Tourist-tax receipts broke the $40-million mark in March, an all-time, one-month record for Orange County’s revenue juggernaut.

Halfway through the fiscal year, the Tourist Development Tax — TDT for short — is a smidge behind last year’s best-ever pace, which brought in $359 million, but well ahead of Comptroller Phil Diamond’s conservative forecast for 2023-24, which predicted a year-over-year drop of about 7.5% and a total haul of $330 million.

If the strong performance continues, that would give the county more money than expected to spend on projects and programs. Already, the tourist tax is being tapped to pay for the latest Convention Center expansion, the Camping World Stadium renovation and the University of Central Florida’s football stadium tower.

“It’s nice to see it’s turning up,” Diamond said Monday. “But we’re only halfway through the [fiscal] year.”

Still, the signs are strong.

Through March, fiscal year 2023-24 has generated $194.2 million, just $28,900 less than the first half of 2022-23. Collections in March 2024 totaled $40.55 million, compared to the $38.9 million generated in March 2023, the previous best TDT month ever.

Tourist-tax receipts, generated by a 6% levy added to the cost of a hotel room or other short-term lodging, are generally considered a gauge of tourism’s health.

Diamond nonetheless offered a cautious insight on the record March, pointing out that Easter — which usually provides a bump for tourism and tax receipts — fell in March this year but in April last year.

“So it will be important to monitor April collections,” he said, noting those figures will be available in early June.

Diamond said TDT reserves stand at more than $376 million.

Others also took notice of the monthly record.

“At Visit Orlando, we are pleased to see such a strong result in March TDT collections after enhancing our holiday and winter marketing initiatives,” said Casandra Matej, president & CEO of the tourist-tax-funded marketing agency.

The agency last month targeted Florida and travelers in a dozen out-of-state markets to stimulate summer demand. Its “Unbelievably Real” campaign featured billboards in heavily populated areas of Atlanta, Boston, Baltimore, Charlotte, New York and Washington, D.C. In New York City the push included a seven-story, 3-D digital billboard in Times Square.

Matej, who was in Los Angeles attending an international travel show, announced that Orlando welcomed 6.13 million international visitors in 2023, up 25% from 2022. She said Canada remains Orlando’s top international market with more than 1.2 million visitors traveling here last year.

“Orlando’s international growth is a testament to the uniqueness of our unbelievably real destination, the support from our travel trade partners and our emphasis on strategic marketing initiatives to help drive visitation from our key markets,” Matej said in a news release.

She said international visitor numbers have rebounded to about 94% of pre-pandemic levels.

In 2023, Orlando also welcomed 877,000 visitors from the United Kingdom; 696,000 from Brazil; and 432,000 from Mexico.

shudak@orlandosentinel.com