JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — We are on a roll! Jacksonville’s latest tourism data confirms what Visit Jacksonville has been bragging about for months: the city is becoming a hot destination outperforming the growth of every other Florida city, and setting new records for the local tourism industry.
The February STR Report, tracking global hotel and tourism data worldwide, revealed not only that Jacksonville hotels had more occupancy and revenue than ever before, even beating the numbers from the February 2005 Super Bowl, but also that the destination has had 40 consecutive months of increase in RevPAR (Revenue Per Available Room) when comparing to the same months in the previous years, making Jacksonville the only city in Florida to be experiencing such growth.
“The impressive success for the Destination is a combination of many things, but primarily it is due to growing awareness of what makes Jacksonville so unique. Our great waterways, our natural wonders and eco adventures, our young and vibrant arts and culture scene, and the big sporting events we host,” said Paul Astleford, President and CEO of Visit Jacksonville. “Our Destination marketing message is hitting the spot and reaching the right audiences, and it is very encouraging to see that we have been successful for the past few years, but the work is just beginning. Let’s make it another 40 months of growth!”
In February 2005, when Jacksonville hosted Super Bowl XXXIX, Occupancy was 81.1% with 347,758 room nights sold across our destination. Comparing that to February 2017, there were 73,500 more hotel rooms to sell in the city, and we sold 382,050 room nights total. Room Revenue in February 2005 was $33.7M and in 2017, it was $35.1M, the best February earnings for local hotels ever.
Other great data in the report shows by how much Jacksonville is also leading the pack when it comes to tourism growth in the state of Florida:
During 2016, the state of Florida saw negative Occupancy growth at -.3%, Average Rate increase of only 2% and RevPAR growth of just 1.7%, yet Duval County saw 4.7% Occupancy growth, 7.2% Average Rate growth and a 12.3% RevPAR growth.
In the first two months of 2017, Duval County had 1.7% Occupancy growth, 6.0% Average Rate growth and 7.8% RevPAR growth. The state has seen a .3% Occupancy growth, -.1% Average Rate decrease and RevPAR growth of .1%.
Miami, Ft. Myers, Ft. Lauderdale and the Keys are seeing Rate loses and RevPAR losses thus far. Miami and Ft. Myers are also seeing Occupancy losses. Orlando, Tampa and Daytona are all seeing slower growth than Jacksonville in all categories.
With a tourism marketing campaign targeting nature and water lovers, big sports fans and history buffs, and with a revamped convention sales effort, Visit Jacksonville plans to continue the growth in visitation for the rest of 2017.
About Visit Jacksonville
Visit Jacksonville is a DMAI accredited Destination Marketing Organization contracted by the Duval County Tourist Development Council (TDC) to champion the growth of business and leisure tourism in Northeast Florida. For a closer look at all there is to see and do in Jacksonville, go to www.VisitJacksonville.com or contact 800-733-2668.