Florida Has A New Rival For America’s Vacation Dollars

By René Rabeder

International travel has become routine for millions of Americans — and Europe wants the same customers Florida depends on.

Rome’s streets are crowded with American tourists, Southern drawls drift through the chatter of Paris cafés, and Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin seems to be manned around the clock by Americans again.

The impression is backed by the numbers: Americans made 23.3 million trips to Europe in 2025, the highest number on record and nearly 5% more than the year before. Tourism Economics expects another 5% increase in 2026, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Meanwhile, more than nine in 10 visitors to Florida come from within the United States, so the Americans filling Europe’s piazzas, cafés and museums increasingly come from the same enormous pool of travelers the Sunshine State relies on.

A European vacation was once out of reach for much of the country. In 1990, the United States had just 11.1 million valid passport documents in circulation. By 2025, that figure had climbed to 183.2 million, according to the State Department. Direct flights have multiplied, and a phone can now book the hotel, provide directions, translate the menu and pay the bill. Rome or Lisbon is still farther away than Orlando, but planning the trip no longer feels like an expedition.

Older Americans have helped fuel the boom. Many have benefited from decades of rising property and stock values and now have both the money and time to travel. Younger Americans are also spending more of their income on experiences.

Portugal received almost five times as many American visitors in 2025 as in 2015, according to the Journal. Greece received nearly four times as many.

Florida has plenty working in its favor. As Florida Politics reported in February, the state set another tourism record in 2025, with 143.3 million visitor trips. That was only about 300,000 more than the year before, but records become harder to break when the starting point is already 143 million.

Florida and Europe also sell very different vacations. Florida has warm winters, long beaches, the world’s largest theme parks and major cruise ports, all without leaving the country. Europe offers history, food and the feeling of being somewhere entirely different.

A family may have only two weeks available in the Summer, and a retired couple may have only a few thousand dollars set aside for the next big trip. Choosing Italy can mean postponing Florida.

Europeans are making the reverse journey in growing numbers. Overseas visitation to Florida rose 4% in 2025, and the first quarter of 2026 brought especially strong growth from Britain, up 17.2%, and Ireland, up 14.5%. The quarter drew 2.29 million overseas visitors, according to VISIT FLORIDA.

They also tend to settle in. Figures provided by VISIT FLORIDA to Florida Politics show that the average domestic visitor stayed 4.29 nights in 2025, compared with 9.7 nights for Canadians and 10.8 nights for overseas travelers. One overseas trip therefore keeps a visitor in Florida for roughly as long as two and a half average domestic trips.

Americans still bring the sheer volume and plenty of money with it. Domestic visitors spent an average of $256.07 per person per day in 2025, nearly 60% more in nominal terms than in 2019. Out-of-state visitor spending reached $134.9 billion in 2024, up 3% from the previous year.

Florida has another asset that Portugal cannot easily take away with a cheap fare and a pretty Instagram post: habit. Some 57.3% of domestic out-of-state overnight visitors in 2025 had already been to Florida within the previous three years. The state also captured 14.6% of the entire U.S. domestic travel market, the largest share of any state.

Brand Finance recently valued Florida’s tourism brand at a record $162 billion.

The state is putting another $80 million behind VISIT FLORIDA this fiscal year. The organization told Florida Politics that it already tracks affordability, international travel, trip length, travelers’ tendency to vacation closer to home, spending, repeat visits, and market share.

Those findings are feeding into its marketing strategy for 2026-27.