Another record for Florida tourism. Governor Rick Scott has announced the latest numbers and said 60.7 million tourists came to our state from January to June. That's the most ever for the first six months of a year.
The number is 4.1 percent higher than the same time frame in 2016. And that's despite worldwide news coverage last year that included the Zika virus, as well as the terror attacks at Pulse Night Club in Orlando and Fort Lauderdale's airport.
The governor says Florida's tourism industry supports 1.4 million jobs across the state and the goal is to set another consecutive yearly record in a row with 120 million visitors by the end of the year.
According to Visit Florida, the state's tourism marketing agency, 53.2 million of this year's tourists are from the U.S., while 5.3 million came from overseas. 2.2 million visited from Canada.
We've reached out to Discover the Palm Beaches, Palm Beach County's tourism marketing arm, to get more in-depth with local numbers and hope to have that information for you soon.
Photo: OJO+