ORLANDO, Fla. — Spring and summer travel numbers suggest a strong comeback for Florida tourism amid the pandemic, but officials continue to monitor the spread of the Delta variant and
Data released by Visit Florida and Visit Orlando showed that during the second quarter of 2021 — which includes April, May and June — hotel occupancy and demand, as well as airport passenger traffic, all soared from the same period in 2020 when COVID-19 nearly shut down the tourism industry.
“While our recovery pace through summer so far is worth recognizing and celebrating, we must remain cautious looking forward,” Visit Orlando president and CEO Casandra Matej said in a statement.
In the metro Orlando area, which covers Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties, hotel occupancy was at about 62%, a 177% increase from the same timeframe last year, a report from Visit Orlando showed.
Hotel demand increased 360% and visitors could expect to pay around $117 per day, compared with average daily rates of about $71 in 2020, as the major theme parks and the Orange County Convention Center closed their gates.
Collections of Orange County’s tourist development tax, which levies a 6% rate on guests renting or leasing accommodations, totaled $55.6 million in the second quarter, according to Visit Orlando, for a 1,090% increase from $4.7 million in 2020′s second quarter.
Total passenger traffic at Orlando International Airport increased 672% from 1.4 million to 10.8 million, according to the data.
Daryl Cronk, Visit Orlando’s senior director of market research and insights, said the agency’s hotel numbers are collected by industry analyst company STR, which accesses hotel reservation systems nationwide and issues estimates. The passenger numbers come directly from the airports, he said.
“Since January, we’ve been seeing pretty steady increases as the industry recovers, [in] both the passenger data at the airport and the hotel data, so we’ve been encouraged by the improvement over the last couple months,” he said.
Matej said the hotel and travel statistics indicated recovery within the Central Florida tourism sector during a typically bustling season but warned of potential slowdowns ahead.
She said travel usually stalls seasonally as children return to school in mid-August, and analysts anticipate seeing that pattern hold this year. National research also indicates people are less willing to travel due to the surge in the Delta variant, she added.
“Visit Orlando is working closely with Orange County to stress the importance of vaccinations and encourage vigilance on health and safety standards throughout our community,” she said.
Visit Florida released its second-quarter visitor numbers Friday showing statewide statistics. The agency tracks travel for out-of-state visitors only, while Visit Orlando’s data accounts for in- and out-of-state tourists.
Statewide, Florida hosted 31.7 million total visitors from April through June 2021, a 223.4% increase from 2020′s second quarter. Around 30.6 million of those visitors were domestic and 1.1 million were international, according to the report.
Leslie Pearsall, Visit Florida spokesperson, said while the agency does not make projections about future trends, the data show encouraging tourism growth statewide.
“Florida continues to outperform the nation in key tourism performance indicators, and Visit Florida is making every effort to keep this momentum going,” Pearsall said in a statement.
