BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023 Posted February 20, 2016 Report Share Posted February 20, 2016 And the crowds just keep on coming! Quote Florida see record breaking tourism numbers in 2015 Yesterday in Epcot at Walt Disney World a ceremony was held with Florida Governor Rick Scott who made the announcement that Florida has become the first state which had over 100 million tourists, both international and out-of-state, they reached 105 million. The record before that was 2014 where there were 98.5 million tourists. Scott had set this goal a few years back and state and tourist officials said it took some time to get to this number. Governor Scott said; “I am proud to announce that Florida has surpassed our tourism goal and welcomed a historic 105 million visitors to our state in 2015. The number of travel-related jobs also reached a record high, with 1.2 million Floridians employed in the tourism industry. 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. With five consecutive record years for tourism, it is time to set our goal even higher, and I look forward to welcoming 115 million visitors to the Sunshine State this year.” Now Scott has set a new goal, he would like to see 115 Million visitors to the sunshine state. This is not unreachable, says Will Seccombe who is the president of Visit Florida. Especially with the strength of marketing in the U.K and Latin America. It was noted that between the months of January and June, Florida recorded 54.1 visitors, which has been the highest numbers of tourists to visit in the first quarter. Seccombe also stated that the success of Orlando, home of Walt Disney World, is critical in attracting tourist. He was quoted saying: “Orlando is the most visited destination in the United States. It’s the most visited city. And certainly the home of the theme park capital of the world, right? No place else on earth can compare to that.”Orlando recorded 62 million visitors, which includes in-state, out-of-state and international visitors, George Aguel, Visit Orlando’s chief executive officer said that 2015 has shown higher numbers, but he didn’t go into details. Numbers are expected to be released in April. Chairman of Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, Bob Chapek, said he couldn’t be happier to be part of a company which helps Florida tourism thrive. http://www.chipandco.com/florida-see-record-breaking-tourism-numbers-in-2015-230242/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Travisma 1,317 Posted February 20, 2016 Report Share Posted February 20, 2016 Yea us.... Not. We just love the crowds and clogged highways. fladogfan aka Gretchen 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LONE-STAR 370 Posted February 21, 2016 Report Share Posted February 21, 2016 Disney really needs to build a park in Texas Avatab.... Steve 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Travisma 1,317 Posted February 21, 2016 Report Share Posted February 21, 2016 8 hours ago, LONE-STAR said: Disney really needs to build a park in Texas And one one in South America somewhere, probably Brazil. Avatab.... Steve 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Avatab.... Steve 124 Posted February 21, 2016 Report Share Posted February 21, 2016 Agreed to all of you. It's time for Disney to take the pressure off of Florida and lure some of those crowds to Texas AND Brazil Oh, and the Suncoast of Canada.... I'm kind of surprised that there haven't even been any rumors of any kind about new parks, unless I missed something. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LONE-STAR 370 Posted February 22, 2016 Report Share Posted February 22, 2016 In Texas there have been rumors since the eighties but nothing has ever come to be true. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
keith_h 420 Posted February 22, 2016 Report Share Posted February 22, 2016 I think building a resort in Brazil would go a long way towards making visits more enjoyable. It wouldn't bother me in the least to not see another Brazilian soccer club or school group clogging up the works. Avatab.... Steve and lightbikes 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023 Posted February 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2016 On 2/20/2016 at 6:12 PM, Travisma said: Yea us.... Not. We just love the crowds and clogged highways. We say the same up here in NH every election cycle. But thankfully that's only ever 4 years. I don't envy you having to deal with any of that. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Travisma 1,317 Posted February 22, 2016 Report Share Posted February 22, 2016 43 minutes ago, BradyBzLyn...Mo said: We say the same up here in NH every election cycle. But thankfully that's only ever 4 years. I don't envy you having to deal with any of that. I went down a route Friday that I hadn't used since I quit Best Buy about 3 years ago. I used to be able to leave my full time job at 4:30 and be in Best Buy's parking lot by 5:00. Friday I had only gone about 1/2, and it was already 5:00. The roads down here are bursting at the seams. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023 Posted February 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2016 29 minutes ago, Travisma said: I went down a route Friday that I hadn't used since I quit Best Buy about 3 years ago. I used to be able to leave my full time job at 4:30 and be in Best Buy's parking lot by 5:00. Friday I had only gone about 1/2, and it was already 5:00. The roads down here are bursting at the seams. Ugh. That really stinks. We have parts of the state here that get flooded with people (ocean/lakes in the summer, mountains in the fall/winter) but largely thanks to our ever-changing weather, it ebbs and flows and isn't 24/7/365. Even still, the locals in the most popular areas usually avoid all the main roads whenever they can during those times. The main drag of North Conway is probably only a few miles long and I've been stuck on it during prime "leaf peeping" season when it's taken 2 hours to go those few miles. I know tourism can boost the bejinkies out of an area's economy, but clearly not without a price. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Travisma 1,317 Posted February 22, 2016 Report Share Posted February 22, 2016 3 minutes ago, BradyBzLyn...Mo said: Ugh. That really stinks. We have parts of the state here that get flooded with people (ocean/lakes in the summer, mountains in the fall/winter) but largely thanks to our ever-changing weather, it ebbs and flows and isn't 24/7/365. Even still, the locals in the most popular areas usually avoid all the main roads whenever they can during those times. The main drag of North Conway is probably only a few miles long and I've been stuck on it during prime "leaf peeping" season when it's taken 2 hours to go those few miles. I know tourism can boost the bejinkies out of an area's economy, but clearly not without a price. Down here, it mainly goes to the big name chains, so not too sure how much it really benefits the "local" economy. People are comfortable going to a place they know. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023 Posted February 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2016 1 minute ago, Travisma said: Down here, it mainly goes to the big name chains, so not too sure how much it really benefits the "local" economy. People are comfortable going to a place they know. Fair point. I suppose it supplies more jobs at the chains, although they're not generally known for paying all that well. Up our way it really ends up being more local since the big tourist-y areas tend to have more local restaurants, shops, etc. But the downside is when the tourists leave, lots of things close up for the season. It seems people fine a way to make it work (at least there doesn't seem to be a ton of turnover) but I'm guessing it means squirreling away the $ during the high season to make it stretch the rest of the year. Downside is that the weather has a huge effect - a warm, dry winter reeks havoc with ski season; a short, not-so-hot summer kills the beach crowds. Which is probably why the "Sunshine State" runs at full tilt all year long! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Travisma 1,317 Posted February 22, 2016 Report Share Posted February 22, 2016 1 hour ago, BradyBzLyn...Mo said: Fair point. I suppose it supplies more jobs at the chains, although they're not generally known for paying all that well. Up our way it really ends up being more local since the big tourist-y areas tend to have more local restaurants, shops, etc. But the downside is when the tourists leave, lots of things close up for the season. It seems people fine a way to make it work (at least there doesn't seem to be a ton of turnover) but I'm guessing it means squirreling away the $ during the high season to make it stretch the rest of the year. Downside is that the weather has a huge effect - a warm, dry winter reeks havoc with ski season; a short, not-so-hot summer kills the beach crowds. Which is probably why the "Sunshine State" runs at full tilt all year long! That was a shocker when we moved down here in January of 1978. All the ice cream stands were still open! Up in NY, they had been shuttered for months. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023 Posted February 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2016 5 minutes ago, Travisma said: That was a shocker when we moved down here in January of 1978. All the ice cream stands were still open! Up in NY, they had been shuttered for months. Ok now THAT is a plus! LOL Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Avatab.... Steve 124 Posted February 24, 2016 Report Share Posted February 24, 2016 On 2/22/2016 at 2:32 PM, BradyBzLyn...Mo said: Ugh. That really stinks. We have parts of the state here that get flooded with people (ocean/lakes in the summer, mountains in the fall/winter) but largely thanks to our ever-changing weather, it ebbs and flows and isn't 24/7/365. Even still, the locals in the most popular areas usually avoid all the main roads whenever they can during those times. The main drag of North Conway is probably only a few miles long and I've been stuck on it during prime "leaf peeping" season when it's taken 2 hours to go those few miles. I know tourism can boost the bejinkies out of an area's economy, but clearly not without a price. We live near Cape Cod and there are only two bridges over the Cape Cod Canal. Just like you guys, most of us avoid the Cape from Memorial Day until Labor Day. Some weekends the traffic can back up for miles (on the big holidays it's backed up 20-30 miles) At work, we have had all kinds of meetings about what we would do if a bad hurricane hit the Cape during tourist season. The answer? Not much. It's a disaster waiting to happen. Like the Florida Keys, there's too many people and not enough roads. The funny part is that to get away in the summer we go to North Conway (StoryLand) and become part of the problem up there As the bumper sticker says: "If it's Tourist Season, why can't we shoot them?" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
parrothead7368 aka Norm 101 Posted February 24, 2016 Report Share Posted February 24, 2016 1 hour ago, Avatab.... Steve said: We live near Cape Cod and there are only two bridges over the Cape Cod Canal. Just like you guys, most of us avoid the Cape from Memorial Day until Labor Day. Some weekends the traffic can back up for miles (on the big holidays it's backed up 20-30 miles) That's why when we go up there this summer, we are arriving on a Wednesday and leaving on a Tuesday. I figured it would help me keep my sanity by being a little less traffic. Best Regards, Norm Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023 Posted February 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2016 7 hours ago, Avatab.... Steve said: The funny part is that to get away in the summer we go to North Conway (StoryLand) and become part of the problem up there HAH - spread the tourism wealth, I say! We avoid the Cape like the plague in the summer. Now off season? Delightful! We learned the North Conway lesson the hard way. It's fine when we actually want to poke along and stop here and there, but if we just want to pass through we now know where the back roads are. 7 hours ago, Avatab.... Steve said: As the bumper sticker says: "If it's Tourist Season, why can't we shoot them?" LOL!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Seals 111 Posted February 25, 2016 Report Share Posted February 25, 2016 Well, don't look at me. 2015 was the first year since 2007 that I didn't go to Florida. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
twiceblessed....nacole 433 Posted February 27, 2016 Report Share Posted February 27, 2016 This doesn't surprise me... I'm pretty sure they were all at Disney with us, end of October and beginning of November. I kept looking at Tom saying, "WHY are all these people here??!". Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fladogfan aka Gretchen 259 Posted February 27, 2016 Report Share Posted February 27, 2016 When DH and I go on vacation and make a stupid mistake, we just say "PAYBACK" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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