Officials: Orlando was top US tourist destination in 2014

April 12, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

ORLANDO, Fla.

More than 62 million visitors came to Orlando last year, making the theme-park mecca the most-visited tourist destination in the U.S., city tourism officials said last week.

The 2014 visitor count sets a new milestone for the U.S. tourism industry and was a 5 percent increase from the previous year, according to local tourism agency Visit Orlando.

Officials with Orlando’s closest competitor in tourism numbers, New York City, said that while the Florida destination had more tourists overall, the Big Apple still was No. 1 with international visitors.

Of New York City’s 56.4 million visitors last year, 12.2 million were from abroad. Orlando had about half as many international visitors.

Killington Resort to offer roller coaster

KILLINGTON, Vt.

The Killington Ski Resort is adding a 4,800-foot-long roller coaster to its attractions.

The Rutland Herald reports the plan is to have the Mountain Coaster running by mid-June.

Mike Solimano, resort president, said the estimated cost for the coaster ranges between $2 million and $3 million, and it will be open year-round.

The roller coaster will twist and turn through the woods and offer 360-degree corkscrews.

Louisiana tourism

BATON ROUGE, La.

Last year was another record-breaking year for the tourism industry in Louisiana.

Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, who oversees the Louisiana Office of Tourism, said last week that in 2014 Louisiana attracted 28.7 million visitors, a 5 percent increase over 2013, resulting in $11.2 billion in total visitor spending and $836 million in state tax revenue generated. That’s according to statistics compiled by UNO.

Geography quiz

Q. Colorado has four national parks. Name them.

A. Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park near Montrose, Great Sand Dunes National Park near Mosca, Mesa Verde National Park near Cortez and Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park.

Increase in visitors

ST. GEORGE, Utah

Warm weather and a new Utah national parks tourism campaign may be driving a jump in visitors at four of Utah’s five national parks this year.

The Spectrum of St. George reports Zion National Park has seen about 475,000 more visitors from January through March, up 28 percent from the same months last year.

Bryce Canyon National Park registered a 33 percent increase; Arches National Park a 23 percent increase; and Capitol Reef National Park a 16 percent increase.

Long tarmac delays

There was a surge in long tarmac delays at the nation’s airports in February, including several during a snow storm in Dallas.

The U.S. Department of Transportation said last week that 16 domestic flights were stuck on the ground for more than three hours and eight international flights were delayed more than four hours in February.

Eleven of the long delays were American Airlines or American Eagle flights to or from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport during a Feb. 27 snow storm, the government said.

Overall, 72.8 percent of flights arrived on time in February, down from 76.8 percent in January but up from 70.7 percent the previous February.

Combined dispatches