About Visiting Florida

Tourism: Miami and Orlando draw the most tourists although places such as Key West, Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa, St. Petersburg, St. Augustine and Pensacola are gaining in popularity. Orlando is home to the popular theme parks such as (you guessed it!) Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, Sea World, and Busch Gardens. Economy: The Florida economy depends greatly on tourism, which welcomes about 50 million people each year. (This is almost 4 times Florida's population of 14.7 million. 45 percent of which are foreign born: Cubans, Canadians, Haitians, Germans and Jamaicans.) Climate: In South Florida, from December to May, the average temp is between 59 and 75 degrees and it only rains about 2 inches. In northern Florida it is much cooler. Summer everywhere is very hot and humid. In June it rains an average of 9 inches! August is very hot with temperatures averaging 77 to 89 degrees, but feels even hotter due to the humidity. Storms: In summer, furious rainstorms often follow extreme humidity, with dark clouds forming and pouring buckets of warm water to earth. The storms don't last too long, and create a cooler climate for the day. Safety: The highly publicized victimization of Florida tourists in the the 1990's prompted the creation of a Tourist Police Force and crimes against tourists have decreased. As always, people need to be aware of their surroundings and safety and not let their guard down just because they are on vacation.

---