SHARE:
Number of visitors to Orlando down in 2006
The 47.8 million people who traveled to Orlando last year was 3.1 percent less than the 49.3 million visitors in 2005, the figures showed. That's the first drop in total travel to Orlando since 2001 -- a year that included a recession and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks -- and only the second decline in at least 15 years.
But the tourism industry nonetheless injected more than $29.8 billion into the Orlando economy last year and directly employed more than 224,000 people, according to the report, which was commissioned by the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Visitors bureau spokeswoman Danielle Courtenay attributed the drop in visitors to pocketbook issues that hit consumers in 2006, such as the start of the housing slump and then-record fuel prices.
"There wasn't one clear-cut reason, but [indications] pointed to the economic situation," Courtenay said.
Travel to Orlando was down in a host of categories in 2006 compared with 2005.
Domestic visitors fell 3.3 percent to 45.1 million. The number of in-state visitors, who represent just over half of all domestic travelers to Orlando, fell 2.8 percent to 23.9 million.
