Study Demonstrates Improvements in Economic Impacts on Florida’s Tourism Industry

December 7, 2020 – A study released today by Destinations Florida shows the tourism industry is still struggling amid the pandemic but the impacts have lessened in intensity.

According to the study, tourism businesses retained 72% of employees in October compared to 56% in June. Additionally, hotel occupancy is down 29% points in October which is a marked improvement compared to the 71% drop in April.

The study also found that tourism-related businesses’ profits were down 43% in October compared to 51% in June. Likewise, tourism businesses’ revenue was down 29% in October compared to 45% in June.

“Slowly but surely, we are seeing signs of a recovery and Florida’s tourism industry, which is a key driver of employment and our economy, continues to work hard to ensure our communities are able to rebound,” said Robert Skrob, Executive Director of Destinations Florida.

“There is no magic fix for an economic recovery but what we have seen and what we know works, is the efforts of local tourism promotion organizations that have been providing critical resources, information and opportunities for local tourism businesses to welcome visitors back in a safe and secure manner. With the help of these organizations, Florida’s tourism economy is prepped to recover fully and thrive in the future.”

Although the trends demonstrate positive improvements, more than half of tourism partners surveyed believe the impact of the pandemic response will continue until sometime between the third quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022.

The study was compiled from 244 completed surveys from industry partners in 19 counties. The majority of respondents were small tourism-reliant businesses with fewer than 10 employees and less than $1 million in annual revenues.

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