As Travel Agent recently told you, Orlando has been turning to professional travel agents to keep a massive pipeline of visitation flowing to the major destination. Based on a recent report released by the Orlando Convention & Visitors Bureau, it looks as if agents will have plenty no trouble finding potential clients.
During 2008, Orlando received 48.9 million visitors, the second best year on record. International travel, which includes Canada, totaled 3.4 million, an increase of 18.9 percent. Canadian visitation increased sharply by 20.1 percent to an estimated 940,000, and overseas visitation, excluding the United Kingdom, increased by 38.4 percent to 1,474,000. The total number of visitors from the United Kingdom decreased by 3.1 percent to 959,000. Domestic travel accounted for 45.5 million visitors, a decline of .9 percent.
Leisure visitors, while the largest of all demographics and which account for 78 percent of all domestic visitors, decreased 0.1 percent. Overnight leisure visitation increased by 0.8 percent, while those leisure visitors staying only for a day declined by 2 percent. Total business visitation decreased by 3.2 percent with overnight business visitation declining by 3.8 percent and overnight group meetings declining 7.8 percent, while day business visitation decreased by 2.6 percent.
International visitor volume to Orlando in 2008 was up 18.9 percent from 2007 to 3.4 million visitors. Overseas volume, excluding Canada and Mexico, increased 18.4 percent to more than 2.4 million visitors. The United Kingdom represented 39.4 percent of all overseas visitors and remained Orlando’s largest international origin with a 3.1 percent decrease in visitors in 2008.
Source: DK Shifflet Associates