Florida Sees 18.9 Million Visitors in 2010's Third Quarter

Deerfield BeachVISIT FLORIDA, the official tourism marketing corporation for the State of Florida, released the preliminary estimate of 18.9 million travelers during the third quarter of 2010. Compared to the same period in 2009, this is an increase of 0.6 percent.

Factoring into the estimate include increases among visitors from overseas, by 17.4 percent, and Canada by 23 percent, compared to the same period of 2009. Domestic visitation, on the other hand, decreased by 1.6 percent, in comparison to 2009's third quarter.

Other increases include the increase of planements at Florida's 14 major airports, by 3.8 percent, as well as the increase of 1.2 in Average Daily Room Rate. In addition, monthly hotel occupancy rates increased by 5.1 percent, and the Sunshine State's tourism-related employment saw an increase by 0.8 compared to the same period of 2009.

Visit www.visitflorida.org.