News

The third quarter of 2007 brought some 21.1m visitors to the state of Florida, according to the latest figures.

Statistics from tourism marketing group Visit Florida show that this is a 4.8% increase on the number of people that visited the south-east American state between July and September 2006.

Data collected from Florida's 14 major airports showed that 9.3% more people boarded planes in the third quarter of 2007 than in the previous year.

The bulk of the demand for travel to Florida came from Americans themselves this summer, with 93.7% of visitors coming from within the US and 5.1% coming from overseas.

State governor Charlie Crist said: 'The Sunshine State offers something for everyone - beautiful white sand beaches, rich cultural and historical districts and a wide variety of trails for biking, hiking and paddling.

'We invite visitors from across our country and the world to come experience a Florida vacation to remember for a lifetime.'

In 2006 the tourism sector brought $65bn (£31.4bn) of revenue into Florida, making it one of the state's largest industries.

If you'd like to see this destination for yourself, use Opodo's travel search engine to find flights, hotels, holidays and car hire worldwide.

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