ORLANDO-Hoteliers and hospitality industry consultants are rolling the dice but all bets appear to show that Orange County will set a record in resort tax collections when its fiscal year ends Sept. 30, area brokers who follow the numbers tell GlobeSt.com.
To support their projection of a potential record season, they point to Orange County comptroller Martha Haynie's newest revenue collection figures for June, the last audited month just released. Collections total $10.89 million, the fifth straight month tax revenue has topped the $10-million mark. The record is $114.8 million collected in 2004. The county has collected $94.9 million through June.
Although the annual hurricane season in Florida doesn't officially end until Nov. 1, hoteliers and others monitoring guest arrivals at hotels, motels and short-term rental properties tell GlobeSt.com the average $10.54 million collected over the last nine months is expected to follow suit for July, August and September.
A little-publicized item associated with the projected revenue collections is that numerous area companies already have booked and paid for rooms at major hotels and motels to house their executives and employees during a hurricane threat, area consultants in a position to know tell GlobeSt.com. Metro Orlando has 116,000 rooms at hotels, motels and short-term rental properties, according to the most recent count by area hospitality consultants.
Six-month collections include $9.9 million in January, $11.5 million in February, $14.3 million in March, $10.5 million in April, $10.6 million in May and $10.9 million in June.
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