Nov 27, 2006 4:34 pm US/Eastern
Fewer Tourists Choose Florida
TALLAHASSEE (CBS4) ―
Florida may be a subtropical paradise, but fewer visitors are deciding paradise is the right destination for their vacation, according to new tourism numbers released Monday for 2006. Slightly fewer tourists visited Florida so far this year, potentially heralding the state's first year-to-year drop in visitors since the terrorist attacks of 2001.
66.8 million people have visited Florida so far this year, down just under 1 percent from 67.4 million visitors at the same time in 2005, according to Visit Florida, the state's tourism marketing arm. Total visitor numbers had risen nearly 7 percent in 2004 and almost 5 percent last year to a record 83.6 million.
Because the data is preliminary, it is not immediately clear which areas of the state are getting fewer tourists. The agency's numbers are based in part on data from the state's 14 largest airports, including Miami International and Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
Visit Florida spokeswoman Vanessa Welter said increasing competition from other markets and a lingering memory of two savage hurricane seasons could be at fault. The third quarter runs from July to September, all of it officially in "hurricane season."
"You've got states increasing their tourism budgets, states that didn't get a lot of tourists," Welter said. She said states such as Illinois, Pennsylvania, California, Hawaii and Texas all spend more on promotions than Florida.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
