Boosted by the opening of the Epic Universe theme park, Orange County’s tourist tax collections hit an all-time high in fiscal year 2024-25, shattering the previous 12-month best, set last year, by $25.1 million, according to a comptroller report released this morning.

Comptroller Phil Diamond, whose office tracks collections and spending of the bed tax, cautiously celebrated the new record of $384.5 million amid worries over air travel that could hamstring Central Florida’s tourism-focused economy.

He cited recent flight cancellations blamed on a shortage of air-traffic controllers and the shutdown of the federal government.

“These are very unique but very real concerns which just haven’t been concerns until this month,” Diamond said in a phone interview. “While a great many people drive here from the southeastern United States, a great many more — Canadians and New Yorkers, people from the northeast and upper Midwest — really wouldn’t come here if they couldn’t fly. It just wouldn’t be practical.”

Canada is the top foreign market for Orlando.

Diamond said thousands of federal employees have been unpaid or on furlough during the government shutdown, tied for the longest in history at 35 days, “and if they’re not getting paid, they’re probably not thinking about taking vacations to Orange County, Florida.”

For September, the final month of fiscal year 2024-25, tourist-tax collections totaled about $26 million, which was $273,000 better than the tally from a year ago but also the most ever collected in a September in the history of the tax, first levied in the late 1980’s.

September’s record receipts added a cherry atop a record-setting 12 months.

The historic numbers weren’t a complete surprise to industry experts who predicted a surge of visitors with the debut of Epic Universe, the first new theme park to open in Orlando this century. Disney launched Animal Kingdom in 1998 and Universal opened Islands of Adventure in 1999.

Orange County tourist-tax collections set new annual record

The weather also mostly cooperated.

Hurricanes avoided Central Florida, unlike the previous fiscal year which started with Hurricane Milton forcing the Walt Disney Co. and Universal Orlando to close their theme parks for a day and a half because of the threat of high winds and torrential rains.

Orange County’s tourist development tax, known by the acronym TDT, is a 6% surcharge added to the cost of a hotel room and other short-term lodging options, including home-sharing rentals like Airbnb or VRBO and the cost of parking a recreational vehicle in an RV Park.

TDT spending is restricted by a state law that generally requires funds to be used to promote or expand tourism.

More than half of the $5.6 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 TDT report typically lags about a month behind collections. October’s report will be released in early December.

In his monthly TDT report, Diamond noted reserve accounts funded by TDT totaled $471 million, $171 million above the minimum reserve level Diamond suggested the county maintain to guard against sudden, steep drops in visitor numbers due to world events.

The reserves include an installment of $27 million the county will pay the city of Orlando for expenses related to improvements at Camping World Stadium and the surrounding campus. It also includes about $29 million for venue projects vetted by a citizens panel.

shudak@orlandosentinel.com