It seems the 8% fall relates just to overseas visitors. The following has been published by Florida's official source for travel planning - VISITFLORIDA.
Preliminary estimates of visitors to Florida for the fourth quarter of 2008 (October-December), show an estimated 16.6 million people visited the Sunshine State. This reflects a visitor decrease of 13.6 percent.
Preliminary data collected at 14 of Florida’s major airports shows a 7.3 percent decrease in total enplanements to Florida for the fourth quarter and a decrease of 2.1 percent for 2008.
“The decrease in tourism numbers is a major concern,” said Nocera. “No one is satisfied with a decrease in visitation, but given the profound downturn in the current economy, the fact that Florida hosted 82.5 million visitors in the 2008 calendar year is still an impressive number.”
During the fourth quarter of 2008, overseas travel to Florida decreased by 8.0 percent, however overseas visitation for the 2008 calendar year increased 1.1 percent. Canadian travel to Florida during the fourth quarter shows a 5.7 percent decline, yet Canadian travel to Florida increased by 14.0 percent overall in 2008.
'Enplanements'? [msneek]
I'm wondering if the truth of what's happening is that the hard core savvy Florida traveler who knows how to get the best value is continuing to visit as before while those perhaps not quite so aware are being put off by the seemingly higher costs of travel and hotel accommodation.
I suppose a factor to consider is whether the increased booking levels being experienced by the owners on here are from renters new to Florida or from those who have been before and are using their knowledge to get the best value.
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Almost as good as 'Debarkation' from a cruise ship, or what we Brits would call 'Disembarkation.'
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