Tourist-tax collections in July set a new high for the month, though total receipts were less than June\u2019s.<\/p>\n
Collections for July tallied about $31.4 million, besting last July\u2019s receipts of $29.5 million, the previous record for the month, but fell $2 million shy of June\u2019s total, Comptroller Phil Diamond said announcing the latest figures.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter seeing collections flatten in June, it is good to see positive growth in July,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
With two months remaining in the 2025-26 fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, the revenue juggernaut figures to surpass $400 million in a fiscal year for the first-time ever. It stands at $356.6 million, $28.2 million ahead of last year\u2019s pace.<\/p>\n
October is generally a strong month for visitors who come to the theme parks for Halloween events.<\/p>\n
Some indicators suggest the coming months will follow that trend.<\/p>\n
The forecast Hotel room demand through October is pacing 3% ahead of last year, said Casandra Matej, president and CEO of Visit Orlando, the destination marketing agency predominantly funded by Tourist Development Tax revenue.<\/p>\n
Matej said July\u2019s strong performance was largely driven by leisure travel during the peak summer travel window for families when school breaks are fully aligned across the U.S. and the region\u2019s key international markets.<\/p>\n
To boost tourism, Visit Orlando in partnership with TripAdvisor recently launched a YouTube series to showcase Orlando-area attractions, experiences and restaurants. The videos feature personalities with Central Florida connections including soccer star Kak\u00e1, Orlando Pride defender Rafaelle Souza, Joey Fatone of NSYNC fame and Broadway star Michael James Scott.<\/p>\n
July\u2019s revenues marked the 15th time in the past 16 months that a new monthly collections record was set.<\/p>\n
The tax, better known by the acronym TDT and sometimes called a bed tax, is a 6% surcharge on the cost of a hotel room or other short-term lodging option in Orange County like an Airbnb or VRBO home-sharing rental.<\/p>\n
Its revenues have paid to build, renovate, expand and operate the Orange County Convention Center; fund Visit Orlando\u2019s marketing efforts; and help pay to build or improve Camping World Stadium, the KIA Center and a host of smaller venues including Harriett\u2019s Orlando Ballet Centre, the Plaza Live and the Winter Park Playhouse.<\/p>\n
TDT is considered a reliable gauge of the tourism industry\u2019s health.<\/p>\n
At the end of the month, TDT reserves totaled $437 million, including $300 million Diamond, as the county\u2019s fiscal watchdog, recommended the county keep in reserve to guard against sudden downturns in the volatile tourism market.<\/p>\n
shudak@orlandosentinel.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tourist-tax collections in July set a new high for the month, though total receipts were less than June\u2019s.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393966,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[28,114,266,115,1335,139,141,140,109],"class_list":["post-393965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-florida","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-social"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}