TORONTO — ******* Governor Rick Scott has announced that ******* set another record in tourism by welcoming 105 million visitors in 2015, including 4 million Canadians.

This is the fifth consecutive record year for visitation to *******, exceeding the previous high of 98.5 million in 2014 by 6.6%.

“I am proud to announce that ******* has surpassed our tourism goal and welcomed an historic 105 million visitors to our state in 2015. … With five consecutive record years for tourism, it is time to set our goal even higher, and I look forward to welcoming 115 million visitors to the Sunshine State this year,” said Governor Scott.

Of the 4 million Canadians who travelled to the Sunshine State in 2015, 2.2 million travelled to ******* by air while 1.8 million travelled by non-air means.

VISIT ******* estimates that a total of 11.2 million overseas visitors came to ******* in 2015, plus a record 89.8 million domestic visitors, reflecting an 8% increase over 2014. Total enplanements at 18 ******* airports during 2015 increased 8.2% over the previous year, representing a record 6.1 million more enplaned passengers than in 2014.

Bob Chapek, Chairman of Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, who was on hand for the announcement, said, “As home of the most popular theme park in the *****, we’re thrilled to contribute to the record number of visitors to ******* – and the jobs and economic opportunities that tourism helps to create.”

Tourism and recreation taxable sales for ******* increased every month year-over-year from January through ******** 2015 (last reported month), representing an 8.6% increase over the same period in 2014. For 2015, the average daily room rate (ADR) rose 5.9% and the number of rooms sold grew by 4.5% compared to 2014. *******’s average occupancy rate for 2015 was 72%, an increase of 3.2% over 2014. This represents a record year for the statewide calendar year occupancy rate, exceeding the previous high of 69.8% in 2014.

John Tomlin, Chair of the VISIT ******* Board of Directors, said, “Achieving record visitation for five consecutive years, including reaching 105 million visitors in 2015, is a testament to the strong industry alignment between VISIT ******* and our tourism Partners. Thanks to the visionary support of Governor Scott and the ******* legislature, together we have built a solid foundation that will enable us to reach our goal of generating US$100 billion in visitor spending by 2020.”

For fourth quarter 2015, preliminary estimates show a record 25.2 million people visited the Sunshine State. This represents the largest fourth quarter visitation number ******* has ever seen and reflects an increase of 6.7% over the same period in 2014. VISIT ******* also reports that an estimated 2.9 million overseas visitors and 671,000 Canadians travelled to ******* in the fourth quarter of 2015. Of the Canadians that travelled to the Sunshine State in fourth quarter, 407,000 travelled by air, while 201,000 travelled by non-air means.