When Mayor Buddy Dyer invites departing visitors back to Central Florida, he leaves them with the message: “I hope you’ve enjoyed our attractions, but come back soon — you’ve only seen the half of it.” His aspirational message, delivered for years, appears to be coming true. While the pandemic slowed down the expansion of tourism to our region, it hasn’t slowed down the economy, which continues to boom as life sciences, high wage-high growth technologies, space exploration and work force education are exploding around us. We’re close enough that this year may well be viewed as the tipping point for the other half of Central Florida.
Originally posted for the Orlando Sentinel’s Central Florida 100.