Florida Tourism Numbers Up For First Half Of The Year

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TAMPA (CBSMiami/AP) — As the number of visitors to the Sunshine State continues to grow, there's been a shift in the tourism demographics.

On Tuesday, Governor Rick Scott will announce that an estimated 60.7 million tourists came to the state during the first six months of the year. That's a 4.1 percent increase over the same time period in 2016.

A breakdown shows that the increase is due primarily to a growing number of visitors coming from other states. But the number of tourists coming from overseas countries and Canada has dipped slightly.

Scott has backed budget increases for Visit Florida, the state's tourism marketing agency. Earlier this year GOP legislators had threatened to cut funding by two-thirds but reached a deal with Scott to keep the agency budget intact.