Florida tourism keeps growing thanks to American visitors
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - The number of tourists visiting Florida continues to grow.
Gov. Rick Scott announced Tuesday that an estimated 60.7 million tourists came to the state during the first six months of the year. That's a 4.1 percent increase over the same time period in 2016.
Scott highlighted the new numbers during a visit to the Florida Aquarium.
A breakdown shows that the increase is due primarily to a growing number of visitors coming from other states. But the number of tourists coming from overseas countries and Canada has dipped slightly.
Scott has backed budget increases for Visit Florida, the state's tourism marketing agency. Earlier this year GOP legislators had threatened to cut funding by two-thirds but reached a deal with Scott to keep the agency budget intact.