Palm Coast and the Flagler Beaches Tourism Development Office highlighted the state of Flagler County tourism during its 2025 Flagler County Annual Tourism Meeting on Wednesday (Jan. 29)at the Palm Coast Community Center. Event attendees included tourism-related business, stakeholders, and elected officials.
Executive Director Amy Lukasik spoke on several key topics during the event, including annual tourism economic impact numbers, current marketing campaigns, industry awards, 2025 initiatives, and the Regional Visitor Eco-Discovery Center project. The meeting also included a special guest speaker, Chad Crawford, host of “How to Do Florida.” Crawford, a four-time Emmy-award winning producer, spoke on the delicate balance between economic prosperity and protecting Florida’s natural resources.
Tourism continues to be a top economic driver for Flagler County. According to independent research, the county welcomed 948,800 total visitors and generated $4,321,126 in tourist development tax in Fiscal Year 2024, down from the $4,587,725 collected in 2023. Tourism produced an estimated $890,907,800 in total economic impact in that same year. (Economic impact calculations are estimates sometimes based on not entirely reliable criteria.)
“Tourism is vital to the economic success of Flagler County. Through the promotion of responsible tourism, we’re able to improve the quality of life for our residents,” Lukasik said. “Projects like the Regional Visitor Eco-Discovery Center will continue to improve that qualify of life by enhancing access and raising awareness of the county’s rich natural landscapes through education and high-quality recreational opportunities.”
Additionally, during the annual meeting, Lukasik highlighted select Flagler County businesses, organizations, and community members for their excellence in tourism. Awards were distributed in multiple categories to the following recipients:
- Resiliency Award: High Tides at Snack Jacks
- Economic Impact Award: Continuing Education Company, Inc.
- Best New Tourism Asset/Product: Palm Coast Southern Rec Center
- Best Newcomer Award: Poppy’s True Market
- Hospitality Hero: Jamie Boudreau, Beachfront Grille
- Outstanding Cultural Impact: Flagler County Cultural Council’s Turtle Trail
- Community Champion: Carla Cline
- Community Champion: Heather Thompson
- Community Champion: Danielle Andersen
MiaMarie says
Just curious..where is the southern rec center? It’s been mentioned in Flagler Live a few times but not once where it’s located.
FlaglerLive says
The Southern Recreation Center, at 1290 Belle Terre Parkway in Palm Coast, is right next to Fire Station 25, and at what used to be called the Palm Coast Tennis Center. Here’s a profile.
Billy says
It used to be a nice place to visit !!!!!!!!!!!!
Dennis C Rathsam says
Why on earth, would you vacation here? They must be nuts….What are they gonna do? What about the kids? WOOPPIE DOO you got a beach, thats it. Unless they they stay at grandma,s. Then maybe they can afford the house of mouse.
Ed P says
Remove bike week and the Daytona raceway and that million visitors is probably nominal. Lean into those resources.
jay tomm says
Why? Nothing in Flagler but a beach & that isn’t even a county entity.
Oh and traffic lol
Pogo says
@That’s a lot of pit stops
…visits, time flushes, equals a hell of a water and sewer bill.
Laurel says
Yeah, I think the 1M tourists came to the island. You know, where the Flagler administrator and commissioners want us, on the barrier island, to pay for the beaches for these tourists.
We moved away from south Florida, where we both grew up, to get away from the crowds and congested traffic. It was great! Just a few years ago, the roads were clear, parking was available, people were friendly, restaurants were cheap, people knew each other from Daytona to St. Augustine, and in less than 10 minutes, we would see dolphins, fox, deer, pileated woodpeckers, osprey and greenies. There was a lot of green areas. Now, we see speeding personal watercraft and speeding boats, churned up water and Palm Coast’s dirty rain runoff. Today, around 12:30 pm, it took us seven minutes to get from the Dunes toll bridge collection booth, to the first stop sign to the east. That usually takes less than 30 seconds. The Hammock is crawling with transients, staying in vacation rentals mostly owned by people, or companies, that do not reside in this county. More strangers, less community.
““Through the promotion of responsible tourism, we’re able to improve the quality of life for our residents,” Lukasik said. “”Please, Ms. Lukasik, do tell how this is improving the quality of our lives, here in the Hammock? Have our taxes gone down? Has the cost of living gone down for us? Have the prices of groceries and restaurants gone down? Has the housing market improved for those who are searching for affordable housing, or who are trying to afford to stay in the homes they have had for generations? Should those of us on the island have a separate levy to *re-nourish* the beach for your tourists? Has our community become closer?
So, also, what is “responsible tourism?” Margaritaville cookie cutter hotels, making our area look like any area, anywhere? Less parking? The Jimmy Buffet Memorial Highway? More concrete, more blacktop, less greenery? Less wildlife? What are you going to teach about the area? How it used to be?
Yeah, go on and justify yourselves, and figure out how you can stuff more transients here. You know, for our quality of life.
Ed P says
Daytona draws 10 million visitors annually.