Hotel bookings in Orange County dipped in April, and they are expected to continue to drop in June.
Fewer people visited Orange County on a family vacation this spring, with hotel occupancy rates down by 5 percent this April compared with the same time last year.
The numbers were released about a month after the NAACP, Equality Florida and LULAC issued travel advisories warning people against coming to the state.
But Visit Orlando’s Maria Henson said it’s still too early to tell if the advisories caused the dip in local travel. She says stiff competition with other tourist destinations is to blame.
“April, we do not believe that was impacted by any of the advisories,” said Henson. “Even though there were some additional legislation that was signed earlier in the year.”
Advance hotel bookings for June are 6 percent less than they were last year. But Henson said advance bookings in July are already up by 7 percent, thanks to group bookings.
“We’re continuing to tell the story of Orlando as a diverse, welcoming, inclusive destination that has something to offer every single person out there in the country and in the planet.”
Fluke or not, Orange County still brought in over $33 million in tourist development taxes in April.