PETER CRANIS: March Tourist Development Tax Revenues Best in History at $2.797 Million

12th straight month of TDT record revenue

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – In a continuing run of records, March Tourist Development Tax collections are in and it was no surprise that it was the highest month of collections in TDT history in Brevard County at $2.797 million.

This is 27 percent higher than last March which was $1.93 million. It is also the 12th straight month of TDT records for the given month. The next best March was in 2019 at $2.1 million.

March is typically the highest month of the year with the exception of last July which landed at just under $2.12 million and was the previous highest month in history. Now it is the third highest month behind February which was just under $2.3 million and March of this year.

Year to date, we are at $11.346 million, compared to $6.8 million the prior year and $8 million in 2018–19. This makes it the strongest six months in any year by over $3 million.

Looking at TDT by type, hotels represented 65 percent of the total for the month and vacation rentals were 34 percent of TDT which typically has been around the 30 percent range.

In terms of hotel/motel revenue by city, Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral (33 percent) were, as usual, slightly ahead of Melbourne and the Beaches (29 percent) as a percentage of the total.

Looking ahead to April, we believe that will also be a record for that month, but will not exceed February or March numbers.

Looking ahead to the summer, AAA is reporting that this could be the busiest summer travel season in history and reports from advance online booking numbers show that our business could be up significantly.

Concerns about inflation, high gas prices and a possible pullback in the economy are still looming and it remains to be seen what impact that will have on Americans wanting to travel to Florida and the Space Coast from May through August.

– Peter Cranis, Space Coast Office of Tourism Executive Director

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