Tourism is a mainstay of the state's economy. Most of Florida's tourists are from elsewhere in the US although Miami attracts large numbers of affluent Latin American travelers, lured at least in part by the Latin flavor the large Cuban community has given the city. In 2002, there were about 75.5 million visitors to the state, a figure that represents a 10% increase in domestic visitors (from 2001), but a 4% decrease in overseas travelers.
Supporting the industry is VISIT FLORIDA, a public and private partnership organization established in 1996 in cooperation with the Florida Commission on Tourism. A portion of the funding for the organization comes from the state's $2.05 per day rental car surcharge. Most funding comes from the private sector.
Over 839,000 Floridians work directly in tourist- and recreation-related businesses, and the state ranks 2nd in the nation in the number of travel and tourism employees. In 1999, the state had 4,717 hotels and motels. More than half of all hotels were located in Dade County, where hotels and other tourist accommodations stretch for miles along Collins Avenue in Miami Beach, in the heart of the state's tourist industry.
Florida's biggest tourist attractions are its sun, sand, and surf. According to the state's Department of Commerce, leisure-time activity is the principal reason why more than four-fifths of auto travelers enter the state. Major tourist attractions include Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, and Sea World Orlando. Other major attractions are the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral and the St. Augustine historic district.
Nine parks and other facilities in Florida operated by the National Park Service draw millions of visitors annually, inducing Biscayne National Park and Everglades National Park. The most popular destination is the Gulf Islands National Seashore, located near Pensacola, followed by the Canaveral National Seashore. Approximately 110 facilities are operated by the Division of Recreation and Parks of the state's Department of Natural Resources. These facilities include 28 state parks, 28 state recreation areas, and 18 state historical sites. Fishing and boating are major recreational activities at these sites.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, the Miami Beach tourist hotels faced increasing competition from Caribbean and Latin American resorts. The city's business community, seeking to boost tourism, strongly backed a 1978 statewide referendum to authorize casino gambling along part of Collins Avenue in Miami Beach and Hollywood; however, the proposal was defeated by a wide margin. In a local advisory referendum in March 1980, Miami Beach voters approved development in South Beach of an $850 million, 250-acre (100-hectare) complex that included hotels and a convention center. Off-track betting, horse racing (four thoroughbred racetracks and one harness racetrack), dog racing (18 greyhound tracks), jai alai (nine frontons), and bingo are all legalized and operative forms of gaming.