High-speed thrills and low-key adventures make Florida’s Central East Coast one of the most diverse regions in the state. From Daytona Beach down to the Treasure Coast, visitors can take in everything from the nation’s “Birthplace of Speed” and launch pads that send rockets into space, to expansive beaches and pristine nature areas.
Daytona Beach
Known as the “Birthplace of Speed,” Daytona is where Ransom Olds, father of the Oldsmobile, and automotive pioneer Alexander Winton raced their new horseless carriages down the hard-packed sands of the beach in 1903, launching the country’s love affair with motor racing. With the creation NASCAR and the fabled Daytona 500, the Daytona name became synonymous with fast cars, exciting races of all kinds and a huge beach that welcomed throngs of tourists every year, including spring breakers.
In recent years, though, the number of spring-breaking revelers has dwindled as another market zooms in to take its place—meetings and conventions.
“We’re growing up,” says Jennifer Coto, senior sales manager for the Daytona Beach Area CVB. “It’s going to take some time to live down [the spring breaker] image, but we’re working on it.”
Indeed, area hotels have gone from good to great in the past few years, as two older properties transformed into luxurious retreats: the Shores Resort and Spa, featuring the exotic, pampering SpaTerre; and the Hilton Daytona Beach Ocean Walk Village, which is part of the oceanside Ocean Walk Village vacation and entertainment district, featuring shopping, dining and the condo-style Ocean Walk Resort.
The complex also includes the area’s main meetings venue—the Ocean Center Convention and Entertainment Complex, where a $76 million expansion set for 2008 will add another 100,000 square feet of exhibit space and 30,000 square feet of new meeting space, for a total of 309,000 square feet of function space.
In addition to this core convention district, Daytona Beach is home to more than 12,000 rooms, offering everything from luxury to budget accommodations. Numerous properties have facilities hosting groups of 200 or more, while others are ideal for smaller gatherings.
“Daytona is a small town with a big city feel,” Coto says. “And because of our size, you’re treated like No. 1. You’re the big fish in a small pond.”
Daytona Beach wants you walking. A 1.35-mile beautification and streetscaping project along the city’s core tourism district on Atlantic Avenue was completed in December. Meanwhile, new beachfront parks continue to open, and a vehicle-free, one-mile stretch of Daytona Beach has been designated as pedestrian-only.
Daytona also wants you racing. At Daytona USA—an interactive motor sports attraction located at Daytona International Speedway—visitors can participate in a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series stock car pit stop, design their own race car, play radio announcer by “calling” a race, and take simulator rides like Acceleration Alley and Daytona Dream Laps.
Then they can meet in the middle of the action at the Velocitorium, a 60,000-square-foot showroom that can accommodate up to 1,000. Other group venues at Daytona USA include the Bill France Room, the Boardwalk Club, the Daytona 500 Club & Lounge, the Media Center, and the Nextel Fanzone, an enormous outdoor plaza located within the infield at the speedway.
Space Coast
Billed as “Orlando’s closest beaches” thanks to a location just 35 miles from the theme park mecca, Florida’s Space Coast—home to the cities of Titusville, Cocoa Beach, Melbourne, and Cape Canaveral—is also the place for galactic gatherings.
The centerpiece of both Space Coast attractions and meeting facilities is the Kennedy Space Center, a technological marvel set among the coastal dunes and pine forests of the vast Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Besides being the launch point for shuttles and other space vehicles, the center is home to IMAX films, live shows, hands-on activities, and behind-the-scenes tours. It also offers a variety of meeting venues, including the 100,000-square-foot Apollo/Saturn V Center, where gatherings of up to 3,000 are hosted beneath an actual Saturn V moon rocket. Plan a day of team building, and your group can experience customized astronaut training as well.
In addition to Space Center meeting venues, a range of properties in Cape Canaveral, Cocoa Beach and Melbourne include the Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront, the Radisson Resort at the Port, the Crowne Plaza Melbourne Beach Oceanfront Resort, Imperial’s Hotel and Conference Center, and the Holiday Inn Express Hotel and Suites, which is adjacent to the Space Coast Convention Center. Marriott, Clarion, Doubletree, and Ramada properties round out the options for meetings.
Besides the shuttle launches and other “spacey” attractions, the Space Coast gets back to nature with 72 miles of Atlantic shoreline and the delicate ecosystems of Merritt Island, the Canaveral National Seashore and the Enchanted Forest Sanctuary.
Nearby Port Canaveral provides the launch point for a different kind of excursion—casino cruises—while three waterside parks at the port feature a family beach, fishing and a nature trail. And, dude, be sure to include a stop at Ron Jon’s Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach, whether you’re a surfer or just want to look like one.
Treasure Coast
Named for the 18th century Spanish galleons that sank offshore during a hurricane—and whose treasures occasionally wash onto the sand—the Treasure Coast offers a taste of Old Florida in towns like Sebastian, Vero Beach, Fort Pierce, and Port St. Lucie, along with a glimpse of natural Florida in abundant parks and nature preserves.
The “Boys of Summer” descend on the Treasure Coast for spring training, and groups can descend on Dodgertown in Vero Beach—spring- training home of the Los Angeles Dodgers—where 14,000 square feet of meeting space is complemented by 89 guest rooms, team-building activities and themed group dining events.
Other properties with meeting facilities include the Vero Beach Inn and the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites Vero Beach–Oceanside.
In Port St. Lucie, venues range from Club Med Sandpiper, with conference facilities for up to 500, to the Hilton Garden Inn—adjacent to the PGA Village golf complex—with 1,700 square feet of conference space.
While the Dodgers meet in Vero Beach, St. Lucie’s Tradition Field is the spring-training home of the New York Mets.
If you’d rather play than watch, golf is always in full swing here, especially at the PGA Golf Club and Village in Port St. Lucie, featuring the PGA Learning Center and 72 holes of golf.
