Nov. 20–A record-breaking number of tourists came to Florida during the first nine months 2015, putting the state on track to beat last year's all-time high of 97.3 million visitors during a single year, according to data released Thursday by Gov. Rick Scott's office.
The governor announced that 79.1 million tourists visited the state during the first three quarters of 2015, a 5.5 percent increase from the same time period last year. Between July and September, 25.5 million tourists visited the state, up 6.8 percent over the same period in 2014, Scott's office said.
At that pace, Florida is on track to beat last year's tourism record, a milestone that would marking the fifth consecutive year of record tourism growth in the state.
"I am proud to announce that the Sunshine State continued our record-breaking success and welcomed the most visitors in Florida's history over the first three quarters of the year," Scott said Thursday in a statement released by his office. "Our growing tourism industry employs 1.2 million Floridians and is helping us meet our goal of becoming first for jobs. We look forward to more than 100 million tourists visiting Florida this year."
Palm Beach County's tourism industry also is booming.
On Wednesday, Discover The Palm Beaches, the county's official tourism marketing organization, announced a record-breaking 6.8 million tourists are expected to visit the county in 2015.
The organization had originally projected 6.7 million tourists would visit Palm Beach County this year, but has adjusted that number up based on recent data.
"We're reaping the rewards of our strategic marketing efforts and brand strategy, which are reflected in the record-breaking results for The Palm Beaches' tourism sector," said Jorge Pesquera, Discover's president and CEO. "Our targeted and customized messages promoting this destination and successful efforts by our sister (Tourist Development Council) agencies have been key for driving higher number of visitors every quarter. With 68 months in a row of record-breaking visitors, we're cautiously optimistic that this trend will continue."
According to Discover, 5.2 million tourists visited the county between January and September, up from 4.7 million visitors during the same time period last year.
In the third quarter alone, 1.47 million tourists traveled to Palm Beach County, Discover said.
Statewide, an estimated 22.1 million domestic tourists visited Florida between July and September, an 8.2 percent increase over the same period last year, according to Visit Florida, the state's tourism marketing arm. Also in the third quarter, Visit Florida estimates that 3.4 million international visitors came to the state.
Preliminary estimates for the first nine months of the year show 67.4 million domestic tourists, 8.3 million overseas tourists and 3.4 million Canadians have come state, Visit Florida said.
