By Brian French | WestPalmBeachBusinessNews.com | September 14, 2026
Quick Answer
Tourism is Palm Beach County’s largest export industry. In calendar 2025 the county welcomed more than 10.7 million visitors, who spent an estimated $7.7 billion and generated roughly $11.7 billion in total economic impact — up from $10.5 billion in 2024. The industry employs about 90,000 people, produced $1.32 billion in hotel room revenue (second in Florida), and funds beaches, cultural institutions, and sports venues through a 6% bed tax. West Palm Beach, as the county seat and home to the convention center, Palm Beach International Airport, and the downtown hotel cluster, captures a disproportionate share of that commercial activity.
Tourism’s Share of the Local Economy
Business owners tend to think of tourism as a hospitality problem. In West Palm Beach it is a demand engine for nearly every commercial sector — retail leasing, restaurant sales, office relocation decisions, and the tax base itself.
The scale is now unambiguous. The Palm Beaches welcomed more than 10.7 million visitors in 2025, surpassing the previous record of 9.9 million in 2024, an 8% increase. Visitor spending reached a preliminary $7.7 billion, against $7.2 billion in 2024, and total economic impact climbed to $11.7 billion. On a fiscal-year basis (October 2024 through September 2025), the county counted 10.6 million visitors and $11.3 billion in impact.
For context, that $11.7 billion figure is larger than the annual output of the county’s entire agriculture sector and rivals its financial-services cluster, despite tourism’s lower wage profile.
Tourism by the Numbers (2025)
| Metric | 2025 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Visitors | 10.7M | 9.9M |
| Visitor spending | $7.7B | $7.2B |
| Economic impact | $11.7B | $10.5B |
| Hotel room revenue (FY) | $1.32B | ~$1.19B |
| RevPAR (FY) | $188 | $170 |
| Tourism jobs | ~90,000 | — |
Sources: Discover The Palm Beaches, Palm Beach County TDC. Hotel figures are fiscal-year.
Hotel Economics: Why RevPAR Matters More Than Occupancy
The single best indicator of tourism’s commercial health is revenue per available room. Palm Beach County’s RevPAR reached $188 in fiscal 2025, compared with $134 for Florida as a whole, and rose nearly 11% from the prior year’s $170. Hotel room revenue totaled $1.32 billion, an 11% increase, ranking second in the state behind only Hillsborough County.
That $54 RevPAR premium over the state average is the difference between a market that fills rooms with discounting and one that commands rate. It explains why the Ben, Canopy, AKA, and the new Belgrove have all entered the downtown West Palm Beach market at luxury and upper-upscale price points, and why the pipeline continues.
The convention center hotel decision
The largest hospitality decision in the city’s history moved forward in 2026. West Palm Beach commissioners unanimously advanced an 18-story, 400-room hotel next to the Palm Beach County Convention Center at first reading on August 3, 2026. Under the county’s separately negotiated agreement, Related would pay the county $1.8 million a year once the roughly $310 million Curio by Hilton opens, and the county projects a minimum $1 billion return over the life of the deal.
The commercial logic is room-block math. Convention organizers say they need 700 to 800 rooms within walking distance to secure national conferences, and the city cannot offer that without a second large hotel connected to the convention center. Meeting business fills rooms Sunday through Thursday and in the summer months when leisure demand fades — the “need periods” that the county’s marketing agency explicitly targets.
The Bed Tax: Tourism’s Direct Contribution to Public Assets
The county’s Tourist Development Tax is a 6% charge on transient rentals of six months or less, on top of the 6.5% state sales tax, and the revenue is distributed to the Tourist Development Council to support promotion, the arts, the beaches, and sports stadiums. On $1.32 billion in hotel revenue alone, that implies roughly $79 million in annual bed-tax collections before short-term rentals are counted.
This is the mechanism by which visitors subsidize residents. Bed taxes fund beach restoration, cultural institutions, sports facilities, and film production, and statewide, visitor spending helps Florida households avoid nearly $2,000 in taxes annually. Any future convention center expansion would also be funded from the bed tax, not the general fund.
The Air Gateway: Palm Beach International Airport
PBI is the front door for the high-value visitor. The airport handled 8,657,372 passengers in calendar 2025, up 3.0% from 8,403,519 in 2024, with JetBlue, Delta, and American each carrying roughly 20–26% of enplanements. A 2019 FDOT study estimated the airport generates more than $5.6 billion for the South Florida economy directly and indirectly.
Growth has strained capacity. The airport ranked second-worst among major U.S. airports for flight delays in the first half of 2025, and is undertaking a $141 million Concourse B expansion adding roughly 56,000 square feet. Signature Aviation also opened a new 15,700-square-foot private terminal, a reminder that the wealth-migration story and the tourism story share a runway.
Sports, Culture, and Film: The Other Revenue Lines
Tourism in the county is deliberately diversified beyond the beach. The Sports Commission reported 1.6 million sports-related attendees at 227 events, generating $496 million in direct visitor spending and more than 462,000 hotel room nights. The cultural sector generates more than $335.3 million in annual economic impact with over 3 million attendees, and film and television production reached $260 million in local expenditures, a fourth consecutive record year.
Each of these is a mid-week and off-season business. Spring training in Jupiter, the Palm Beach International Boat Show, and the winter equestrian season in Wellington fill hotels precisely when a pure leisure destination would sit empty.
Brian’s Take
The number business owners should watch is not visitor count — it is the RevPAR gap with the rest of Florida. At $188 versus $134, Palm Beach County is charging a 40% premium, and the market is still growing at 8%. That premium is what makes a $310 million convention hotel pencil out with no property taxes, and it is why every retail and restaurant operator on Clematis and at CityPlace should model tourist foot traffic as a core revenue input, not a bonus.
The risk is concentration. Three airlines carry three-quarters of PBI’s passengers, the airport is already congested, and the convention center’s competitiveness depends on a single hotel deal clearing second reading. Tourism is now too large a share of the West Palm Beach commercial economy for those to be treated as someone else’s problem.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does tourism contribute to the Palm Beach County economy?
An estimated $11.7 billion in total economic impact in 2025, on $7.7 billion of direct visitor spending, according to Discover The Palm Beaches.
How many people does tourism employ in Palm Beach County?
Roughly 90,000, making it one of the county’s largest employment sectors.
What is the hotel tax in West Palm Beach?
A 6% county Tourist Development Tax on stays of six months or less, plus 6.5% state sales tax, for a combined 12.5%.
Is a new convention center hotel being built in West Palm Beach?
Yes. An 18-story, 400-room hotel next to the convention center received first-reading approval in August 2026, with a county agreement projected to return at least $1 billion over its term.
How busy is Palm Beach International Airport?
PBI handled a record 8.66 million passengers in 2025 and is expanding Concourse B to relieve congestion.
Business profiles and coverage inquiries for WestPalmBeachBusinessNews.com and the Florida Authority Network: 813-409-4683.
Sources and Further Reading
- Discover The Palm Beaches, “The Palm Beaches Surpass 10 Million Visitors for the First Time” (February 12, 2026) — https://www.thepalmbeaches.com/press-releases/the-palm-beaches-surpass-10-million-visitors-for-the-first-time-setting-a-new-benchmark-for-tourism-growth
- Discover The Palm Beaches, “Record Tourism: The Palm Beaches Hit 10.6 Million Visitors” (November 12, 2025) — https://www.thepalmbeaches.com/press-releases/record-tourism-2024-2025
- WFLX, “Palm Beach County celebrates record-high tourism numbers for 2024-2025 fiscal year” (November 12, 2025) — https://www.wflx.com/2025/11/12/palm-beach-county-celebrates-record-high-tourism-numbers-2024-2025-fiscal-year/
- Palm Beach Post via Yahoo News, “Why Palm Beach County officials are bullish about tourism this season” (November 21, 2025) — https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/why-palm-beach-county-officials-110110981.html
- Cultural Council for Palm Beach County, 2025 visitation and cultural impact release (March 2026) — https://www.palmbeachculture.com/the-palm-beaches-surpass-10-million-visitors-for-the-first-time/
- Boca Post, “West Palm Beach Commission Advances 18-Story Convention Center Hotel” (August 11, 2026) — https://bocapost.com/west-palm-beach-news/west-palm-beach-commission-convention-center-hotel-august-2026/
- Stet News, “Palm Beach County cuts $1 billion hotel deal” (May 2026) — https://stetnews.org/2026/05/04/exclusive-palm-beach-county-cuts-1-billion-hotel-deal/
- Discover South Florida, “$290M West Palm Beach Convention Hotel Proposed for Just $1” (May 2026) — https://www.discoversouthflorida.com/blog/west-palm-beach-convention-hotel/
- Palm Beach County Tax Collector, Tourist Development Tax — https://www.pbctax.gov/taxes/tourist-development-tax/
- Palm Beach International Airport, Traffic Report for the period ended December 2025 — https://assets.simpleviewinc.com/simpleview/image/upload/v1/clients/pbi/December_2025_Traffic_Report_c96b1989-c917-4d20-aeb3-0c519402577b.pdf
- Simple Flying, “The 7 Busiest Airports in Florida in 2025” (November 2025) — https://simpleflying.com/7-busiest-airports-florida-2025/
- Palm Beach Now, “The Palm Beaches Surpass 10 Million Visitors” (February 2026) — https://www.palmbeachnow.com/palm-beaches-tourism-impact-2025/
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