Florida gets about 87 million visitors a year. The nonprofit research group Florida Taxwatch wanted to know what would happen to the economy if that number was a lot higher. The group did a study to find out.
If Florida could get 100 million visitors a year, 121,000 jobs could be created. So, the report recommends that the Legislature allocate more money for advertising.
The study’s main author, Dr. Jerry Parrish says the state needs to lure more visitors and keep them here longer because they pay sales tax.“Remember that every time they buy a meal, spend something shopping, stay in a hotel, that Florida state general revenue benefits 6 percent on each of those kind of transactions. About 73 or 74 percent of general revenue is generated by these kind of sales and use taxes.”
Senate Minority Leader Chris Smith says Florida has stiff competition from overseas destinations like Dubai.
He says the Legislature could dedicate a small portion of sales taxes collected at Florida attractions to pay for more advertising worldwide.
“When Europeans and others are talking about Florida and what a great place Florida is and ‘I want to go to Florida,’ it's because we have great venues, and those people come and they spend dollars here. And it has built our economy here.”
The state's official tourism marketing corporation, Visit Florida, receives funding from the state and the private sector. The amount it receives from the state changes each year.