Following a record-breaking year, Osceola County’s tourism development tax funds have slowed in recent months, a trend that is expected to continue.

TDT funds were 5% below the previous year in November, at $6.1 million, and down 4% year-over-year in December, to $7.1 million.

Despite the dip in funds, collections are still on the second-highest pace in the county’s history as it closes its first quarter, according to Experience Kissimmee, the county’s tourism authority. The county’s current fiscal year began in October.

“We anticipate that for the rest of the year there… will be a slight softening compared to the collections of last year but we have to remember that was a record high,” said Frida Bahja, Director of Research for Experience Kissimmee.

Bahja said the dip in tourist tax revenues is also being seen in neighboring Orange County.

The TDT decrease is indicative of a softening of the tourist economy but Bahja said she can’t pinpoint the reason.

“We see the slowing economy overall for the U.S…. so it’s just a reflection of the economy overall,” Bahja said.

The pent up demand for travel post pandemic contributed to last year’s record TDT collections, but those figures were not sustainable, Bahja said.

“We would have expected at some point for them to slow down so it’s likely that we could still see a really positive year,” Bahja said.

Osceola County hopes to add more and larger hotels, a move which would boost TDT funds, but it faces challenges, said Brad Boland, who sits on the Tourism Development Council. One obvious challenge: To entice hotel developers the county needs records of room nights across the county, a figure that is not currently collected.

Currently each tourism entity — Osceola Heritage Park, Austin Tindall sports complex and Experience Kissimmee — record their own data individually and it is difficult to reconcile their numbers into an overall total. But Boland hopes to fix that problem.

“TDT numbers grow because of additional vacation homes and hotels but it’s just something that we need to do,” Boland said. “So the more data you have you can go to a developer and say here’s what the future looks like.”