Florida will not likely lose its top billing as a spring break hotspot anytime soon.
Visit Florida chief marketing officer Paul Phipps said visitor numbers in the first quarter of 2014 are on track to beat last year’s all-time high of 26.3 million.
He attributes this to the epic and seemingly never ending wintry weather still being experienced in the northeast.
"They’ve had winters like they haven’t had in a long time and we have really been the beneficiary of that," he said.
The unusually cold weather has been widespread this year, also affecting the Deep South, and Florida destinations have experienced a surge in visits from neighboring states, he added.
Phipps also said it was families rather than college revelers driving record spring break numbers to the state.
Last month a report by Travelocity ranked South Florida as the number one spring break destination, based on booking data, with Orlando second, Fort Myers the fourth most popular, and Tampa-St Petersburg in eighth.
