Florida tourism dips again as Canadian visitors decline sharply
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida tourism declined for a second consecutive quarter as the state saw fewer domestic, overseas and Canadian visitors compared with the same period last year.
The overall decline remained slight, but a sharper drop in Canadian travel comes as tourism officials and state economists watch economic pressures and changing travel patterns.
What's happening with Canadian tourism?
What we know:
Florida welcomed an estimated 34.01 million visitors from April through June, down 0.7% from the second quarter of 2025, according to Visit Florida, the state's tourism marketing agency.
An estimated 73.5 million people visited during the first half of 2026, down 1.4% from the same period last year. Florida recorded about 74.5 million visitors during the first six months of 2025.
Domestic travelers continued to account for the vast majority of visitors, with 31.08 million coming to Florida during the second quarter and 67.33 million during the first half of the year. Those figures were down from 31.22 million and 68.2 million, respectively, during the same periods last year.
Overseas travel also declined during the second quarter. An estimated 2.21 million overseas visitors came to Florida, down 3.7% from a year earlier. However, overseas travel for the first six months remained 2.2% higher than in 2025.
The largest percentage decline came from Canada.
About 721,000 Canadians visited Florida during the second quarter, a 4.2% decrease from the same period last year. During the first six months of 2026, about 1.68 million Canadians traveled to Florida, down 13.9% from the first half of 2025.
Canadian travel also remains below pre-pandemic levels. Florida received about 848,000 Canadian visitors during the second quarter of 2019 and 2.29 million during the first six months of that year.
A July report from Statistics Canada pointed to a broader shift in Canadian travel away from the United States. The agency said early 2026 travel patterns signaled "a persistent shift away from the United States by Canadian residents in their travel preferences."
The decline comes amid tensions between the two countries over President Donald Trump's trade policies and repeated references to Canada as the "51st state." The latest round of trade tensions followed new Canadian tariffs imposed by the White House last month.
What we don't know:
The available tourism numbers do not establish how much of Florida's decline in Canadian visitors is directly attributable to political tensions, trade policies or Trump's rhetoric.
Other economic factors could also be influencing travel decisions, including inflation and household finances.
It also remains unclear whether the decline will continue into Florida's winter tourism season, when Canadian travelers traditionally head south in larger numbers.
Big picture view:
Despite two consecutive quarters of declines, Florida tourism remains above pre-pandemic levels overall.
The state welcomed a record 143.3 million visitors in 2025. Florida has surpassed its pre-pandemic record of 131 million annual visitors, set in 2019, every year since 2022.
State economists, however, are watching signs that tourism growth could be slowing.
The Revenue Estimating Conference, a panel of economists that develops Florida's official revenue projections, said in an Aug. 14 update that inflation has outpaced wage growth and increased consumers' reliance on credit. The panel also pointed to federal forecasts showing slower growth in tourism, construction and real estate.
Tourism is particularly important to Florida because visitor spending supports hotels, restaurants, attractions and other businesses across the state.
Visit Florida is also looking beyond the state's traditional tourism destinations. The agency is promoting Florida's history as part of the nation's 250th anniversary and increasing efforts to attract visitors to rural communities.
The backstory:
Florida's tourism industry suffered a dramatic decline during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 before beginning a rapid recovery.
The state initially benefited from domestic travelers looking to escape pandemic restrictions elsewhere in the country. By 2022, annual visitation had surpassed Florida's previous record of 131 million visitors in 2019.
Tourism continued climbing and reached a record 143.3 million visitors in 2025.
The first half of 2026 has interrupted that growth, with overall visitation now running slightly behind last year's pace.
Canadian tourism has recovered more slowly. The 1.68 million Canadians who visited during the first half of this year remained well below the 2.29 million recorded during the same period in 2019.
‘Tourism and travel make such a big difference’
What they're saying:
Visit Florida President and CEO Bryan Griffin said the agency is trying to spread the economic benefits of tourism to communities across the state.
"Tourism and travel make such a big difference for something like a main street, a restaurant, a lodging or an attraction around the state," Griffin told reporters Aug. 12.
Statistics Canada described the decline in Canadian travel to the United States as unusually prolonged.
"Excluding the COVID-19 pandemic period, the resulting 11-month streak of year-over-year declines was the deepest and most sustained on record for border crossings from the United States," the agency said.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney also criticized the latest U.S. trade proposal amid renewed tensions between the two countries.
"We recognize that sometimes, its signature is written in pencil," Carney said Saturday.
The Source: This story was written based on reporting by the News Service of Florida.