The development frenzy that has gripped much of the Sunshine State, raising new hotels along the beach and transforming older properties into luxurious showpieces, has arrived in Northwest Florida, bringing with it a host of new accommodations, convention center expansions and a new international airport that is expected to further open the area to meetings and conventions.
It’s always been a little quieter along this Old South “Riviera,” a time-honored vacation haven for sun-seeking travelers who have been piling into the family car and heading to the Gulf Coast for more than half a century. And maintaining the laid-back charm of this Southern seashore is a top priority for those who nonetheless want to see it evolve as a destination.
That evolution is already taking place. As Northwest Florida’s visitor mix moves beyond the traditional drive markets, area CVBs, hotels and convention venues are preparing a warm welcome.
Pensacola
One region that’s all about new and improved hotels is Pensacola, back on its feet following a devastating blow by Hurricane Ivan in September 2004, which closed some hotels for good and sent others into months or years of extensive repairs and renovations.
Among the latter was the Crowne Plaza Pensacola Grand Hotel, whose history dates to 1912. But while antiques and vintage furnishings are prominent in this property, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, so are new amenities like flat-screen TVs, hotel-wide Wi-Fi service, and upgraded room decor. The 210-room hotel also offers 7,600 square feet of meeting space and is located downtown, where a brand-new hotel, the 120-room Courtyard by Marriott, is due to open by March.
“We’re feeling good about the future,” says Abigail Robinson, corporate sales manager for the Pensacola Bay Area CVB. “With all the additions and reopenings, we’re hoping our area will be more attractive to groups. Meetings have always been a priority for us, but even more so now after being down for two years.”
Meetings are clearly on the agenda for the Hilton Garden Inn on Pensacola Beach, which is rebranding as a Hilton property in May following the addition of a 94-suite tower with 7,000 square feet of meeting space, bringing the hotel’s total square footage of meeting space to 17,000.
“We’re super excited about it,” Robinson says. “Corporations are more apt to come to a Hilton versus a Hilton Garden Inn.”
The addition of the Hilton tower is actually the first stage of a multiphase, 21-acre development that will include another all-suite condo hotel with 25,000 square feet of meeting and ballroom space; two 15-story towers; a marina, boardwalk shops and restaurants; and, as part of the final phase, expected to begin in 2009, an upgraded and expanded Hampton Inn, which is located next door to the Hilton.
Other recent developments include an expansion at the Portofino Island Resort and Spa, which now has five accommodations towers.
Pensacola is also about three years away from a major development along its downtown waterfront: the Community Maritime Park, which will include a 3,500-seat, multipurpose stadium, a conference center, a maritime museum, and retail and commercial space.
“We’re told there will be three four-star hotels, though they haven’t been named yet,” Robinson adds.
Emerald Coast
Named for its brilliant green waters, the Emerald Coast, encompassing the communities of Destin, Fort Walton Beach and Okaloosa Island, may present a special challenge to planners trying to keep their delegates’ minds on the program. It isn’t easy with so much going on outdoors, from dazzling white-sand beaches to activities like dolphin watching, attraction-hopping and dropping a line into waters so abundant, Destin is called the “World’s Luckiest Fishing Village.”
But there’s a lot happening indoors as well, especially when it comes to meetings and conventions. The Emerald Coast Convention Center, for one, recently hit its $2 million income mark since opening in October 2003, reports Darrel Jones, executive director, president and CEO of the Emerald Coast CVB.
“Occupancy is running around 75 to 80 percent; it’s been very well received,” Jones says. “In fact, we’re looking at expanding it.”
To that end, development money is already at work to start some of the planning, says Bill Leaman, general manager of the convention center, which currently offers 35,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space, a 21,000-square-foot ballroom and 12 meeting rooms ranging from 450 to 1,800 square feet.
“We’re looking at going straight north with our building and adding another 100,000 square feet or so of exhibit space,” Leaman says. “The trade shows that come here are ready to expand, and we want to expand with them.”
Also expanding is the Emerald Coast hotel inventory, which will grow with the March opening of The Palms of Destin Resort and Conference Center, a condo resort offering 6,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space along with a full-service spa, tennis courts and a complimentary shuttle to nearby Henderson Beach State Park.
The new property will join a variety of existing Emerald Coast meetings properties, including the 335-room Ramada Plaza Beach Resort, with 14,000 square feet of meeting space; the Four Points by Sheraton, which can seat up to 250 for banquets; and the Holiday Surf and Racquet Club, which recently renovated its meeting facilities and now offers 2,200 square feet of function space.
Beaches of South Walton
Nearly 25,000 acres along the Beaches of South Walton—40 percent of its land—is protected by the state, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been some new developments along this 26-mile stretch, where seaside communities are fronted by white-sand beach dunes and waving sea oats.
In fact, the area recently welcomed its 14th coastal resort community: Watersound Beach, featuring a selection of three- and four-bedroom vacation rental homes set on 256 acres that include walking and biking trails, kayaking and a Puttering Park with golf and other activities.
Dwarfing almost everything else in the area, though, is the 2,400-acre Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, where 65,000 square feet of flexible meeting space can accommodate groups of up to 1,600. The resort recently welcomed two new properties: the all-suite Residence Inn Sandestin at Grand Boulevard and the Courtyard Sandestin at Grand Boulevard, with 2,205 square feet of meeting space.
Also set on Sandestin’s 2,400 acres is the 600-room Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort and Spa, offering 45,000 square feet of meeting space, including the spectacular Emerald Ballroom.
Another meetings standout in the region is the WaterColor Inn and Resort, featuring 4,000 square feet of gathering space.
Panama City Beach
A new international airport, more than a dozen new hotels and a possible new convention center are poised to transform this classic beach town into a classy meetings enclave, on a par with other major group destinations in Florida.
For now, all eyes are on the new airport’s groundbreaking, scheduled for March, after which the CVB will hit the ground running, says Bob Warren, CEO of the Panama City Beach CVB, who acknowledges the area’s limitations in pursuing group business prior to the approval of the new Bay County International Airport.
“The meetings market has primarily been a drive market for us,” Warren says. “It has been a little more challenging, getting people in and out of Panama City.”
Despite the challenges, Warren says meetings have always been big business and a big priority for the CVB.
“Last year, we probably exceeded the 100,000-room mark in meetings business,” he says. “What’s going to break it wide open will be the new airport. The moment ground breaks, the CVB has a long-range plan in place for additional staffing, including national meeting sales managers and a new director of sales.”
The new 100,000-square-foot airport is expected to debut in late 2009 or early 2010.
In the meantime, Panama City Beach has been going through a hotel boom of historic proportions. As of spring 2006, 13 new properties had opened their doors, with the total rooms available topping 24,000, up 3,000 from the previous year. Among the new offerings, the Majestic Beach Towers offers 5,460 square feet of meeting space along with a state-of-the-art amphitheater, while the Boardwalk Central, part of the Boardwalk Beach Resort, boasts 3,500 square feet of meeting space.
By the end of 2007, room inventory is expected to hit an all-time high of 30,000 and reach 38,000 by the close of 2009, making Panama City Beach “the largest destination in Northwest Florida and the newest destination in Northwest Florida,” Warren says. “This is just opening doors for us that have never been open before.”
While many of the new properties will have significant meeting space, approaching the 30,000- to 35,000-square-foot range, according to Warren, the CVB believes that there’s room for more, and is mulling the possibility of a dedicated convention center to complement both the new hotels as well as facilities at established meetings properties like Edgewater Beach Resort, Marriott Bay Point Resort and the Holiday Inn SunSpree, which just debuted a 4,000-square-foot conference complex on the water.
Tallahassee
Florida’s capital city may not be on the beach, but this center of government and the arts has been just as busy when it comes to improving its hotel product.
The Doubletree Hotel Tallahassee, for example, recently invested $7.5 million in renovations, upgrades to meeting space and the addition of property-wide wireless Internet access. Meanwhile, the Radisson Hotel in downtown Tallahassee has been upgraded to Radisson’s Park Plaza brand and is undergoing refurbishments.
New in town are the Hilton Garden Inn Tallahassee Central, which opened last spring with 1,200 square feet of meeting space, and the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites off Interstate 10, with 132 rooms and 2,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space.
In all, Tallahassee offers more than 350,000 square feet of meeting space, though hotel facilities are only part of the story. With 69,000 square feet of convention space, the Tallahassee–Leon County Civic Center is one of the largest arenas in the state, and if groups want to go off the beaten path and take advantage of the area’s historical sites and architecture, venues like the Capital Cultural Center provide unique locales for meetings, seminars and receptions.
Other stylish, small gathering spots include the historic Brokaw–McDougall House, LeMoyne’s Helen Lind Garden and the elegant Golden Eagle Country Club.
For More Info
Emerald Coast CVB 850.651.7131
www.destin-fwb.com
Panama City Beach CVB 850.233.5070
www.thebeachloversbeach.com
Pensacola Bay Area CVB 850.434.1234
www.visitpensacola.com
Tallahassee Area CVB 850.413.9200
www.seetallahassee.com
Beaches of South Walton Tourist Development Council 850.267.1216
www.beachesofsouthwalton.com
