With Labor Day behind us, the unofficial summer vacation season is over — and it was a marked by a continued drop in airline passengers at two of the area's three airports.
While Florida continues experiencing record tourism, some visitor data for South Florida has been slowing after seeing record numbers in the years immediately following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The number of passengers flying in and out of Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International airports has dropped most months this year compared to the same period last year. The steepest drop has been in international passengers at the Fort Lauderdale airport, which is down 21.5% year-to-date through July. International travelers are down about 1% at MIA.
The decline comes after a record year for air travelers in South Florida in 2024.
READ MORE: Challenges ahead after a record-breaking year for Miami-Dade tourism
Broward County Aviation Department spokeswoman Arlene Satchell pointed to the drop in Canadian visitors, a pause in flights to Haiti due to violence and safety worries, and restructuring of routes by Southwest and JetBlue away from the Fort Lauderdale airport for the fall-off in passenger traffic.
Greg Chin, MIA spokesman, called the declines in Miami “consistent with a national downturn” that began earlier this year. He pointed out passenger counts are also down at airports in Orlando and Tampa.
The drop-off in international visitors so far this year comes as the Trump administration instituted new rules for foreign tourists spending more than 30 days in the country. Foreign tourists staying more than a month have to register and submit their fingerprints to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. Canadian tourists also have reduced visits to the U.S. in protest of President Donald Trump levying tariffs on Canadian-made goods and suggesting the annexation of the country to become part of the U.S.
The number of Canadian visitors in the second quarter hit a post-pandemic low this year. About 1.6 million Canadians traveled to Florida during the first six months of the year, down 26% from the year before the virus.
The fall-off impacts not just Broward County. Spending by Canadians fell by almost 13% in Miami-Dade County, according to Visa data compiled by the visitors bureau. Canadians are responsible for the largest share of international tourism spending in Miami-Dade, about a dime of every dollar.
“We are actively monitoring Canadian travelers and their trends. We have marketing campaigns in markets to protect our market share there,” Megan Chiamardas, Brand Director at Visit Florida, told the agency’s board of directors last week.
But it’s not just Canadians that may be losing their taste for South Florida. International plane passengers in and out of MIA have fallen in six of the past seven months as compared to a year earlier. MIA does a bustling business primarily with fliers from the Caribbean and Central and South American countries. JFK in New York and LAX in Los Angeles, two other significant international airports, also have also experienced declining foreign travelers similar to MIA.
The trends are worse at FLL in Broward County. Passenger counts have fallen in each month this year when compared to the previous year, including the often highest months of March and April during Spring Break.
Statewide, visits were up in the second quarter to 34.4 million tourists. It was an increase of about 150,000 visitors, or up .5% from a year ago, but it was enough to mark a record for second quarter tourism in Florida, according to state tourism-marketing agency Visit Florida. Travelers from other countries helped make up for the deep drop in Canadian visitors, which fell by 20%.
“Florida actually is seeing an increase in visitors from other places, including Brazil,” said Visit Florida CEO Bryan Griffin in August.
However, fewer Brazilians are visiting one of their most popular destinations. Arrivals from Brazil are down 6% at MIA, according to the Greater Miami Visitors and Conventions Bureau. Brazil remains home to the highest number of foreign travelers entering the U.S. at MIA. The number of travelers starting their U.S. trips in Miami from Mexico, Colombia and France has also fallen this year. Visitors from Argentina, UK and Spain were up, with Argentinian visitors up 25% from a year ago.
Palm Beach International Airport has a small number of international flights. Its domestic passenger traffic bucked the trends from its neighbors to the south. PBI domestic passenger counts have increased in five of the past seven months this year.
Cruise passengers and tourism taxes
Passenger counts may be falling at two of the three South Florida airports, but cruise passengers continue crowding PortMiami and Port Everglades. Cruise passenger count was up almost 5% in the first three months of the year at PortMiami, building off a record pace in 2024. PortEverglades has seen a 15% jump in cruise passengers year-to-date through July thanks to a jump in the number of cruise ships docking in Fort Lauderdale.
Despite the mixed regional tourism data, hotel tourism tax collection is holding steady in Broward County. About $73 million through June in Broward has been generated by a 6% tax on hotel room rates. Hotels in Miami-Dade County have the third highest occupancy and room rates in the country through July. That strength is expected to continue. The county’s tourism bureau forecasts hotel demand to grow through the end of the year.
The hotel industry isn’t the only one expecting a busier end of the year. American Airlines will expand its flight schedule at MIA to a record 415 daily departures during the next winter travel season.
