Florida sets visitor record in 2025 despite national tourism challenges

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Florida said preliminary data for the first quarter of 2026 shows strong visitor growth from international markets.
Florida said preliminary data for the first quarter of 2026 shows strong visitor growth from international markets. Photo Credit: Ingo70/Shutterstock

Florida set a record for visitors last year, even as the U.S. struggled to lure international tourists. 

Tourism marketer Visit Florida said the state welcomed 143.3 million visitors in 2025, a 0.2% increase. Though practically flat, the slight uptick resulted in a new high mark. 

Visit Florida's numbers were boosted by a revised total for Canadian visitors. Initially, Visit Florida reported that 2.9 million Canadians visited the Sunshine State, but the revised number is nearly 3.2 million. This is still a drop from 2024, when the state welcomed 3.3 million Canadians. 

Visit Florida said the number was revised because of a previous data reporting error. 

Preliminary data for the first quarter of 2026 shows strong growth from international markets. 

In all, the state welcomed an estimated 39.9 million visitors in Q1, a 1% drop from last year's first quarter. Of that total, 36.5 million were domestic visitors. 

International visitation reached a projected 2.3 million visitors in Q1, an 8.5% increase over last year's Q1. Just over 1 million Canadians are estimated to have visited.

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