Your meeting called. It wants to go to Florida. Between the beaches, the attractions, the golf and the warmth—weather and people—who could blame it? But like all good meetings, it knows facilities count, too. And Florida shines there as well, with convention centers of every size and configuration; convention-dedicated properties with plenty of off-hours recreation; theme parks, attractions and museums that welcome group events; and direct airlift into every major city on the peninsula.
Then there are the new-builds and rebuilds that keep Florida’s hospitality landscape fresh and state-of-the-art. In fact, despite a sluggish economy, Florida hotel and transportation projects are moving forward—perhaps not at the breakneck speed of a few years ago but steadily nonetheless.
Also holding fairly steady are the state’s visitation numbers. With a total of 82.5 million visitors in 2008—down 2.3 percent from 2007 figures—Florida’s small decrease is good news compared to the double-digit declines suffered by other destinations.
“I feel this is due to the true perception that Florida is still a great destination for a reasonable price,” says Steven Bonda, CMP, sales manager of meetings and conventions for Visit Florida.
“There are incredible values to be had right now,” agrees Tammi Runzler, vice president of convention sales and services for the Orlando/Orange County CVB. “Hotels are really adopting the mindset of working with meeting planners who have reduced budgets and can’t commit to certain attendance figures.”
One example: Orlando’s Rosen Hotels & Resorts launched the Attrition Relief program at its three convention properties—Rosen Plaza, Rosen Centre and Rosen Shingle Creek—that will reduce, or even waive, customary attrition fees for planners who don’t meet their estimates.
Similarly, the Jupiter Beach Resort north of Palm Beach introduced the Worry Free Stimulus Package, featuring no attrition and a 90-day cancellation clause.
“People have to be more flexible across the board. It should be about long-term partnerships,” Runzler says. “When people start regaining confidence in the economy, they’ll start having more meetings and conventions.”
Northwest Florida
When consumer confidence returns, Florida will be ready with a host of new infrastructure improvements. One of the state’s biggest projects is the new $318 million Panama City-Bay County International Airport, which is on track to open in May 2010 with a 10,000-foot runway and 125,000-square-foot terminal, and promises to open up both domestic and international travel to an area historically known as a drive market.
“A lot of association business comes our way, but with the new airport we’re looking to attract low-cost and legacy carriers,” notes Dan Rowe, president and CEO of the Panama City Beach CVB. “When we have options beyond the commuter planes, when attendees will be able to fly in from farther away, it will really help us change that corporate landscape.”
Also changing the corporate landscape in Panama City Beach is a collection of new meetings-friendly, condo-style resorts, including the Shores of Panama, boasting a 13,900-square-foot pool deck and a number of large and small meeting spaces, and the Palazzo Condominium Resort, featuring one- to three-bedroom units, a full fitness center and a conference center.
Other new properties include the Ocean Reef and Tropic Winds condo resorts, along with the 570-unit Tidewater Beach Resort, which boasts its own private white-sand beach and a 5,000-square-foot conference center. In addition, existing properties are enhancing group facilities. The Edgewater Beach Resort, for one, just upgraded its conference center, while the Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort recently added a three-story conference and entertainment center.
Farther west along Northwest Florida’s Gulf Coast, the Beaches of South Walton take a detour into the past with picturesque, Old Florida-style hamlets like Seaside—where delegates gather in colorful wood cottages and inns in lieu of traditional meeting rooms—and classically designed retreats such as WaterColor Inn & Resort, which recently introduced golf and corporate retreat packages.
Blending Victorian charm with soft tropical tones and yes, white picket fences, the 14 seaside communities comprising Beaches of South Walton are among Florida’s loveliest locales, but make no mistake—they’re serious about business travel. Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, for example, boasts 65,000 square feet of flexible meeting space for up to 1,600, and nearby, the 600-suite Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa offers 32,000 square feet of meeting space and just completed a $3.4 million room upgrade. In the community of Miramar Beach, Seascape Resort just renovated its 4,000-square-foot conference room while a smaller meeting space is being built on the ground floor of Ariel Dunes, the resort’s newest condo complex.
New developments continue along the neighboring Emerald Coast, which recently welcomed the Palms of Destin Resort and Conference Center, offering a variety of spaces for group events, including the Royal Ballroom and a number of smaller breakout rooms, and the new Emerald Grande at HarborWalk Village, featuring a 1,950-square-foot conference and banquet hall.
The new properties complement such existing meetings-focused venues as the Resorts of Pelican Beach, with an on-site conference center, catering and group activities, and the sweeping Emerald Coast Conference Center, with 35,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space. Meanwhile, the Emerald Coast’s Okaloosa Regional Airport recently unveiled its own expansion, adding a $32 million, 110,000-square-foot terminal building.
In Pensacola, the westernmost city in Northwest Florida, old and new meet beautifully in 2009 as the city celebrates the 450th anniversary of its founding as a Spanish colony. In addition to a visit by the king and queen of Spain, festivities include art exhibits and historical reenactments. Back in the present, the historic Saenger Theatre—available for group events—just reopened after a multimillion-dollar renovation, while the new Sole Inn and Suites opened its doors within walking distance of attractions, shops and restaurants in downtown Pensacola.
Northeast Florida
Another former Spanish colony—St. Augustine—takes the center stage of history in Northeast Florida, but there are a host of 21st century developments here as well. The Renaissance Resort at World Golf Village, for one, recently completed a $10 million propertywide renovation to remodel all 301 guest rooms and suites and upgrade meeting space with new carpeting and a renovated business center.
Meanwhile, two other area properties received some very modern accolades: the 250-room Ponte Vedra Inn & Club won AAA’s coveted Five Diamond Award for the seventh consecutive year last fall, and the castle-like Casa Monica Hotel in the heart of St. Augustine’s historic district was designated a AAA Four Diamond property, also for the seventh year in a row.
But “new” isn’t exactly a priority in old St. Augustine, where centuries-old homes, museums and other buildings provide memorable settings for off-site events.
“There are a number of things like that scattered throughout the historic district, where small meetings can really enjoy a unique venue,” says Jay Humphreys, a spokesperson for the St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & the Beaches Visitors and Convention Bureau. “Horse-drawn carriages, sailboats, small inns, flowered courtyards—you can easily have a meeting that’s not only successful but, we think, unforgettable.”
If you head north, though, you’ll come upon the thoroughly modern metropolis of Jacksonville, home to a waterfront convention district that includes the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront, with 110,000 square feet of meeting space and nearly a thousand rooms, along with the Omni Jacksonville, the Wyndham Jacksonville Riverwalk and the Crowne Plaza Jacksonville Riverfront, which became the city’s first “green” hotel two years ago.
Northeast of Jacksonville, the pace downshifts to mellow on eco-minded Amelia Island, though The Ritz-Carlton is staying busy with construction on a $22.1 million ballroom addition that will add 12,000 square feet of meeting space to the property by this fall.
Central West Florida
After hosting the World Series and the Super Bowl, you might think Tampa Bay would take a break from newsmaking, but there’s more on the way, at least when it comes to meetings and conventions. Newly opened in January is the 255-room Westin Tampa Bay Airport, which diverges from most airport properties in every way except the name. Not only does it have a private beach—thanks to a location on Rocky Point Island—but every room has a water view. The property also boasts the tony AquaKnox restaurant, while a rooftop lounge, BluVu, offers panoramic views of Tampa Bay.
“It’s a very cool hotel, just a little jewel,” says Norwood Smith, vice president of sales for Tampa Bay & Company.
Also newly opened is the Crowne Plaza Tampa Westshore, with 221 rooms and 9,000 square feet of meeting space, while recently renovated properties include the Bay Harbor Hotel, the Hyatt Regency Tampa and the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina.
Off-site venues also are making news on Tampa Bay’s meetings scene. Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo just added two group facilities: an 11,000-square-foot Grand Hall and the 3,000-square-foot Reilly Reserve, which overlooks animal habitats, while the new Tampa Bay History Center features a variety of spaces, including a spectacular outdoor terrace.
Across the bay in St. Petersburg, ground has broken on the new and improved Salvador Dali Museum, which also will have ample function space for groups. But hotel developments are under way as well, including the Hyatt Aqualea Resort and Residences Clearwater Beach, due by the end of the year. The 250-suite property will feature meeting rooms and a dedicated business center.
Properties surrounding the Tampa Bay area have big plans as well. South of Tampa Bay, Sarasota-area properties are sprucing up—both the Longboat Key Club & Resort and the Hilton Longboat Key Beachfront Resort have completed major renovations, while delegates might get a kick, or a chill, out of staying at the Lido Beach Resort, where Duma Key packages were created in honor of the Stephen King novel of the same name, the story of which was set in the Sarasota area.
Meanwhile, north of Tampa Bay, Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club is undergoing a complete renovation.
“They have huge plans for it,” says David Downing, assistant director of Visit St. Petersburg/Clearwater.
Central Florida
From sprawling resorts like the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress and Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center to intimate boutique properties like Celebration Hotel, Central Florida’s hospitality landscape is nothing if not diverse, and it’s about to get even more diverse. Coming this fall is Bonnet Creek, featuring the Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek and the first Waldorf=Astoria property outside New York City, both set within a plum location surrounded on three sides by Walt Disney World. The 480-acre resort complex also will include 150,000 square feet of meeting space, a championship golf course, a spa and a variety of dining options.
Spectacular as that is, it’s only one of many new projects in the Orlando area. Other new developments include four recent openings: the Holiday Inn in the Walt Disney World Resort, the Point Orlando Resort, the Westin Imagine Orlando and the Regal Sun Resort, which also completed a $25 million renovation. Renovations also are under way at Caribe Royale Orlando Hotel and Convention Center, and the Peabody Orlando, where a $450 million expansion is in full swing.
“You don’t know what a softening economy will do, but we’re continuing to see our businesses moving forward with openings; they’re not slowing down,” says Runzler of the Orlando/Orange County CVB.
Central East Florida
Land of space shuttle launches and NASCAR speedways, Florida’s Central East Coast is go-go-go, and that also goes for its primary convention venue—the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach—which just completed a $76 million expansion and now boasts a 205,000-square-foot interior.
“The Ocean Center expansion is very exciting for the whole community,” says Tara Hamburger, sales manager for the Daytona Beach Area CVB. “Not only will we be able to cater to larger groups, but we are now the sixth-largest convention center in Florida.”
Size definitely makes a statement when it comes to meeting in this part of the state, home to the Kennedy Space Center and awe-inspiring meeting sites like the 100,000-square-foot Apollo/Saturn V Center, whose centerpiece is a gigantic moon rocket.
But accommodations come in all shapes and sizes here, from full-service hotels catering to meetings—including the Radisson Resort at the Port in Cape Canaveral—to ultra-luxe getaways such as the Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort, the Plaza Resort & Spa, and the Shores Resort & Spa.
Southwest Florida
From the newly opened Charlotte Harbor Event & Conference Center to Fort Myers Harborside Event Center, site of President Barack Obama’s recent Town Hall Meeting, Southwest Florida meeting venues are in the spotlight.
“It’s not every day you get a call from the White House,” says Rose Bernal-Rundle, Harborside’s general manager, in a bit of an understatement.
The next time an important event descends on Fort Myers, though, the center might be even bigger and better, as an expansion is in the planning stages.
In the meantime, the Fort Myers/Sanibel area is concentrating on new hotel developments, including its first boutique property, the 60-room Hotel Indigo, which just opened in the city’s scenic river district. Coming this November to Cape Coral is the Resort at Marina Village, featuring two banquet rooms and an outdoor deck for receptions.
The new-builds join such established properties as the 124-suite DiamondHead Beach Resort, with 8,000 square feet of meeting space, and the 387-room Sanibel Harbour Resort & Spa, offering nearly 80,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor function space.
South of Fort Myers, the “Paradise Coast” of Naples and Marco Island recently welcomed the new 102-unit SpringHill Suites Marriott Naples, along with the 85-room Hotel at Naples Bay Resort. But spas seem to be the big newsmakers here, as the Bellasera Hotel in downtown Naples recently unveiled the environmentally friendly Verde spa, featuring 100 percent organic products. The Naples Grande Beach Resort and the Hilton Marco Island Beach Resort also boast new spas.
Southeast Florida
From posh Palm Beach to laid-back Key West, developments in Southeast Florida are keeping pace with the rest of the state. In Palm Beach County, the PGA National Resort & Spa completed a total makeover to the tune of $65 million, while the Boca Raton Resort & Club transformed its Beach Club into an oasis with three swimming pools. Just north of Boca, the Delray Beach Marriott recently added its own oasis: the N Spa.
Heading south into sunny Fort Lauderdale, the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort, The Ritz-Carlton, Fort Lauderdale, the W Fort Lauderdale and the Trump International Hotel & Tower are ramping up the luxury in an already resort-savvy destination whose lodging variety also includes the Marriott Hollywood Beach and the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. On the horizon: a 1,000-room Hilton anchor hotel for the Broward Convention Center.
And luxury in Greater Miami seems to get greater all the time, with Gansevoort South, Mondrian South Beach, Canyon Ranch, Marquis, W and Kimpton joining a deluxe lineup that already includes three Ritz-Carltons, Mandarin Oriental, Four Seasons, Trump, Le Meridien and specialty venues like the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts. But brace yourself: Construction is slated to start this spring on two upscale properties on Watson Island, directly across from Miami’s cruise port.
Miles away, in the middle of the Florida Keys, Hawk’s Cay Resort has emerged from a $35 million transformation, while in Key West, a new terminal building at Key West International Airport makes it easier to get to properties like the Westin Key West Resort & Marina. If you’re flying into Miami, it’s about an hour to Key Largo, where the Key Largo Bay Marriott Beach Resort recently added the free-standing Largo Key Ballroom, and the Ocean Reef Club on the island’s northern tip features 300 luxury guest rooms, suites and private residences, along with a 30,000-square-foot conference center.
