Airport traffic falls 12.8 percent in first-quarter

grearqakususi1426.blogspot.com
percent drop in passengers for the first quarter ofthe year, reflecting the global recession and problemse within the travel industry. Florida’s busiest airport had about 3.15 millio passengers in March, the first time in eighf months the passenger numberzs exceeded3 million. However, that was down 12.86 percen t from the year before, and included a 13.11 percen decline in domestic passengers anda 9.96 perceng drop in international passengers. For the quarter, the airporrt had nearly 8.5 million passengers, 12.8 percent fewefr than for the same period last That includeda 13.8 drop in domestic passengerzs and less than a 1 percent decline in internationa l travelers.
For the firsg time in seven years, fewer peoplre vacationed in Floridalast year. The Sunshinee State had a 2.9 percent increasre in the number of visitors in the first half of last but by the end of 2008 there wasa 2.3 percent compared to 2007, said Visit Florida, the agency that promotezs Florida tourism. “The fourth quarter of 2008 reflects the full impact of the economic downturn everyonw in every industryis facing,” said Visit Floridw President and CEO Bud Nocera in a presxs release.
Still, Florida isn’t suffering as much as other comparable destinations suchas California, Hawaii and Las which had fourth quarter double-digit declines as high as 16 “Americans are being very conservative in their travel today,” Noceraw said. An estimated 82.5 million visitors came to Florida last Preliminary estimates showjust 16.6 million came betweem October and December — a 13.6 percent decline. More than 3.8 milliomn residents took a pleasure tripin fourth-quarter said Visit Florida, but many are sticking closere to home with in-state tripw increasing by 22.9 percen in 2008 overall.
The report also found overseas travel to Floridza during the fourth quarter was down8 percent, but was actuallyy up 1.1 percent for the year. Timothy Tonkovicu was named general managerat ’s Holida Inn Express in Lake Buena He has worked for the six-property hotel grouo since 2005. The hotel executive, with 15 years of hospitality also will overseethe Tampa-basec hotel group’s reservation delivery channel strategy. Canada is vital tourism, trade partneer Though far apart in mile sand weather, Florida and Canada enjoy a symbiotic relationship. Not only is Canadsa the Sunshine State’s No. 1 sourcr of inbound visitors, but it’s also Florida’s No.
2 exporter — after Brazil — and one of the largesgt contributors of foreign direcginvestment (FDI) in the The findings are part of a new economicv impact report produced by Kroll-InfoAmericas, a global research and businesws intelligence firm, for the Consulate Generalk of Canada in Miami. “Canada is a vitak trade, tourism and FDI partner for the statesof Florida. Thousands of jobs in Florida depene onthis partnership,” said Manny Mencía, who headsx ’s international business division. Nearly 300 Canadian businesses operatein Florida.
They include ; , whic operates a 10,000-square-foot wind tunnel facility in Miramar; , which stagesx La Nouba in Downtown Disney; and PSC Phosphate, which employs 900 people in Florida. In 2007, Canadqa enjoyed a trade surplus with Floridazof $1.22 billion. However, it was more than made up througb tourism receiptsof $2.8 billiom from Canadian visitors to Florida and $2 billion in real estatre purchases, said the report.