Spring has always been a time of renewal, but this year, could there be signs of recovery in the air along with the unfurling leaves and birdsong?
If Florida’s tourism landscape is any indication, there is evidence that the economic pendulum is swinging away from "dire" back to if not quite "normal," then at least toward "not as bad."
"We’re starting to feel an air of hope that we’re gong to see some of the corporate market come back," says Tammi Runzler, senior vice president of convention sales and services for the Orlando/Orange County CVB.
"A year ago, everyone was saying, ‘We’ll see,’ but the quotes are starting to come in," seconds Jack Meier, destination sales manager for the Florida Keys & Key West.
Tisha Maraj, sales and marketing manager for the Emerald Coast Conference Center, is also seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
"I think right now corporate business is trending up. We’re definitely seeing an increase," she says. "Of course, there was a big drop-off but now things are starting to pick up corporate-wise."
Already seeing increased corporate bookings is the Casa Monica in St. Augustine, according to Barbara Golden, communications manager for the St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra and the Beaches VCB, while at press time Miami was busy with one citywide convention after another. Other destinations have set their sights even higher.
"We’re a finalist city for the World Cup [soccer], we’re bidding on another Super Bowl, and we’ve got a site inspection coming in for the 2012 Republican National Convention," says Norwood Smith, vice president of sales for Tampa Bay & Company. "When it rains, it pours."
So as the tourism industry in the Sunshine State hopes for "rain," a steady stream of new properties and projects continues to maintain Florida’s growing infrastructure.
Taking Off and Setting Sail
If you’re looking for signs of recovery in Florida, look up. In May, the first flights will arrive at Northwest Florida-Panama City International Airport, a 100,000-square-foot facility touted as the first new-build international airport in the U.S. in 16 years. Southwest will operate eight daily flights through the airport beginning May 18, including nonstop service from Houston, Nashville, Baltimore/Washington and Orlando, and direct service from Dallas, Chicago and Fort Lauderdale.
Speaking of Fort Lauderdale, with new service from Virgin America and an expanded schedule from JetBlue, Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport not only recorded its third consecutive month of positive growth last November, but also led the nation in the first quarter in increased service and capacity into its airport, according to Christine Tascione, CMP, vice president of convention and group sales for the Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB.
"Our airport is focused on individuals and groups, including incentive groups, who often meet for a couple days, then take their trip," she says.
An incentive trip, by the way, may include a voyage on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas,which sailed into Port Everglades last November and is touted as the world’s largest cruise ship. Joining Oasis at Port Everglades later this year will be its sister ship, Allure of the Seas. The two will alternate eastern and western Caribbean itineraries. Cruising options have also expanded again in Jacksonville, now that Carnival’s Fascination is out of dry dock following extensive renovations and upgrades and has resumed four- and five-day itineraries to Key West and the Bahamas. Farther south along the coast, Norwegian Cruise Line is now using Port Canaveral as home base for the Norwegian Sun, sailing eastern and western Caribbean cruises.
Canaveral is less than an hour from Orlando International Airport, which will welcome new service from Des Moines on AirTran Airways starting March 6. AirTran also added service to Orlando from Boston, Pittsburgh and Key West. Nearby, Allegiant Air—serving medium-market cities through Orlando Sanford International Airport—began nonstop flights to Bentonville, Ark., and Duluth, Minn.
Hotel Openings
Any time attendees fly or sail into the Sunshine State, it can be a re-education process as the hotel scene seems to be in a constant state of flux. In the Orlando area alone, nine new properties recently opened their doors, including the first hotel to provide a covered, open-air walkway to the Orange County Convention Center: the Hilton Orlando, offering 1,400 rooms and more than 175,000 square feet of meeting space.
Rosen Hotels & Resorts continues to expand its portfolio of Orlando-area properties. The company purchased a 25-acre parcel of land to build an additional 300- to 500-unit villa property at Rosen Shingle Creek. And a new level of luxury was reached last October with the opening of Bonnet Creek, comprising the Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek and the Waldorf-Astoria Orlando, the first Waldorf built outside New York City.
More luxe is on tap in South Florida, where both Fort Lauderdale and Miami recently welcomed W hotels, and the JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Miami is due this summer.
Not to be outdone, Central West Florida recently welcomed a pair of upscale properties: the Westin Tampa Bay at Rocky Point and the Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort and Spa. Neighboring Sarasota saw a trio of hotels—a Hyatt Place, a Hampton Inn & Suites and a Holiday Inn—open at the airport.
To the south, the Resort at MarinaVillage debuted in Cape Coral, a short drive from Fort Myers, and to the north, Pensacola Beach will welcome its first Hotel Indigo in late summer.
Hotel Happenings
But for other properties, upgrades and reflagging are the order of the day. In Orlando, the International Plaza Resort & Spa has become the Doubletree Resort Orlando-International Drive following a $35 million makeover. Meanwhile, the Westin Imagine has created an in-room concierge system that puts a touch-screen monitor at guests’ fingertips, allowing them to schedule wake-up calls, research local attractions and, perhaps best of all, send requests for more towels directly to housekeeping.
Rooms were recently renovated at the Sonesta Hotel Orlando Downtown (formerly a Sheraton), which offers 20,000 square feet of function space, while the hotel’s sister property in Miami—the Sonesta Bayfront Hotel—stamped "complimentary" on a long list of meeting perks, including comp rooms and suite upgrades, Wi-Fi service in the meeting room and the meeting room itself.
Also sprucing up in South Florida is the historic Ramada Hollywood Beach Resort, which will begin the second phase of a $15 million renovation this summer with a nod to two different eras. Original architectural features of the 1926 property will be restored, and the resort will be fitted with new hurricane-impact windows. It’s one of a handful of vintage, grande dame Florida hotels that have been thoroughly updated, including the Plaza Resort & Spa in Daytona Beach (an Ocean Waters hotel), The Breakers in Palm Beach, the Don CeSar in St. Pete Beach and St. Augustine’s Casa Monica Hotel, which recently joined Marriott’s new Autograph Collection of independent luxury hotels.
Among the newer classic properties, the Hilton Marco Island Beach Resort and Bellasera Hotel in downtown Naples both added luxury spas, while another pampering facility, Indaba Spa, opened last year at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club near Tampa, offering 12 treatment rooms and a fitness center with separate Pilates and spinning studios.
Tampa’s Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino checks in with a $120 million expansion, adding 100,000 square feet of casino space and new restaurants. At the same time, Sirata Beach Resort in nearby St. Pete Beach is concentrating on its carbon footprint, earning a Green Facility Certification award from energy management and protection company Total Energy Concepts. To the south, Sarasota’s Longboat Key Club & Resort recently renovated all 218 rooms and suites.
North Florida properties have kept pace with improvements of their own, including the Holiday Inn Jacksonville, which completed a property-wide renovation and rebranded as the Crowne Plaza Jacksonville Airport; and the Ponte Vedra Inn and Club on Ponte Vedra Beach, which received the AAA Five Diamond Award for the eighth consecutive year. To the northwest, the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa upgraded its rooms with fresh interiors and state-of-the-art media centers; the Four Points Hotel by Sheraton in Destin is making the outdoors even greater with renovated pools and new pool and lawn furniture; and Edgewater Beach & Golf Resort updated its brand with a new logo and a redesigned website.
Meanwhile, dining is never the same experience at Azul in Miami’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel, which added a three-course "Taste of Azul" menu that changes seasonally. Similarly, the Harvest Menu at Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo changes to reflect seasonal fare and local produce.
