Jacksonville's Tourism Economy

Visit Jacksonville's commissioned research put 2024 tourism at more than 8 million visitors and an estimated $7.4 billion in economic impact on the local economy.

Those figures come from the Economic Impact and Tracking Report that Visit Jacksonville commissions, with funding from the Duval County Tourist Development Council. Tallahassee-based Downs & St. Germain Research conducted it and surveyed more than 2,700 visitors. They are the destination marketing organization's estimates, not government statistics, and they cover fiscal year 2024.

The report estimates that visitors, counting both hotel guests and people staying with friends and relatives in Jacksonville, accounted for $4.1 billion in direct spending on restaurants, attractions, activities, rental cars and more. It credits that spending with supporting 56,900 jobs in Duval County and almost $2.8 billion in wages, and it estimates that nearly 5 million guest rooms were sold in local hotels during the fiscal year. The report also estimates that visitor taxes saved each Duval County household about $540 in 2024.

The same Visit Jacksonville page also gives a bed tax collection total for the year. That figure is not repeated here, because tax collections should come from the collecting government, and no City of Jacksonville or Duval County Tax Collector report of annual collections was confirmed in this check.

According to Visit Jacksonville's 2024 visitor profile, the median Jacksonville visitor was 41, the average stay was 3.7 nights, and Orlando-Daytona was the top origin market.

The 2024 profile highlights list the top five origin markets for Jacksonville as Orlando-Daytona, New York City, Atlanta, Tampa-St. Pete and Miami-Fort Lauderdale. Three of those five are Florida markets.

The top three visitor activities in the profile were dining out, visiting friends or family, and the beach. That second item matters for reading the totals: the Visit Jacksonville count includes people staying with friends and relatives in Duval County, not only hotel guests, so the visitor figure is broader than any hotel occupancy count.

The bed tax is Jacksonville's six percent tourist development tax on hotel rooms and other stays of six months or less, and the City divides it into three equal shares.

Florida lets counties levy the tax under section 125.0104 of the Florida Statutes, which may be cited as the Local Option Tourist Development Act. The statute applies it to anyone who rents accommodations in a hotel, motel, apartment, condominium, recreational vehicle park or similar place for a term of 6 months or less. The City of Jacksonville says the consolidated City exercises that county authority under chapters 70, 111.600 and 666 of its Ordinance Code, and that Jacksonville currently levies a six percent tourist development tax on transient accommodations.

The Florida Department of Revenue lists Duval's local option transient rental tax at 6 percent, collected by the county rather than the state. The local tax is charged in addition to the 6 percent state sales tax and any discretionary sales surtax, which are still reported to the Department of Revenue. The City's split of the local six percent is shown below.

So two of every three bed tax dollars in Jacksonville go to the stadium and the city's sports complex rather than to tourism marketing. State law allows that kind of use: among the purposes section 125.0104 lists for additional 1 percent levies is paying debt service on bonds issued for a professional sports franchise facility.

The tax is not limited to hotels. The Tourist Development Council's frequently asked questions say a homeowner who rents out a house for a special event will have to pay bed taxes, and direct questions about short-term rentals of a home to the City's tourist tax email, with forms available from the Duval County Tax Collector's Office at (904) 255-5700.

At 6 percent, Duval County's local transient rental tax is one point higher than in neighboring Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties, according to the state's rate chart.

The Department of Revenue's form DR-15TDT, dated R. 10/26, lists the local option rate for every Florida county and who collects it. The Northeast Florida counties around Jacksonville appear as follows.

Duval's 6 percent matches the rate the same chart lists for several large tourism counties, including Broward, Hillsborough, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach and Pinellas. The form notes that not all counties tell the Department of Revenue when they change their rate, and it advises checking with the county where the tax is collected locally, which for Jacksonville is the City and the Duval County Tax Collector.

The Duval County Tourist Development Council, a nine-member board appointed by the Jacksonville City Council, oversees the collection and distribution of the tax.

The City's TDC page sets out the membership: the City Council President and Vice President serve ex officio; one more seat goes to a current council member, with preference for a past council president or a member with tourism experience; three seats go to owners or operators of hotels, motels, recreational vehicle parks or other lodging in the General Services District that pay the tax; one seat goes to someone with commercial airline or Jacksonville Aviation Authority experience; and two go to people involved in the tourist industry. Members serve without pay, pension or retirement benefits, and the full council meets every other month. Its office is at 117 W. Duval St., Suite 260, in Downtown Jacksonville, telephone (904) 255-5505.

State law sets the frame the City fills in. Section 125.0104 of the Florida Statutes requires every county that levies the tax to create a tourist development council of nine members appointed by the governing board, with staggered four-year terms, and says the council shall meet at least once each quarter and make recommendations on the use of the revenue.

The council spends the tourism share in two main ways, according to the City. It contracts with Visit Jacksonville to advertise and market the city and its attractions, and it awards competitive grants toward the operating and advertising costs of festivals, sporting events, conferences and similar events expected to draw visitors who book hotel rooms in Jacksonville, the Beaches and Baldwin. The TDC's FAQ names Visit Jacksonville as Duval County's destination marketing organization; Visit Jacksonville lists its own office at 100 North Laura Street, Suite 120.

A TDC special event grant reimburses part of the cost of a public Duval County event that fills a guaranteed number of hotel rooms, on a six-tier scale topping out at $80,000.

The City's special event grant application defines an eligible event as one open to the public, of limited and fixed duration, generally no more than seven days, and not occurring more often than once a year. For the grant, tourists means visitors from outside Duval County. City departments and organizations already receiving operating money from the City of Jacksonville cannot apply, and invitation only, private, member only, fundraising and corporate events do not qualify. One of the event's main purposes must be attracting tourists to Duval County.

Applications must reach the TDC at least 30 days before the meeting where they will be considered, there are two application periods a year, and applicants must attend the meeting where awards are made. Applicants must first obtain an Event Impact Summary from Visit Jacksonville. Money is paid as a reimbursement, with documentation due within 60 days of the event. An event that falls short of its tier is reimbursed at the lower tier it met, and a tier A event is prorated if it actualizes at least 250 rooms. Events larger than tier F may apply for a Major Investment Grant judged on economic and tourism impact.

Last verified: October 18, 2026, against the City of Jacksonville's Tourist Development Council page, its FAQ and special event grant application, section 125.0104 of the Florida Statutes, the Department of Revenue's DR-15TDT rate chart, and Visit Jacksonville's 2024 economic impact summary.