This week, Visit Orlando hosted their Signature Luncheon on Travel and Tourism with stories on food, culture and comedy from keynote speaker, Phil Rosenthal, creator of “Everyone Loves Raymond” and host of Netflix’s hit show, “Somebody Feed Phil”.
It was an honor to host a Q&A discussion with Phil Rosenthal as he shared stories from his recent episode filmed in Orlando and his journey from creating a hit comedy series to an internationally renowned culinary series.
This week, Visit Orlando also announced that the destination welcomed 6.13 million international visitors in 2023, an increase of 25% over 2022 numbers. The news was shared during a media event attended by over 300 domestic and international media at U.S. Travel Association’s IPW, the country’s largest travel trade show promoting international travel to the U.S.
Canada remains Orlando’s top international market, with more than 1.2 million visitors traveling to Orlando in 2023, the highest number from this market in Orlando’s history. The 2023 international visitation numbers represent 94% of pre-pandemic (2019) levels, with Canada, U.K. and Brazil remaining the top three international origin markets for Orlando.
Orlando’s international growth is a testament to the uniqueness of our unbelievably real destination, the support from our travel trade partners and our emphasis on strategic marketing initiatives to help drive visitation from our key international markets. Read more here: Visit Orlando Announces 25% Year-Over-Year International Visitation Growth in 2023.
Orange County’s Tourist Development Tax (TDT) Collections for the March 2024 TDT collection month were $40,550,000. March 2024 collections were higher than March 2023 collections by $1.6 million or 4%. This is also the highest monthly collection ever.
To celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, Visit Orlando also recently highlighted Sampaguita Ice Cream & Desserts on Instagram. In the video, co-founder Marie Mercado discusses popular Filipino ice cream options, including the ube brownie sundae and halo halo. She also mentions that Orlando has amazing chefs propelling the city’s culinary scene forward. Throughout May, we will feature more AAPI-owned businesses and eateries.
