Brevard County

With cruises docked for now, Brevard County relies on rocket launches for tourism boost

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — With most cruise lines yet to resume sailings due to the coronavirus pandemic, Brevard County tourism officials said they’ve been relying on rocket launches from the Space Coast to help give the industry a boost.

“Covid really negatively impacted us across the board, but one of our measurements is tourism development collections and we normally would have been up in the $16-million range. We’re at $13 million at the end of our budget year,” said Peter Cranis, executive director of the Space Coast Office of Tourism.

WATCH: SpaceX successfully launches 17th Starlink mission from Kennedy Space Center

But rocket launches have helped sustain businesses by attracting visitors.

“It can be in the tens of thousands,” Cranis said. “Certainly on the bigger launches we track somewhere between 200,000 and 300,000 people from outside the county.”

READ: These 22 Publix locations in Brevard County will offer COVID-19 vaccines for seniors, health care personnel

And a return to cruising would bring even more visitors to fill hotels that have seen a steep decline in occupancy.

Tourism officials said as people build up confidence, they’ll want to travel again. Many didn’t have the opportunity last year so they said they are counting on pent up demand.

Sarah Wilson

Sarah Wilson, WFTV.com

Sarah Wilson joined WFTV Channel 9 in 2018 as a digital producer after working as an award-winning newspaper reporter for nearly a decade in various communities across Central Florida.