Palm Beach County sees record number of visitors

2018 number rises 2.8 percent higher than last year

Palm Beach County has seen more visitors in 2018 than ever before.

The county’s tourism marketing department, Discover the Palm Beaches, announced that more than 6 million people have come to the county through September contributing $1.3 billion to the county’s economy, according to a press release.

The number is 2.8 percent higher than 2017.

Summer alone saw 1.71 million, up 4.5 percent from 2017. Officials say many of the visits came from the Miami, Orlando and Gainesville markets.

The increase numbers could be partially due to the painful summer Florida’s Gulf coast saw with red tide, although the beachside affliction hit Florida’s East Coast as well, but later in the year.

Officials said the county is on track to top 8 million visitors for the year, which would be a record, and make the 10th year in a row for annual increases.

“When we see recordbreaking visitation numbers, especially during the summer months, it validates that our strategic marketing and group sales efforts toward creating the ‘endless season’ are working,” said Jorge Pesquera, president and CEO for Discover The Palm Beaches.

Palm Beach County features several beachside destination cities including Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Palm Beach and Jupiter.

Its top attractions are Green Cay Nature Center & Wetlands in Boynton Beach, Old School Square (formerly the Delray Beach Center for the Arts) and Lion Country Safari in Loxahatchee. All see more than 500,000 visitors annually.

Other top attractions include the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach, Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, Palm Beach Zoo in West Palm Beach, Riverbend Park in Jupiter and South Florida Science Center & Aquarium.