Orange County’s November hotel tax receipts break another record

November tourists paid nearly $31 million in hotel taxes, a record for the month.

With the best November ever, Orange County’s record run of tourist tax collections stretched to 11 consecutive months.

Despite Hurricane Nicole, which closed Orlando International Airport and theme parks, collections were boosted by high room demand and an average daily room rate of $151, said Comptroller Phil Diamond, citing data provided by Visit Orlando, the region’s marketing arm.

Diamond, whose office tracks collections, said room occupancy averaged 72.6% in November, slightly behind the 76.5% occupancy rate in November 2019, when the tourism and hospitality industries were chugging along at the previous best for the month.

The strong start to the 2019-20 fiscal year would be derailed a few months later by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The county’s 6% levy on hotel rooms and other short-term lodgings generated about $31 million in November, lower than record October collections by about $490,000, but about $6 million better than November 2021 when tourism began its resurgence.

Monthly collection reports generally lag about six weeks. December’s will be announced in February, Diamond said.

The levy is also known as a bed tax, hotel tax, tourist development tax or TDT for short.

Revenue spending is restricted by state law.

Often considered a gauge for tourism health, revenues pay for the Orange County Convention Center; fund Visit Orlando; and defray costs for Orlando’s cultural venues, including the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, Amway Center and Camping World Stadium.

Casandra Matej, CEO and president of Visit Orlando, credited the robust numbers to several successful events in the Orlando area, including the Electric Daisy Carnival and large gatherings at the Orange County Convention Center for Kidney Week 2022 and the National Association of Realtors Annual Convention, both of which attracted about 12,000 visitors.

“We are expecting to start the year off strong with January 2023 pacing 17% ahead of January 2022,” Matej said.

The Convention Center has a busy calendar in January with about a dozen events planned, including Surf Expo, which started Wednesday; VMX 2023, a veterinarian education conference set for Jan. 14-18; and the PGA Merchandise Show 2023, set for Jan. 24-27.

Matej said hotel bookings for the first quarter of 2023 are up 13% over the same period a year ago.

shudak@orlandosentinel.com