Florida drew 34.01 million visitors in the second quarter of 2026, down from 34.4 million a year earlier, as Canadian travel fell 4.2% and domestic trips slipped for the first half. The state's record 2025 is now being unwound at the margins.
Cover image: a pastel lifeguard tower on Miami Beach, the state's most recognisable tourism landmark — photo by Radomianin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Florida drew an estimated 34.01 million visitors in the second quarter of 2026, down from 34.4 million in the same quarter of 2025, according to figures posted online by Visit Florida, the state's tourism-marketing agency — the first half-year since the pandemic recovery in which America's most-visited state has failed to match its own record pace. First-half visits totalled 73.5 million, below the roughly 74.5 million of January–June 2025, and every major market segment was down year over year: domestic, overseas and Canadian.
The decline is modest in percentage terms but symbolically significant. Florida has broken its own annual record every year since 2022 and handled a record 143.3 million visitors in 2025; the state's pre-pandemic record was 131 million in 2019. The 2026 data suggests the post-pandemic boom is levelling off under the combined weight of inflation at home and a Canadian travel boycott tied to US trade policy.
How many visitors did Florida get in Q2 2026?
Visit Florida's estimates break the quarter down as follows:
| Segment | Q2 2026 | Q2 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total visitors | 34.01M | 34.4M | −1.1% |
| Domestic | 31.08M | 31.22M | −0.4% |
| Overseas | 2.21M | 2.30M | −3.7% |
| Canadian | 0.72M | 0.75M | −4.2% |
First-half totals show the same pattern with the Canadian decline far sharper: 1.68 million Canadians arrived in January–June 2026, down 13.9% from the same period of 2025, while domestic visits slipped 1.3% to 67.33 million. Overseas travel is the one bright spot — the half-year figure of 4.5 million is up 2.2% on 2025 even though the second quarter itself fell 3.7%.
Why are fewer Canadians coming to Florida?
Canada is Florida's largest international source market, and it is contracting faster than any other. The Q2 figure of 721,000 is not only 4.2% below 2025 — it sits 15% below the 848,000 Canadians who visited in Q2 2019, and the first-half total of 1.68 million trails 2019's 2.29 million by more than a quarter. The slide tracks the broader collapse in Canadian leisure travel to the United States since the trade dispute began, a trend other states are now spending to reverse: New York, for one, has launched discount campaigns aimed at winning Canadian travellers back.
Florida has so far leaned on its domestic base — 91% of Q2 arrivals — but that base is softening too. Domestic visits fell in both the quarter and the half-year, which analysts attribute to inflation-weary households trading down: shorter stays, cheaper markets, or skipping a trip entirely. The state's airline map is already adjusting, with Breeze Airways pausing four Florida routes from September.
What Florida's visitor decline means for travellers
For consumers, a flattening Florida market cuts two ways. In the beach markets most exposed to Canadian and overseas demand — the Gulf coast, the Keys, parts of the Atlantic shore — softer shoulder-season demand tends to show up as discounting, and autumn 2026 should offer some of the best value since the boom began. In Orlando and the theme-park corridor, record-setting demand has more cushion, though even there hoteliers lose pricing power when the total market shrinks.
The competitive backdrop matters too: with US demand cooling, destinations on both sides of the Atlantic are courting the same value-conscious traveller, and Europe's own autumn hotel prices are falling as the shoulder season opens. Florida's winter high season — still the deepest demand pool in US tourism — will show in early 2027 whether 2026's dip was a pause or the start of a plateau.
Is Florida's tourism boom over?
Not on the evidence of one half-year. The state remains on pace for one of its largest years ever, though matching 2025's 143.3 million would take a strong winter season. What the Q2 data does end is the assumption of automatic growth: Florida now needs domestic demand to hold while it rebuilds the Canadian and overseas segments that powered the record run. Watch the third-quarter figures, due in November, for whether the Canadian decline is stabilising.
Frequently asked questions
How many tourists visit Florida each year?
A record 143.3 million in 2025, versus 131 million in 2019. First-half 2026 visits totalled 73.5 million, slightly below the same period last year.
How many Canadians visit Florida?
721,000 in Q2 2026 (down 4.2% year over year) and 1.68 million in the first half (down 13.9%). Both remain far below 2019 levels of 848,000 and 2.29 million respectively.
Why is Florida tourism declining in 2026?
Inflation is squeezing US household travel budgets while a Canadian backlash to US trade policy has cut the state's biggest international market. Domestic, overseas and Canadian segments all fell in Q2.
When does Visit Florida release visitor numbers?
Quarterly, several weeks after each quarter closes; the Q2 2026 estimates were posted in late August and are subject to later revision.
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