TALLAHASSEE – Florida’s major tourism industry experienced an estimated 60.5% drop in the number of guests as the COVID-19 pandemic hit hard this quarter, and foreigners fell by more than 90%.
And the prospects for the state remain bleak after the fall of nearly 20 million visitors from April to June. The tourism industry will have to fight the persistent negative perceptions of Florida’s control over COVID-19, bans abroad, others that take time to return to entertainment venues, and double-digit unemployment.
During the last quarter, about 12.8 billion people, nearly all from other states, arrived in Florida while businesses were closed in April and amid reopening efforts in May and June, according to figures released Sunday through Tourism-Marketing Visit Florida. Agency.
In 2019, Florida registered 32.4 million visitors in the quarter at the time and 68.2 million in the first six months. By the first part of 2020, the state saw this number fall by 35.2%, to 44,188 million visitors.
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Florida recorded a 12.3% drop in tourism in the first quarter compared to 2019, a relief of 4.4 million visitors when the pandemic began to take hold. In total, approximately 31.39 million visitors arrived in the state in the first quarter.
Florida finished 2019 with 131.4 million visitors.
Between figures in the last quarter of 2020, Florida gained 235,000 foreign and 9,000 Canadian visitors, according to figures published through Visit Florida.
The state, which had an increasing number of tourists for nine years, estimated about 2.65 million foreign visitors in the 2019 quarter and 931,000 Canadians at the same time.
After posting the figures for the quarter of the time on Sunday, Visit Florida added an online note indicating that the pandemic had had an effect on the way the figures were estimated and that published foreign figures may simply be higher than actual totals.
“Please note that due to the unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on the knowledge used to produce guest estimates, the figures provided through the knowledge provided through the knowledge provided through the -Reviews of the normal as new knowledge is available,” Florida Visit said in the note.
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“Also note that by the time of the 2020 quarter, VISIT FLORIDA estimates that the number of foreign visitors to the state was 20,000 to 30,000, however, the officially published estimate was calculated using the popular method through the request of the administrators of the convention on earnings estimation,” the agency’s note said , referring to a state panel that analyzes economic knowledge and profits.
As Florida continues to load thousands of cases of coronavirus according to the day, a sharp uptick is expected in the tourism industry in the short term.
Visit Florida has booked $13 million in the market for a tourism uptick. The initial purpose will be to get Floridians to explore other parts of the state and attract others to neighboring states.
As Florida struggles to reopen the economy since May 4, the accumulation of COVID-19 cases and deaths since overdue June has slowed the effort amid persistent negative news about the state and bars and breweries that are prohibited from promoting alcohol on site.
Last week, Walt Disney World released its goal of reducing hours from September 8, as Florida theme parks reported more cancellations than expected since they reopened in the first part of July.
Last July, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine gave the impression on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and warned that his condition was at a very significant level with the rise of COVID-19 cases and “could Florida.” Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf followed with his own statement: “We don’t need Florida.”
At the same time, Toronto Blue Jays President Mark Shapiro opposed the move of baseball games to the team’s spring educational facilities in Dunedin due to player fitness issues. Canada’s foreign restrictions on the United States forced the team to locate a playground in the United States. The team moved to Buffalo, New York.
On August 5, Christopher Thompson, president and chief executive officer of Brand USA, warned members of the Economic Club of Florida that spending through foreign tourists in the United States may not return to pre-coronavirus levels until 2024.
Thompson, who showed up at the Governors Club in Tallahassee, said that even with a coronavirus vaccine, consumers will want confidence in their fitness when they travel and at their destination.
“Today’s environment is the worst we’ve ever experienced,” Thompson said. “While the rest of the economy is in recession, the industry is in a state of depression.”
Thompson, who served as chief operating officer and president of Visit Florida a decade ago, said more than 50% of the hospitality industry faces unemployment.