March is almost always good for tourism in Central Florida but it was never as fabulous as it was this year.<\/p>\n
Comptroller Phil Diamond \u2014 whose office tracks collection and spending of Orange County\u2019s tourist tax, widely seen as a barometer of the health of the tourism market \u2014 indicated Tuesday that receipts would continue the surge that began last April. He texted one word to a reporter asking about the numbers: \u201cBlockbuster.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, he confirmed in a news release that March \u201cdidn\u2019t just set a new monthly high\u2014it rewrote the record books.\u201d<\/p>\n
Never mind the economic turbulence afflicting the country and the world, driven most recently by rising gas prices because of the war in Iran.<\/p>\n
Collections of the Tourist Development Tax, or TDT for short, for March 2026 totaled $42.9 million, topping the previous one-month high of $40.5 million, set in March 2024. The 2026 figure was up more than $2.7 million over collections for March 2025, a 6.8% jump, he said.<\/p>\n
Quoting insights from Visit Orlando, the TDT-funded destination marketing agency, Diamond said the March boom was fueled by spring break travel and increased convention activity with hotel occupancy surpassing last year. The tourist tax comes from the county\u2019s 6% surcharge on hotel rooms, home-sharing rentals and other short-term lodging<\/p>\n
Halfway through fiscal year 2025-26, which started Oct. 1, the tax has raked in a total of $220.3 million, about $13.8 million better than the first half of a record-setting fiscal year 2024-25. TDT generated $384.6 million last year.<\/p>\n
If the record pace continues, TDT will raise well over $400 million in the current fiscal year, shattering last year\u2019s mark.<\/p>\n
The revenues power Visit Orlando, pay for improvements and operations of the Orange County Convention Center, and underwrite improvements to Camping World Stadium, the KIA Center, the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts and many smaller venues.<\/p>\n
The hotel occupancy rate in March settled at 80.8%, said Casandra Matej, Visit Orlando\u2019s president and CEO.<\/p>\n
The average daily room rate for Orange County\u2019s hotels was $260.89, up about $30 from the previous year.<\/p>\n
Among the big shows at the Orange County Convention Center was MegaCon Orlando<\/a>, the annual pop culture geekfest, which drew an estimated 195,000 attendees this year. The gathering featured a rare cast reunion from \u201cLord of the Rings\u201d: hobbits Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan and Elijah Wood, plus actors Orlando Bloom, Liv Tyler, Karl Urban, John Rhys-Davies and John Noble.<\/p>\n The event also featured \u201cStar Trek\u201d icons William Shatner, best known for his role as Capt. James T. Kirk, commander of the USS Enterprise in the original television series, and Walter Koenig, who played Ensign Pavel Chekov, navigator of the fictional starship.<\/p>\n