Tourist-tax collections in Orange County continued a record run in December, the ninth straight month in which receipts were the highest ever for the month, according to figures released this morning by Comptroller Phil Diamond.
Receipts totaled $34.3 million for December, up about 8.1% or $2.56 million better than December 2024.
“Orange County enjoyed its own ‘Santa Claus Rally’ with TDT collections,” Diamond quipped in the announcement, employing a term sometimes used by Wall Street analysts to describe a common post-Christmas surge in stock prices.
Through the fiscal year’s first quarter, which ended Dec. 31, collections are about $10 million ahead of last year’s record pace.
The Tourist Development Tax, or TDT for short, is a 6% surcharge added to the cost of a hotel room or other short-term lodging option in Orange County, including home-sharing rentals like AirBnb and VRBO. TDT is often viewed as a measure of the tourism industry’s health.
Beginning in April 2025, monthly TDT collections consistently have topped the number for the same month from the previous year.
Each month has also set a new standard for the highest same-month collections ever.
Diamond has previously credited the opening of the Epic Universe theme park for sparking a boom that set an all-time fiscal year record of $384.5 million in fiscal year 2024-25, which ended Sept. 30. The monthly TDT report generally lags about five weeks behind collections.
Orange County’s tourist tax in 2024-25 smashed the all-time record. Will it continue?
The January report is expected in early March.
Travel to the area remained strong in December, said Casandra Matej, president and CEO of Visit Orlando, the TDT-funded agency that promotes Orlando and Orlando-area attractions to national and global markets. She said hotel occupancy rate in December dipped slightly from December 2024, settling at 74.2%, but room demand was up slightly because of growth in hotel inventory.
The average daily room rate for Orange County hotels reached $241.63, up 5% from $230 in December 2024.
Matej said tourism was boosted by several large shows at the Orange County Convention Center, including the American Kennel Club National Championship. AKC’s premiere event was one of three December shows that combined to draw about 85,000 attendees.
The other two were the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference, the world’s largest modeling, simulation, and training conference, and the American Society of Hematology, a forum for scientific and clinical exchange for medical professionals who treat patients with blood and bone marrow disorders.
Matej said the upcoming spring break period shows promise with hotel demand across Metro Orlando pacing 10% ahead of last year.
She said a new campaign, “Winter Doesn’t Exist,” launched in January encouraging travelers to trade cold weather for Orlando’s warm-weather experiences. Commercials touting Central Florida have run in key markets — including Boston, Chicago, Dallas and New York.
More than half of the $5.8 billion generated by TDT since it was first levied in 1987 has been spent to build, expand, operate and maintain the Orange County Convention Center. By contract, Visit Orlando receives 30 cents of every TDT dollar the county collects.
The money also has been used to build, expand and improve stadiums, arenas and some arts venues.
The comptroller’s latest report shows $429.4 million in TDT reserve, including $300 million that Diamond said is intended to protect against tourism market downturns that could impair the county’s ability to pay for ongoing obligations. The reserve total also includes $45.2 million, obligated for capital grants awarded to projects reviewed by an advisory committee and approved by county commissioners.
The county also spent $14 million on the Convention Way Grand Concourse project and made a $10 million payment to the University of Central Florida as promised for the $90 million expansion of the Roth Tower at Acrisure Bounce House Stadium on campus.
shudak@orlandosentinel.com