Record Number of Travelers Visited Florida in 2011

A record number of people visited Florida in 2011, according to preliminary estimates released earlier this week by Visit Florida, the state's tourism marketing corporation. An estimated 85.9 million travelers came to the Sunshine State, which represents an increase of 4.4 percent over 2010 and marks a record year for Florida. The previous high was 84.5 million in 2007. Additionally, direct travel-related employment in Florida reached a record number at 1,103,100, adding more than 38,000 jobs in 2011.