A study commissioned by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts shows a staggering $18.2 billion in annual economic activity generated by the company in Florida alone, which amounts to 2.5 percent of the state’s entire gross domestic product.
Walt Disney World Resort entrance
Highlights from the study, conducted by Arduin, Laffer & Moore Econometrics:
Jobs: Disney directly employs 62,000 “cast members” and pays them $1.8 billion (FY 2009 compensation).
The total number of jobs statewide that lead back to Disney directly or indirectly is pegged at 160,000, or one out of every 50 jobs in Florida with compensation amounting to $6 billion.
Six percent of all jobs in Central Florida can be attributed to Disney’s operations.
Purchasing Power: Disney buys more than $2 billion worth of goods and services. Of this, nearly $1 billion goes to Florida-based vendors, half of half of which are in Central Florida.
Spending by Guests: Spending by Disney guests outside its resort area totals around $1.7 billion, including spend for hotels and lodging, meals at local restaurants, retail purchases and transportation.
Taxes: Even after factoring in the cost of the government services used by Disney’s facilities, staff and guests, the net benefit to Florida from Disney’s operations exceeds $400 million. Orange County alone gets a net benefit of more than $100 million.
These figures are the official results, as per a statement put out by Disney. There’s no denying the outsize influence that Disney operations have on Central Florida’s economy. But why was this study commissioned and the findings published by Disney at this particular moment?
One of the reasons could be because Disney is involved in a high-stakes lobbying match with Florida’s vacation rental industry.
The Florida legislature is considering vacation-rental legislation (HB 883) that was originally supposed to remove many of the regulations and restrictions which prevent residential properties from being rented out for a period of less than six months, including in Disney’s Orange County home-base.
The fight was fair and square between the associations representing Florida’s 20,000 vacation rental home owners and Walt Disney World Resort, with its 25,000 hotel rooms, time-share units and the 2000-room Art of Animation Resort, which is scheduled to open in 2012 with 1,120 large and affordable family suites.
To make a long story short, Disney won the lobbying battle, and the bill was amended so that existing restrictions on vacation rentals will remain in place. Disney will no doubt have used the study results above to remind Florida’s legislators what would happen if the vacation rentals took a bite out of Disney’s hotel and lodging business.
Photo – Jrobertiko
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