Florida’s record tourism continues, but growth slows

Florida is continuing its best tourism year ever, welcoming another 31.6 million visitors during the third quarter of 2019. But while gross numbers are at all-time highs, year-to-year growth numbers for the third quarter are the lowest they’ve been in any quarter since 2010. That’s according to numbers released Wednesday by Visit Florida. More from Florida Politics, WJXT, and WCTV.

See also:
» Tourism in Florida grows while room nights fall
» Tourism rose in Florida but dropped in Panama City Beach

Florida Trend Exclusive
Made in Florida: A conversation with Florida Icon writer Art Levy

Florida Trend associate editor Art Levy has, for many years, been penning one of the magazine's most popular features, our Florida Icon series. Now, nearly 100 of his Icon profiles have been collected in a new book: Made in Florida: Artists, Celebrities, Activists, Educators, and Other Icons in the Sunshine State. Florida Trend online editor Will Gorham spoke with Levy about the new book, the process of crafting the profiles, and his impressions from specific encounters with Florida Icons. Read the Q&A with Art Levy here.

Budget experts still expect revenue slowdown

A big question for state budget estimators is not if, but how much, Florida’s revenue will lag behind expectations in the next two years as the budget conference prepares for next year’s Session. The State Revenue Estimating Conference met Wednesday to prepare its annual year-end report that writes estimates for the next 10 years. The meeting focused on the second half of that next decade. [Source: Florida Politics]

Magic co-founder announces campaign to bring Major League Baseball to Orlando

The man who helped bring an NBA team to Orlando now wants to bring a Major League Baseball team to the theme park mecca. Pat Williams, a former executive with the NBA's Orlando Magic, said Wednesday that Orlando was more deserving than a half-dozen other cities that have been mentioned as homes to potential MLB expansion teams in the future. More from the AP, Click Orlando, and WESH.

Business-friendly policies in Hollywood convinced this airline to move to the city

Silver Airways will say goodbye to Fort Lauderdale in 2020. Smitten with Hollywood’s business-friendly policies, the airline will soon relocate its headquarters to the neighborhood. The airline, founded in 2010 in Fort Lauderdale, has nonstop flights out of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport across the state, Northeast, Southeast and Caribbean. [Source: Miami Herald]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› World’s largest Christmas maze opens at Tropicana Field this weekend [Tampa Bay Times]
This year brings an all-new way to trip the Christmas light fantastic. Enchant Christmas, billed as the world’s largest Christmas light maze, is set to open Friday at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, with ice skating, a market, sleighfuls of lights and an ice bar.

› Sanford, once the celery city, looks to become hub for high-tech and manufacturing jobs [Orlando Sentinel]
Sanford has been known for a lot of things over the years. First celery, then breweries and now, city leaders hope, advanced manufacturing and high-tech industry. In the past five years, nine companies have moved into or expanded in Sanford through state and local incentive programs, from aluminum and pump manufacturers to major airlines and aircraft maintenance companies.

› Florida’s only Democratic presidential candidate, Wayne Messam, ends his campaign [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Wayne Messam, the mayor of Miramar, suspended his campaign for president Wednesday. Messam entered the race in March with a polished video and a large rally. His central message was that he wanted to help people achieve the American dream, something illustrated by his own story — and something he said has become hard to achieve for many.

› Almost half of Florida medical-marijuana users choose smokable pot now that it’s legal [Miami Herald]
More than 1.82 million ounces of smokable medical marijuana were ordered for 128,040 patients over a six-month period, a new state report shows. That translates to 113,922 pounds, or 57 tons, of flower marijuana.

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› Shopapalooza Festival returns bigger and better at Vinoy Park [Tampa Bay Times]
St. Petersburg's Shopaplooza Festival showcased up to 165 vendors and was previously held on consecutive Saturdays after Thanksgiving at Straub Park. But this year, the nearly seven acres of additional land will accommodate more than 225 vendors, and the festival is now a two-day event celebrating local arts, music and businesses.

› A jury just awarded a gay Florida man $157 million from tobacco companies. It could be a landmark case. [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Here's why the Florida case is gaining national attention: The couple was not married when the victim was diagnosed with COPD. But the jury decided they would have been if Florida had allowed it.

› Miami developer will address the country’s affordable housing crisis [Miami Herald]
Related Group’s Executive Vice President Jon Paul Pérez is taking on the country’s affordable housing crisis. Pérez is partnering with housing social-investment firm Federal Housing Solutions to create a new venture, Pérez Housing Associates, that will upgrade existing affordable housing stock nationwide using Section 42 tax credits.

› Marriott hotel, food hall planned for St. Pete’s Edge District [Tampa Bay Times]
A 161-room Marriott hotel and a European-style food hall will anchor the Edge Collective, a mixed use project in St. Petersburg’s Edge District. Located in the 1200 Block of Central Avenue, the collective will also include a coworking space and a "paseo,'' a throwback to the 1920s mid-block passageways found elsewhere in the city.