ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — 2023 is off to a great start when it comes to tourism in Orange County. 

The Orange County Comptroller reported $29,046,900 in Tourist Development Tax collections for the month of January 2023.

The report said that is a 29.3 percent increase over last January and the highest they’ve ever seen for that month. That’s good news for local business owners. 

Orlando Kart Center owner Andre Martins estimates that 82 percent of his business comes from tourism. He’s seen enough success to buy a brand new fleet of karts and hire several more employees. 

“Orlando’s been great, we’ve bounced back better than ever, our sales are better than ever, the tourism has helped us tremendously,” Martins said. 

The Orange County Tourism Development Tax Collections report goes on to say the demand for hotels is up by 23 percent compared to January 2022.

January 2023’s numbers are even 1 percent higher than in 2019, when the pandemic wasn’t on the county’s radar. 

Martins said the Orlando Kart Center is preparing to host three of the biggest kart races in the country in the coming weeks.

He said one team based in Oregon will be staying in Orange County for five weeks and expects an $80,000 hotel bill. 

“More karts, more money, more tourism, better everything,” Martins said. 

The United States Pro Kart Series will kick off next weekend at the Orlando Kart Center. The ROK race will run in mid-March.

The Superkarts! USA race is set for the beginning of April. A full calendar of events is available here.