Approximately 40 million people, twice the 1980 figure, visit Florida each year. During the winter and fall the numbers of visitors who arrive by auto and air are about equal, but during the spring and especially in the summer more people arrive by automobile than by airplane. Many parents drive to the state with their children during the summer and in the late spring. Vacation ranks high among the reasons for tourists coming to Florida especially those who arrive by car. Staying with friends and relatives also figures high as a motive for a visit.
    Florida in recent years has become a magnet for visitors from abroad. For years most foreign visitors were Canadian. Throughout the 1980s, however, especially when the value of the dollar against foreign currency was low, hundreds of thousands of tourists flew from Europe to Florida. Between 1987 and 1989 the number of European tourists, predominantly from Britain and Germany, doubled to almost 1.5 million. Most foreign visitors travel on package tours, which include airfare, hotel rooms, and often the use of a rental car for a week. Many spend at least a week in the Orlando area. Previously a much larger percentage of international visitors to the state were from Latin America. The weakened economy of Latin American nations during the 1980s greatly reduced the rate of growth of visitors from the region.