Page 289 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - USA

INTRODUCING FL ORID A  287

such as car racing, and the Daytona
International Speedway attracts thousands
of visitors every year. Spring baseball
training also draws teams and lots of fans
south, while the fashion trade brings
models by the dozen and plenty of
glamour to Miami.
It is tourism, however, that fills the state’s
coffers. The Walt Disney World® Resort
Mural inside the US Federal Courthouse, Miami may appear to dominate the industry,
but Florida makes the most of all its assets.
Florida, the reality is very different. An Its superb beaches and the promise
increasing number of the new arrivals are of winter sunshine have lured millions of
young people for whom Florida is a land vacationers through the years. Beside
of opportunity, and a place to enjoy the beaches and theme parks, there are
good life. Today, the younger generation natural habitats, state-of-the-art
has helped turn Miami’s South museums, and towns, such as
Beach into one of the country’s St. Augustine and Pensacola,
trendiest resorts. that still retain their Spanish
From 1959 on, there has Colonial ambience.
also been massive Conservation is a major
immigration from Latin issue in Florida today. After
America; Miami-Dade Beach buggie, Daytona Beach decades of intense urban
County in particular has a development, Floridians
huge Hispanic community, with a distinct have finally learned the importance of
Cuban flair. Central Florida has become preserving their rich and varied natural
home to many Hispanic people, from heritage. Great swathes of the natural
Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Central and landscape have already disappeared
South America, along with immigrants beneath factories, condos, and cabbage
from around the Caribbean. This ethnic fields, but those involved in industry and
diversity is celebrated in an endless cycle agriculture are acting more responsibly,
of exuberant festivals, music, and local food. and water use is now strictly monitored.
Florida’s natural treasures, from its
Economics & Tourism freshwater swamps and hardwood forests
For most of Florida’s history, its main to its last remaining panthers, are now
source of revenue has been agriculture – protected for posterity.
citrus fruits, vegetables, sugar, and cattle,
which was originally introduced by the
Spanish colonists. In fact, Florida produces
over 70 percent of the citrus fruits
consumed in the United States today,
while Kissimmee is known as the “cow
capital” of the state. High-tech industry is
significant as well, and the proximity of
Miami to Latin America and the Caribbean
has made it the natural route for trade
with the region. This proximity has also
contributed to the state’s flourishing cruise
industry. Florida’s warm climate has also
generated high-profile moneyspinners, A vibrant mural in Key West’s Bahama Village

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