Take a bow, Orlando. Every year, we just keep raising the bar!
At our industry’s Celebrating Travel & Tourism Luncheon today, we revealed the news everyone’s been waiting to hear: In 2018, a record 75 million visitors came to Orlando (4.2% more than last year), once again keeping us the most visited destination in America.
Domestic and international visitation both posted solid gains, with particularly strong visitation from Latin America.
As we stand on the edge of a new decade, it’s amazing to consider that visitation to Orlando has risen 61% since 2009. That’s a gain of more than 28 million people, equal to the population of Texas!
What does this mean for our community, for our quality of life? In short, every new visitor is a reason to celebrate, as tourism supports 41% of our region’s workforce, generates over $70 billion in annual economic impact and provides $5.5 billion in local and state taxes.
Many factors contribute to our destination’s ongoing success, but product investment, strategic marketing initiatives and a world-class hospitality culture are at the heart of it. Together, these things provide a winning formula to help us maintain our No. 1 position well into the future.
-- George Aguel
