According to the Orange County Comptroller, the Orlando tourism scene is showing very modest gains after 5 months in a row of year-over-year decreases in collected tourism tax. The tourism tax is a sort of canary in the coal mine for the health of the Orlando tourism environment. Orange County’s Tourist Development Tax (TDT) – sometimes called the “bed tax” – is revenue generated by a 6-percent tax on hotel stays and other short-term rentals that are less than six months in duration.
According to today’s press release, TDT collections were up 0.8% in September 2023 versus September 2022. The modest increase represents the first positive year-over-year collections since April. Here’s a look at year-over-year metrics through the summer of 2023:
- April: -3.5%
- May: -6.7%
- June: -7.3%
- July: -5.2%
- August: -5.6%
- September: +0.8%
The stats are based on raw tax monies collected, which is an imperfect stat because the price of a hotel room has gone up year over year. To that end, a positive collection of 0.8% might not actually represent an increase in tourism compared to 2022.
Speaking of imperfect stats, here’s a look at recorded posted wait times at Walt Disney World from thrill-data over the same timeframe:
- April: -9%
- May: -18.5%
- June: -16%
- July: -12%
- August: -11%
- September: -3%
- October: -16.5%
- November: -12% (through November 6th)
It’s possible that we see wait times at Walt Disney World continue to stay below 2022 levels, even into 2024.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!