Is the bottom falling out of the tourist trade in Florida?
I think a few things have contributed, the original perhaps being 9/11. Less people started going to the US for their summer holiday because of the fear factor. Also, immigration control tightened up so much that people didn’t feel welcome anymore. There was an article in the paper about people being sent home for really minor things whereas I remember the first time I went to Florida in 1992, we were greeted with a casual security guard who cheerily told us to ‘spend lots and help the economy!’. There have also been some really heavy hurricanes hitting Florida in the past few summers and as people connect that with global warming, I think people see second home purchases there as a bit of a risk. Especially as the intensity of hurricanes are predicted to increase. I also think there’s been over-development, yeah. Some home builders have had to start introducing crazy incentives to get people to buy. For example, one company will pay all your bills for a year if you buy one of their ho
