Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Touts Continued Record Growth in Tourism

People visit the beach in Clearwater, Fla., on May 4, 2020. Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

On Nov. 17, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced continued record visitation to Florida in the third quarter of 2022.

“People are visiting Florida in record numbers because Governor DeSantis has championed freedom,” DeSantis’ press secretary Bryan Griffin said in a statement to The Epoch Times. “He refused to shut down the state during COVID and has always resisted vaccine mandates and forced masking. By standing up for freedom, the governor helped Florida avoid the economic turmoil that many lockdown states are still facing today.”

According to the latest estimates from Visit Florida (pdf), the Sunshine State welcomed 35.1 million visitors between July and September 2022, marking a 6.9 percent increase from the same period in 2021 and the fifth consecutive quarter of overall tourism surpassing pre-pandemic levels.

Among visitors from within the United States, Florida was the travel destination of 32.6 million visitors in the third quarter of 2022. Florida has welcomed 104.5 million travelers overall in 2022, an increase of 4.1 percent from the same period in 2019, and over 15.3 percent more than in 2021.

In 2022, Tripadvisor ranked Florida No. 4 in trending destinations. For those who are willing to travel anywhere in the world for their vacation, Town & Country placed Palm Beach, Fla., among their suggestions of “where to travel in 2022.”

To ensure visitors continue to experience Florida and are not dissuaded by the impacts of Hurricane Ian, Visit Florida has launched a $2.7 million campaign to convey to travelers that the “Sun is Shining in Florida.”

Freedom First

“Our freedom first policies continue to bring visitors to Florida from across the country and around the world,” DeSantis said in a press release. “This increase in tourism will support our entire economy, especially small businesses that have been built from the ground up by hardworking Floridians.”

“We are thrilled to cap off more outstanding growth for Florida’s tourism industry in the third quarter of 2022,” said Dana Young, president and CEO of Visit Florida. “Even as more destinations have become available, Florida has firmly maintained the top spot on every traveler’s list. Looking ahead, Visit Florida is wholly focused on continuing the momentum we have created, and further reinforcing that we are the No. 1 vacation destination in the world.”

Additional highlights from Visit Florida’s report include:

• Florida welcomed 1.9 million overseas travelers in the third quarter, an increase of 86 percent from the same time in 2021.
• Canadian visitation to Florida in the third quarter accounted for 539,000 visitors, an increase of 442 percent from 2021.
• 34 percent of visitors traveled to Florida by plane, marking a return to historical travel patterns.
• Hotel rooms sold grew 9.2 percent compared to the same period last year, and the overall occupancy rate grew by 6.2 percent.