Florida enjoys record-breaking tourism numbers for first half of 2017

A record-breaking number of tourists visited Florida during the first six months of the year, thanks in large part to a surge in domestic visitors.

Gov. Rick Scott announced Tuesday that 60.7 million tourists visited the Sunshine State from January through June, the highest number in any six-month period in history.

That represents a 4.1 percent increase over the first half of 2016, with 53.2 million coming from other states. The total also included 5.3 million overseas visitors and 2.2 million from Canada.

“This means back-to-back record quarters for our state,” Scott said while making the announcement at the Florida Aquarium in Tampa.

A record 31.1 million visitors traveled to Florida in the first quarter of 2017, followed by 29.6 million from April-June.

The news comes after Visit Florida, the tourism marketing agency that relies on tax dollars to promote the state, had a dozen tourism agencies cut ties with the statewide agency as it faced mounting criticism over its spending, including giving rapper Pitbull $1 million. Tourism agencies in Tampa Bay, Orlando and Miami were among those severing ties with Visit Florida.

Scott has pushed for budget increases for Visit Florida, but state legislators threatened to cut funding by up to two-thirds before reaching a deal with the governor to keep the budget intact.

“Now, with the investments made in Visit Florida during this year’s special legislative session, we can continue to break records and work toward our goal of 120 million visitors this year,” Scott said.

Said Visit Florida president and CEO Ken Lawson: “This is an exciting and historic time for the Florida tourism industry. (We are) committed to continuing to create cutting-edge marketing programs for our industry partners of all sizes that showcase the state to visitors and help make Florida the No. 1 vacation destination in the world.”

Last year, Florida welcomed an estimated 112 million visitors to set a record.

This story was originally published August 15, 2017 at 12:39 PM with the headline "Florida enjoys record-breaking tourism numbers for first half of 2017."