TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Tourism brings big money to the Sunshine State and that was celebrated in Downtown Tallahassee Wednesday night.
It was for Florida's Tourism Day and Visit Florida is shedding light on just how much of an impact tourism has on the state.
Visit Florida says they are continuing to see record breaking numbers with people coming to see some of the sites and attractions that Florida has to offer.
It's Florida's number one industry.
"It is the top of the food chain when it comes to revenue creation for the state," Dana Young, CEO of visit Florida.
Tourism in Florida brings in 83 billion dollars each year and is responsible for one point five million jobs.
Visit Florida has seen record numbers over the past two years.
"In 2018 we saw an all time record of 127- million visitors to the state. Last quarter we saw another record," said Young.
And as more visitors come businesses like Henderson Beach Resort in Destin, Florida continue to thrive.
"We look for tourism we need tourism, we need for people to keep coming and visiting our places all of the shops all of the hotels you know that's where we thrive and that's where we excel," said La'quana Cooper, Henderson Beach Resort.
Now Visit Florida is looking to the Florida Legislature to continue their mission to grow tourism.
The organization will need to be reauthorized before July 1st or they will cease to exist.
"Our request ever so respectfully is that the house of representatives agenda our bill so that we can debate any issues related to Visit Florida and get our agency reauthorized for longer period of time," said Young
On Wednesday, Governor DeSantis said that he supports a multi-year reauthorization for Visit Florida something the organization hopes will let them continue their mission.
" Make sure that we continue to have high levels of visitation to keep our jobs strong and our economy robust," said Young.
