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Florida's Largest International Group Of Visitors Expected To Vacation Less In U.S.

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Canadians come to Florida more than any other international visitors, but fewer are expected to vacation in the U.S. this year. This may affect the Sunshine State.

Visits from our northern neighbors have stalled because Canada’s currency is weak right now.

The AP reportsCanadian tourism to the U.S. was expected to be down by 8 percent last year and another 1 percent this year.

Paul Phipps with the state’s tourism arm Visit Florida said normally 20 percent of all Canadian tourists come here.

He said during the first three quarters of 2015, the state saw a 1.4 percent drop in Canadian tourism.

But, Phipps said the state has some built in security.

“The insulator Florida has is probably very different than any other state is that they estimate over 700,000 Canadians own homes in Florida and so where the exchange rate is not great, they're going to come because they already have their facility,” he said.

Phipps also said more Canadians are coming by air while fewer are driving. For Visit Florida, this has meant focusing more on flying promotions.

He said Florida’s 1.4 percent decrease in Canadian tourists compared to the country’s possible 9 percent decrease shows the drop could have been way worse.

Topher is a reporter at WGCU News.