International visitors flock to Florida post-pandemic

International visitors are heading to Florida in droves.

According to data from VISIT FLORIDA, the first half of 2023 has seen a 21.8 per cent increase in overseas visitors and an 81.1 per cent surge in Canadian travellers making their way to Florida when compared to the same period last year, the strongest numbers the state has seen since 2019.

A total of 33.1 million travellers visited Florida between April and June of this year, with 1.9 million of those being overseas visitors and 846,000 Canadian visitors.

Florida also continues to beat annual-visitation records with 70.8 million visitors in the 2023 calendar year, up 1.3 per cent over the first six months of 2022 and 4.5 per cent above 2019 pre-pandemic levels.

“VISIT FLORIDA has been laser-focused on building our key international markets and ensuring the return of international visitors to Florida and that work has paid off,” said Dana Young, president and CEO of VISIT FLORIDA.

“While other states have finally opened their doors to domestic visitors and created more competition, Florida is again leading in international visitors. Florida has the largest share of international visitors ahead of New York and California and we lead the nation in overseas arrival recovery compared to 2019.”

Florida’s post-pandemic recovery rate was 80 per cent when compared to 2019, while New York’s was 75 per cent and California’s 68 per cent.

The national rate for overseas arrivals also trails Florida’s at 73 per cent.

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