The number of US tourists who came to Florida in the second quarter of this year has returned to pre-pandemic levels, though, not surprisingly, the international market is still lagging, according to figures released Thursday.

About 30.6 million domestic visitors came to Florida from April through June of this year, a 6% increase over the same time in 2019, and a 216% jump from the same time last year during the height of COVID-19 pandemic closures, Visit Florida reported.

Overall, Florida had 31.4 million visitors in the second quarter of this year, an increase of 220% from the same period a year earlier.

One city, Tampa, reported record-breaking US$66,628,916 in taxable hotel revenue in June, a 33.25% increase over the last record in 2019. According to Visit Tampa Bay, this brings hotel revenue for the first 10 months of the fiscal year to over $490 million, which inches closer to 2019’s record-setting fiscal year totalling $600,413,908.

Meanwhile, July marked yet another milestone for tourist development collections in Tampa as July accomplished its first-ever $3 million month, just shy of $4 million, and surpassed the previous record by $1,494,664.

However, Florida’s international market has not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels due to restrictions on entering the US. Florida welcomed only 1.1 million visitors from overseas and Canada in the second quarter of this year, compared to 3.5 million visitors in the second quarter of 2019.

During the spring of 2020, Florida’s major theme parks and hotels around the state were either shuttered or had limited operations due to the pandemic. The theme parks reopened more than a year ago but with mask requirements, attendance limitations and social distancing. Many of those restrictions were loosened earlier this year.