A record 105 million tourists visited Florida in 2015

Florida set another record in tourism in 2015 after 105 million people visited the state, up 6.6 percent from 2014 when 98.5 million people visited the Sunshine State, according to Visit Florida.

It marks the fifth consecutive record year for tourism in Florida.

The record number of tourists also means there were more travel related jobs, up 53,400 or 4.7 percent over the same time last year, said Gov. Rick Scott, who made the announcement Thursday at Walt Disney World in Orlando.

"The number of travel-related jobs also reached a record high, with 1.2 million Floridians employed in the tourism," Scott said. "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."

The statewide records come as no shock to Manatee County residents and officials.

"I think first and foremost it's not surprising," said Elliott Falcione, executive director of the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors

Bureau.

"There's pent-up demand and Visit Florida is doing a great job. And obviously a special thanks to legislators and the governor for providing the right amount of marketing dollars to be able to effectively compete against other popular states that attract tourism."

According to the most recent available data, tourism taxes increased by 12 percent year-over-year. During the last fiscal year, ended Oct. 31, the strongest month for tourism taxes in Manatee County was March followed by February.

In December, Manatee County collected close to $939,000 from rentals. Nearly 23 percent of the taxes came from Holmes Beach rentals alone.

Tourism and recreation taxable sales for Florida increased every month year-over-year from January through November 2015 -- the last reported month -- representing an 8.6 percent increase over the same period in 2014. For 2015, the average daily room rate rose 5.9 percent, and the number of rooms sold grew by 4.5 percent compared to 2014. Florida's average occupancy rate for 2015 was 72 percent, an increase of 3.2 percent over 2014 and a statewide record for the calendar year occupancy rate, exceeding the previous high of 69.8 percent in 2014.

Visit Florida estimates that a record 89.8 million U.S. visitors traveled to Florida in 2015, reflecting an 8.0 percent increase over 2014. Estimates also show that 11.2 million overseas visitors and 4 million Canadians came to the Sunshine State last year. The number of people flying into the state's 18 airports during 2015 increased 8.2 percent over the previous year, representing a record 6.1 million more passengers than in 2014.

For fourth quarter 2015, preliminary estimates show a record 25.2 million people visited Florida. This represents the largest fourth quarter visitation number Florida has ever seen and reflects an increase of 6.7 percent over the same period in 2014.

This story was originally published February 18, 2016 at 10:53 PM with the headline "A record 105 million tourists visited Florida in 2015 ."