Sunshine State’s Unique Attractions & Destinations Appeal To Travelers
A total of 105 million people went to Forida in 2015, and that is up 6.6 percent from 98.5 million in 2014.
“With five consecutive record years for tourism, it is time to set our goal even higher, and I look forward to welcoming 115 million visitors to the Sunshine State this year,” Gov. Rick Scott said in a press conference at Walt Disney World in Orlando.
The average number of direct travel-related jobs in 2015 was also a record high, with 1,199,200 Floridians employed in the tourism industry, which was up 53,400 or 4.7 percent over the same period last year.
Visit Florida, the state’s tourism board, estimated that a record 89.8 million Americans traveled to Florida in 2015, 11.2 million were overseas visitors and four million were Canadians.
Of course, there’s a lot to see and do in Florida for tourists from around the globe.
Besides Walt Disney World and the seemingly endless family diversions in and around Orlando, there are the beaches, cities and even scenic causeways connecting the mainland to islands where you can pull off for a picnic, play in the water or pull out a fishing pole.
It also has those “uniquely Florida” attractions such as a sponge farm in Tarpon Springs, tropical gardens, exotic goofy golf courses in practically every beach town and the mermaids at Weeki Wachee.
Plus, there events such as Bike Week in Daytona and Major League Baseball’s Spring Training, just to name two. And, of course, tens of thousands of college students pile into cars headed to Florida each March for Spring Break.
Plus there are University of Florida and Florida State football games, which are lively events on college campuses in the fall, cruise ship passengers who descend on Ft. Lauderdale and Miami, big-time boat shows and Parrotheads who flock to Key West hoping they are timing their visit to those rare times when Jimmy Buffett is in town.
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