Updated 2025 visitation estimates alongside preliminary first quarter 2026 visitation data, released by VISIT FLORIDA, shows that Florida’s record-breaking tourism industry remains strong as the state continues to welcome steady domestic and international travel demand.
Those revised 2025 estimates show a significantly adjusted Canadian visitation rate that saw Florida welcome 3.17 million Canadian visitors in 2025, which is approximately 270,000 more visitations than initially estimated, and roughly half the decrease previously reported.
Previous estimated 2025 Canadian visitation was 2,904,000, however, the revised (actual) 2025 Canadian visitation was 3,174,000.
That revised data reflects delayed final reporting from kiosk issues at Ontario ports resulting in an undercount of U.S. visits in quarterly travel surveys. The updated analysis also more accurately captures evolving Canadian travel patterns, including travellers driving into the United States before flying onward to Florida.
Overall, Florida welcomed a revised total of 143.33 million visitors in 2025, an increase of 0.2% over the previous year and a record for the State of Florida.
VISIT FLORIDA also released preliminary first quarter 2026 estimates, showing Florida welcomed 39.88 million visitors from January through March 2026.
Domestic visitation totalled 36.54 million visitors. Air travel remained strong, with domestic air visitation increasing +2.5% year over year to 13.85 million visitors, while non-air visitation totaled 22.69 million visitors (-3.4%).
Overseas visitation showed remarkable growth for Florida, increasing +8.5% year-over-year to 2.29 million visitors during the first quarter.
The United Kingdom and Ireland have performed exceptionally well for Florida visitation. In 2025, the state welcomed 1.2 million UK visitors (a 5.9% year-over-year increase) and 92,000 Irish visitors (a 9.6% year-over-year increase). In Q1 2026, UK visitation is up again, increasing by 17.2% from Q1 2025. Irish visitation is also up 14.5% in Q1 2026.
Preliminary estimates indicate that Canadian visitation totalled 1.05 million visitors in Q1 2026.
Key highlights from VISIT FLORIDA’s first quarter visitation estimates include:
- An estimated 39.88 million travellers visited Florida in Q1 2026, -1.0 percent from Q1 2025.
- Domestic visitation totalled an estimated 36.5 million visitors in Q1 2026, accounting for 91.6 percent of total visitation. The preliminary domestic air and non-air ratio was 37.9 percent to 62.1 percent.
- Canadian visitation is estimated at 1.05 million in Q1 2026, accounting for 2.6 percent of total visitation in Q1 2026.
- Overseas visitation reached an estimated 2.3 million visitors in Q1 2026, accounting for 5.8 percent of total visitation and increasing +8.5 percent year over year from Q1 2025.
- Florida’s 19 commercial airports handled 29.9 million total enplanements in Q1 2026, an increase of +1.8 percent from Q1 2025. Orlando recorded the highest passenger volume with 7.6 million enplanements, followed by Miami with 7.4 million and Fort Lauderdale with 4.7 million. Daytona saw the fastest growth at +21.2 percent.
- Domestic enplanements increased +2.5 percent year over year to 24.5 million and accounted for 81.8 percent of total enplanements.
- Florida hotels saw a +0.6 percent increase in rooms sold during Q1 2026.
It should be noted that the -1.0% year-over-year change from Q1 2025 to Q1 2026 is due to domestic, non-air visitation calculations. However, domestic, non-air visitation is estimated as a ratio of air visitation combined with other predicting factors, including hotel accommodations.
Therefore, there may be significant variance between preliminary and revised domestic estimates in Q1 2026 due to shifts in traveler behaviour, especially if visitors are choosing to drive instead of fly, or if visitors are choosing to stay with friends or family instead of traditional hotel accommodations. Therefore, future revisions will be critical to an accurate picture of Q1 2026 domestic visitation figures.
Go to www.VISITFLORIDA.com for more.
