While tourism industry groups from around the country are warning of a drop in international visitorsbecause of President Donald Trump's immigration policies and rhetoric, the head of the Keys tourism agency said he's hearing of a different cause.
"It's more to do with the value of the dollar," said Harold Wheeler, head of the Keys Tourist Development Council, which collects lodging taxes in Monroe County and uses the money to promote the destination.
The Keys TDC hires a public relations agency in Britain, as well as sales agencies in Britain and Germany. Wheeler said he's talked to those representatives, as well as tour operators who bring large groups to the Keys from overseas.
He said Trump's policies and rhetoric against immigration have "come up" in those conversations but the strong U.S. currency is more frequently blamed.
"Not only Europe, but the Canadians aren't coming either, because of the value of the currency," he said.
Tourism is the largest industry in the Keys, accounting for 60 percent of all spending and more than half the jobs in the island chain, according to a fact sheet the TDC produced last year. Wheeler said about 21 percent of the visitors are international.
Hotel bed tax collectionsin the last quarter of 2016 were up 1 percent over the previous year. Wheeler said he does not yet know about the impacts of what he's hearing from international agencies.
"It's too early in the game to tell," he said. "We believe our international markets are down, but only the data will show that later on."
The Keys tourism agency is discussing next steps with its sales staff, Wheeler said — and waiting to see what happens with the budget for Visit Florida, the state tourism agency that is currently at the center of a political tug-of-war.
"We rely on them a great deal to reach our international markets," Wheeler said.
