PETER CRANIS: Tax Collections On Pace for $25.94 Million Fiscal Year – A New Record for Collections

currently tracking 3.9% ahead of the prior year

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – With four months remaining in the fiscal year (we don’t have June numbers yet), we are currently tracking 3.9% ahead of the prior year for Tourist Development Tax (TDT) collections at $18.13 million.

If we maintain the current collection number for the remaining four months (June – September), we would end the fiscal year at $25.94 million – a new record for collections in a year.

Of course, we are hoping we can crack the $26 million mark, so we will have to see how the next few months go. Early projections for June and July have us up slightly so it is possible we could achieve this.

A few factors are driving this number, including an increase in hotel room inventory (we are now at 11,269 – our highest point ever), and vacation rental numbers have continued to perform well. We are currently tracking 3.8% ahead of last year for TDT collected by Vacation Rentals.

We recently received a forecast report from STR/CoStar, which shows an interesting yet predictable trend.

They are saying that for the calendar year 2025, our Occupancy level will drop by 7% to 62.8% while our Average Daily Rate (ADR) will increase by 1.8% to $149.38. This would be the highest ADR for the destination we have had.

Given the increase in hotel room inventory, it makes sense that Occupancy would drop – this typically happens as a destination grows and then begins to absorb the hotel inventory.

For 2026, STR/CoStar is projecting Occupancy to drop another 5% down to 60% with ADR dropping slightly, less than 1% to $148.35.

Overall, this is still good for the destination as a whole, as we should see increased TDT collections at that level due to the increased inventory.

For 2027, STR/CoStar is projecting occupancy to remain steady and flat, while ADR will grow to over $150 for the first time. These numbers would put us in a strong position to continue growing, with increased inventory and higher ADR, allowing us to see continued TDT growth.

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– Peter Cranis, Space Coast Office of Tourism Executive Director

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