Dr. Jerry Parrish Discusses Brexit Impact on Tourism with International Panelists

Dr. Jerry Parrish, Chief Economist for the Florida Chamber Foundation, today joined a University of South Florida (USF) panel with international experts to discuss the impact Brexit will have on global tourism.

The morning after the historic vote by the UK to exit the European Union, Dr. Parrish released an analysis on the possible impacts Brexit would have on Florida’s economy, particularly Florida’s tourism economy.

“In 2015, more than 1.7 million U.K. visitors came to Florida- that’s about 40 percent of Florida’s European visitors and about 15 percent of all of Florida’s overseas visitors. In fact, visitors from the U.K. make up the largest non-Canadian visitor group Florida has. International visitors spend more and stay longer, and leave more sales and other tax dollars in our state. With more than $89 billion spent by visitors in 2015 in taxable sales, this is a substantial contributor to Florida’s general revenue,” said Dr. Parrish.

Hosted by Dr. Cihan Cobanoglu, McKibbon Endowed Chair Professor and Director of the M3 Hospitality Research Center at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee, the panel also included Dimitrios Buhalis, Head of the Department of Tourism and Hospitality at Bournemouth University in England, and Kevin Kaley of Tourism UK Ltd.