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Sun, sand and theme parks bring record number of tourists to Florida

 
Published Feb. 18, 2016

ORLANDO — Florida saw a record number of tourists flock to its beaches, theme parks and cities last year, according to new numbers announced Thursday by Gov. Rick Scott.

Some 105 million tourists visited Florida in 2015, according to preliminary estimates prepared by Visit Florida, the state's tourism marketing arm.

The new total beats the previous high of nearly 99 million and it marks the fifth year in a row that a record number of tourists came to Florida.

Scott, who has pushed for more money for tourism marketing while he's been governor, announced the new numbers at Disney World.

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"Tourism plays an important role in supporting our economy, and we will continue to make strategic investments in the tourism industry to keep Florida on track to becoming first for jobs," Scott said in a statement.

Scott says he wants the number of visiting tourists jump to 115 million during this calendar year.

Visit Florida estimates that most of those visiting Florida — nearly 90 million — came from the United States. Estimates show that 11.2 million tourists came from overseas and that about 4 million came from Canada.

"Governor Scott set a goal of serving 100 million visitors in 2015 and thanks to VISIT FLORIDA's outstanding marketing programs, we surpassed that goal," said Joe Lopano, CEO of Tampa International Airport. "Every part of the state benefits from that commitment to growing our tourism economy. At Tampa International Airport, we're on pace to serve a record number of passengers in 2016, which means more people enjoying our beaches, great restaurants, museums and attractions. That wouldn't be possible without the support of all of our partners in Tallahassee."