Tourism Shattering Records
May 18th, 2015 by flanewsIf you think you’re seeing a lot more out of towners walking around the state, you’re not imagining things. As Matt Galka tells us, Florida tourism is shattering records, but experts say we can’t fall behind on basic needs if we want the visitors to keep coming back.
Ray Pettit and his wife Cindy were checking out the sights in Florida’s Capital Monday. They keep coming back to Florida.
“Mainly the weather, and of course my wife likes the beach,” said Ray Pettit.
The couple from South Carolina has family in the state, but they’re not ruling out making it their home one day.
“The people are nice, everybody is great, I’ve never had any problem in Florida, it’s definitely a place if I ever make my move it’s going to be in Florida,” said Ray Pettit.
Now the Pettit’s are becoming a part of Florida’s history. The state is currently experiencing record breaking tourism numbers. More than 28 million people visited the sunshine state from January through March of this year. That’s a 6% increase over the same time period as last year.
Experts say while out of towners are great, the state has to make sure it can handle all of the visitors.
Robert Weissert with Florida TaxWatch says that infrastructure needs to be kept up with and properly funded.
“If they’re stuck in traffic on the highway, if they can’t catch a train, if their plane can’t land, or if they’re stuck forever in immigration naturalization services when they land, then they’re not going to have a good experience. So the key is keeping our infrastructure investment moving forward,” said Weissert.
The state’s goal is to have more than 100 million visitors this year. Florida fell just short in 2014, with an all time high of 98.9 million. While many say the brutal Northern winter contributed to an uptick in visitors, TaxWatch says the record breaking numbers can be contributed to an overall improving economy around the country.
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