Bryan Griffin has a message for Canadian travel advisors.
“We want to keep Florida top of mind for you,” he told Open Jaw’s Nina Slawek on the latest episode of the Pink Couch Podcast. “Because the more you know about Florida, the more you can offer your clients.”
The president and CEO of Visit Florida was in Toronto to share the joys of the Sunshine State with Canadian advisors amid trade tensions and reduced cross-border traffic.
While many Canadians are choosing not to visit the US, Canucks are still heading to the southern state in big numbers.
“The Canadian market is important to us,” Griffin said. “In fact, it's our number one source of international visitors.”
Historically, Canadians make up about 2% of all tourists who visit Florida in a given year, working out to about 3.2 million Canadian visitors in 2023. That number dropped in 2025, but by how much depends on who you ask. Initial estimates suggested 2.9 million Canadians visited Florida in 2025, a drop of about 300,000.
However, revised 2025 visitation numbers now estimate 3.17 million Canadians visited Florida last year.
Preliminary estimates for this year’s first quarter put the number of Canadian visitors at 1.05 million so far, but a recent survey found 70% of Canadians have no intention of visiting the US in the foreseeable future, while new data from the University of Toronto reveals a 42% decrease in US-bound cross-border travel.
Florida tourism officials hope the FIFA World Cup and America 250 celebrations will help bring tourists to the US. Griffin noted that a slew of historical sites are offering unique experiences to mark America’s milestone year.
“Experience Florida history and understand a little bit more about how we came to be as a state and what it means to be a Floridian,” he said.
Many Canadians feel they know Florida, but there's much more to discover off the beaten path, he said.
“You've got the spots that you hit every time, but we also want to encourage you to find something new, to visit other parts of the state, to get out of the gateways, rent a car,” he said.
“Florida's a very safe state. There are things to see and places designed to welcome visitors all over, small towns and big towns,” said Griffin. “So we hope people will travel to the West Coast, go to the Panhandle, visit parts of the East Coast that they haven't been to before.”
He noted that the state has some of the oldest tourist destinations—like the White Sulphur Springs—in the country and a rich history of providing visitors with unique experiences.
“Even in a world where we have uncertainty, or we have fluctuations in the news and politics, your vacation is a time when you can forget all of that stuff, and you can get outside of that climate and get into a mindset where you can relax and enjoy,” he said.
“And so I just hope that Canadians know that we're the same destination that we've always been. You're going to have a fun, safe, reliable experience, and there's so much to explore and do. It's just the perfect time to visit.”
