Number of visitors to Orlando down in 2006, new report says

Jason Garcia writes:

International visitors are particularly important because they tend to stay longer and spend more money on their vacations. The report said they accounted for 17 percent of all visitor spending in Orlando during 2006, even though they made up just 6 percent of all visitors.

There were a few bright spots in the 2006 report: The number of business travelers rose 1.9 percent to 10.5 million. Visitors from Canada jumped 5.5 percent to 693,000.

Courtenay said planners think visitor totals will come in higher when this year's results are tallied, based in part on more-encouraging reports of hotel-room rentals and tourist-tax collections in 2007.

The theme parks have likewise reported more upbeat results this year. A SeaWorld Orlando spokeswoman said SeaWorld has already set annual attendance records even though the busy holidays aren't yet complete. Disney executives have also said their U.S. parks have drawn record crowds.

A spokesman for Universal Orlando said its parks saw double-digit attendance increases during the third-quarter of 2007.

"Our holiday season is off to a very good start," Universal spokesman Tom Schroder added, "and we're excited about the future."