Governor Rick Scott promised that tourism in Florida would remain strong even after Hurricane Irma decided to pay it a visit. The sunshine state, known for being the place where "I live where you vacation," proved Governor Scott's promise right. In a statement, the Governor announced that Florida's tourism had exceeded and actually set a new record for the state.
In the statement announcing Florida's rise in tourism, Governor Scott explained that he was "proud to announce that Florida has continued our record-breaking success by welcoming more than 116 million visitors in 2017. Because of VISIT FLORIDA’s aggressive marketing efforts to make sure families across the world knew that Florida was open to visitors following Hurricane Irma, we are able to celebrate another record-breaking year for tourism. This is especially great news for the 1.4 million jobs that rely on our growing tourism industry. We will continue to market our state as the number one global destination for tourism.”
Though there were drops in September because of the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, hotel room stays and airport visitors went up over 4%. This also includes a 3.6% increase in tourists at 116.5 million over 2016's 112.4 million.
The Governor also went on twitter to highlight that 1.4 million jobs rely on tourism as well.
This is especially great news for the 1.4 million jobs that rely on our growing tourism industry. @VISITFLORIDA https://t.co/nHrq2nw4KG
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) March 20, 2018
