ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — November turned out to be a near record-breaking month for Orange County when it comes to Tourism Development Tax Dollars, a sign pointing to businesses and hotels rebounding during the ongoing pandemic.

In November of 2019, Orange County collected over $25 million dollars in TDT spending, the best November on record. This past November, they were within $700 thousand dollars of that record, an encouraging sign even with a travel ban still in place.

For 15 years, Syed Liaquat has owned the Florida Gifts shop across from Universal Studios. 2021 wasn’t a great year at the beginning, but by the end business started to pick up.

“This November was a much better November,” the shop owner says hanging up t-shirts. “That's the reason I say even though we were 10% down, but it was much better than the last November.”

Orange County brought in nearly three times more in Tourism Development Tax dollars than November 2020.

“What that tells me is that there is such underlying demand for people to come to Orlando,” Orange County Comptroller Phil Diamond explains. “Come to the theme parks, come enjoy the weather, there are so many people that would like to come here.”

Before this past November, Syed says he would see about 30 customers a day. When the calendar turned to November, business picked up.

“All the hotels are booked, they all are,” Liaquat says excited. “Even the restaurant next door, the Kobe and Ale House, they have an hour or hour and a half wait.”

His business has taken a shift the past year. His sales at night have raised significantly with long waits at nearby restaurants allowing him to have more foot traffic. His morning business he admits is all but gone.

“Starbucks, they shut down in January of last year,” Liaquat says. “There was no business in the morning so we were doing like literally nothing in the morning.”

But typically a strong November means one thing according to Diamond, a good December. And for the shop owner, it was.

“December was very good,” Liaquat says. “The holiday season was I think I can say was excellent. Better than my expectations.”

With the omicron variant now surging, it’s the month of January that Phil Diamond is concerned can take a hit. 

When the delta variant first arrived in March of last year, the very next month of April and its Tourism Development Tax intake took a dip from the month before.​