It’s incredible to think that over the last 30 years, annual visitor numbers to Orlando, Florida, have more than doubled.
Back in 1995, 32.4 million visitors came to Orlando, while figures released in June 2023 show that in 2019 a record 74.8 million were drawn by its world-class theme parks, entertainment, restaurants, shops, stores and more.
The figure announced by tourism body VisitOrlando, represents a 25% rise over 2021 and ranking again as the #1 U.S Travel Destination.
In 2022, domestic leisure visitation completely recovered and reached a new record at 61 million, while U.S. business visitation is still in recovery mode:
United States: 69,141,000 (21% increase YoY)
Leisure: 61,201,000
Business: 7,940,000
International visitation recovered to 75% of pre-pandemic, reaching 4.9 million in 2022. Canada, U.K. and Brazil were the top three international origin markets to Orlando.
Canada: 860,700
United Kingdom: 809,000
Brazil: 575,000
Mexico: 394,000
Colombia: 287,000
A major contributor to the increase is the fact that passenger numbers at Orlando International Airport rose to an all-time high in 2022. For only the second time in Orlando International Airport (MCO) history, the 50 million passenger mark has been shattered. Last year MCO recorded nearly 50.2 million travelers, a 24 percent increase over 2021.
Comparison of traffic numbers at MCO during the past 5 years
2018 - 47,696,627
2019 - 50,613,072
2020 - 21,617,803
2021 - 40,351,068
2022 - 50,178,499
Statistical Data for December 2022
International traffic increased 48.68 percent with 580,962 total passengers.
Domestic passenger traffic increased 7.46 percent with 4,066,037 total travelers.
Combined, overall traffic increased 11.32 percent for the month with 4,646,999 passengers.
Statistical Data for CY 2022
International traffic increased 184.20 percent with 5,543,168 total passengers.
Domestic passenger traffic volume increased 16.24 percent with 44,635,331 total travelers at MCO.
Combined, overall traffic increased 24.35 percent with a total of 50,178,499 passengers at MCO.
International traffic accounted for 11 percent of the overall traffic at MCO in 2022 as compared to 5 percent in 2021.