The only thing preventing an utter meltdown in public tax receipts in Florida is an increase in international tourism. The robust trend for growth of international tourism to Orlando  is something we have blogged about in the recent past.

From a national perspective, international tourism was up 3% from April, 2009 to April, 2008 according to the Office of Travel and Tourism Industries (OTTI).

Luckily for Florida, the growing middle class in many South and Central American countries has led to several sharp increases. Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina all increased year-over-year tourism to the United States by at least 20%.

From an international air traffic standpoint, international passenger counts to Orlando were up 13.6% in May, 2009 versus May, 2008. The domestic air passenger volume was down 10.2% over that same period according to the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority.

The global passenger news certainly cushioned the overall drop of 8.6% volume decrease. Moreover, year-to-date international travel volume is up 3.4% with many of the countries mentioned above as star performers.

Brazil continues its 35 month continuous string of increasing tourism to the United States.

International Tourism to Orlando Up 2009

International Tourism to Orlando Up 2009

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