On Tuesday at the Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park on Okaloosa Island, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that Florida welcomed 30.9 million visitors between October and December 2021.

• This marks the second consecutive quarter that overall visitation has surpassed 2019, pre-pandemic levels.

Overall in 2021, Florida had nearly 118 million domestic visitors, the highest level in state history, as residents of other states flocked to Florida.

“In Florida, we put freedom first, and as a result people are choosing to vacation in our state from across the country and the world to escape lockdowns, including the politicians who advocated for those reckless policies and who are often spotted vacationing here,” said Governor Ron DeSantis.

“While tourism in other states is only just beginning to recover, Florida is at the front of the pack — now we are surpassing pre-pandemic levels and setting new visitation records,” he said. “I’m thankful that VISIT FLORIDA continued to market our state throughout the past two years, and I am confident that 2022 will be another great year for Florida’s tourism industry.” 

According to Dana Young, VISIT FLORIDA President and CEO, overall visitation not only exceeded 2019’s for the second quarter in a row, but domestically reached the highest point in Florida’s history.

Florida also saw a significant rebound in international travel, including record visitation from Colombia that has made it now Florida’s No. 1 international origin market.

“VISIT FLORIDA’s marketing continues to drive results on behalf of Florida’s tourism economy, and we are looking forward to taking this success to new heights in 2022 and beyond,” she said.  

Here are some stats:

• Preliminary estimates from VISIT FLORIDA show that 29 million domestic visitors traveled to Florida in the fourth quarter of 2021, reflecting a 57 percent increase from the same period in 2020, and a 7 percent increase from 2019. 
• Approximately 1.5 million overseas visitors came to Florida in Q4 of 2021, an increase of 198 percent from 2020, and 43 percent from Q3 2021. 
• In addition, 359,000 Canadian travelers visited Florida between October and December of 2021, nearly three times as many as in the previous quarter. 
• For the year, Latin America was the driving force of overseas visitation in 2021, with Colombia becoming the state’s No. 1 international market with a record 710,000 visitors. 
• In addition, Florida’s total hotel revenue reached its highest ever in 2021 at $17.3 billion, a 2 percent increase over 2019.

For Okaloosa County, we saw record numbers in 2021

Tourist Development Tax revenues were up 74% over 2020.

“It’s really important to know how significant those revenues are because they do more than just marketing this wonderful place,” said Jennifer Adams, Tourism Director for Okaloosa. “We restore beaches, we clean the beaches and parks, and we pay for public safety.”

In addition to the tourist development tax revenues, the TDD focused on visitor spend. The goal was a 10% increase in spend.

“We exceeded 30% increase in spend which was $736 million,” said Adams. “This is $184 million more than we had projected that went directly back into our restaurants, our fleet, our shops, our guides, and we are very blessed for that.”

Looking ahead, Adams says that the future of tourism is very bright in Destin-Fort Walton Beach, with projections for 2022 pacing well-ahead of those record-setting numbers.

“We are truly humbled that Gov. DeSantis has been a champion of tourism and our livelihood,” said Adams.