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Florida Tourism Numbers Up For 3rd Q

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TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/AP) — Florida's warm sunshine, theme parks and world-renowned beaches kept tourists flocking in the second half of the year.

On Thursday, Governor Rick Scott will announce that nearly 24 million tourists visited the state during the third quarter of 2014.

That's a 3.5 percent jump over the same time period a year ago.

Visit Florida, the state's tourism marketing arm, estimates that the record number of 23.7 million visitors includes 2.9 million from overseas and more than 500,000 Canadians.

Scott has pushed to increase spending on Visit Florida advertising to try to boost the state's tourism industry. This current fiscal year the state set aside $74 million for the effort.

Last year nearly 95 million people visited Florida. By the end of September Visit Florida estimated that nearly 74 million have visited the state.

(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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