marked the sixth straight record year for tourism, which remains the largest industry in Florida with its miles of sandy beaches and turquoise waters.

“Visitors spent $109 billion and supported a record 1.4 million Florida jobs in 2016 – a testament to the vital importance of tourism to our growing economy," the governor said.

That topped the previous high of 106.6 million visitors in 2015 by 5.9 percent. Tourism also brought a record 1.4 million jobs to the state, exceeding the previous record set in 2015.

“I have seen firsthand how tourism impacts our state," according to the governor. "Since I have been in office, we have made important investments in Visit Florida and broken record after record of visitors, added more than a million new residents and seen Florida’s private sector create more than 1.25 million new jobs."

The success is even more impressive considering that Scott was in Miami Beach on Dec. 9 announcing the lifting of the last Zika zone in the state — an area of about 1.5 square miles between Eighth and 28th streets in South Beach. That followed similar announcements at three other locations around the Miami area, the terror attack on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando and a year that saw Matthew wreak havoc in parts of the state.

"Unfortunately, even with these incredible successes, politicians in the Florida House are trying to eliminate Visit Florida," according to Scott. "I don’t understand how anyone can look at Florida’s booming tourism industry, and the more than 1.4 million jobs it supports, and vote to kill it."

He was referring to efforts by Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran, who wants to send Visit Florida packing, tweeting: "spending more taxpayer money on VISIT FL (or less) has not demonstrated a direct impact on tourism, a statement that was deemed only "half true" by Politifact.

Photo courtesy of Miami Beach