Top 3 Florida Travel Destinations During the Holidays Amid Pandemic
Florida might be one of the top travel destinations in the world with its fine sandy beaches, swaying palm trees, and warmer climate.
The famous Sunshine State did not stop bolstering its asset in tourism, as the cities in Florida worked to launch different marketing campaigns to attract domestic tourists when the borders of the U.S. closed for safety reasons, WFLA reported.
"Domestic tourism came back like gangbusters... We expand our market share of domestic visitors, driven partially by the fact that Florida and Miami were open when others weren't and there was a lot of pent-up demand," Rolando Aedo from the Greater Miami Convention Visitors Bureau said.
Currently, there are no travel restrictions issued in Florida. However, Florida Health encouraged domestic visitors to assess one's risk from COVID-19 and check for requirements needed in a travel destination.
READ NEXT: Gifts That Your Child Will Love and Learn From
Florida as Travel Destination
Despite the pandemic, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said that from July to September, the Sunshine State had 32.5 million travelers, exceeding the number of their visitors pre-pandemic.
If you plan to travel to Florida for your Holidays, here are the top three Florida travel destinations you can visit this holiday season.
Miami
According to Associated Press, Miami is one of the "top search" on travel websites and statewide. However, the city became more popular since the borders were opened for tourists this month, with the beachfront hotels available in the city.
Several hotels opened up for business in Miami and airlines such as JetBlue and Southwest added Miami routes for the first time. Meanwhile, Aedo also added that Miami broke ground on new port terminals to demand as several cruise lines like Virgin came on their ports.
"The moment the borders and the flights were reopened in November, we started to see bookings from Europe and South America," 1 Hotel South Beach Vice President Milton Sgarbi said. 1 Hotel South Beach is known as one of Miami's most luxe oceanfront resorts.
Wynwood, Florida
Aside from the oceanfront resorts in the South Beach, a neighborhood in Miami known as Wynwood is also an additional travel destination in the Sunshine State.
The neighborhood offers "chic" new restaurants and boutiques open all year long. The sidewalk of the neighborhood also features technicolor murals.
TripAdvisor also named the neighborhood as one of the "coolest hipster destinations in the U.S."
Orlando Theme Parks
If you are in Florida, you should not miss visiting Orlando as it is home to different theme parks. In Orlando, you can check out world-class theme parks such as Walt Disney World Resort, LEGOLAND Florida Resort, Universal Orlando Resort, and SeaWorld Orlando.
Several new hotels will reportedly open in the city, as well as new attractions just like Peppa Pig Theme Park that is set to open in February.
"The holiday season is going to be strong for our destination," Cassandra Matej, President, and CEO of Visit Orlando said, adding that booking for January and February have "triple volume" than the holidays last year.
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written By: Joshua Summers
WATCH: Florida Tourism on the Rebound After Pandemic - From ABC Action News