Florida Hit New Tourism High In 2016

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MELBOURNE (CBSMiami/AP) — Despite a couple of hurricanes and the Zika outbreak, Florida had another record-setting year for tourism in 2016.

On Thursday, Governor Rick Scott will announce that nearly 113 million tourists visited the state last year. This is the sixth year in a row that the numbers have climbed. Nearly 107 million tourists visited in 2015.

Scott will hail the continued growth during a time when the agency that promotes tourism is coming under fire. House Republicans are backing a proposal to shut down Visit Florida amid questionable contracts, such as one that paid rap star Pitbull $1 million to promote the state.

The governor in a statement noted that Florida still attracted record numbers despite the Zika virus outbreak, two hurricanes and the attack at the Pulse Nightclub that left 49 dead.

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