To the meetings industry, "corporate downsizing" has a meaning that goes beyond internal dismissals and restructuring. It refers to the moratorium on meetings and conventions that some companies have imposed or the severely curtailed events that others have opted for in order to meet rising bottom lines.
Like every other destination, Florida has felt the pinch, some cities more than others, and hotel rates have dropped across the board, while meeting packages are throwing in every perk imaginable.
Yet there’s been an unexpected upside to the drop-off in corporate business: the rise of SMERF and, in some cases, association business, while medical meetings are big business in Florida’s bigger cities.
"We actually are seeing more religious and sports groups," says Laura Lee, communications manager for the Pensacola Bay Area CVB. "Faith-based groups are still traveling. And I think parents will travel to see their kids play, no matter what."
In fact, it’s the "no matter what" groups that have kept tourism going here, say many industry executives.
"Associations are going to travel regardless," says Jack Meier, destination sales manager for the Florida Keys and Key West, while Jack Wert, executive director of the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades CVB, notes, "the association market and SMERF groups have remained relatively strong during the economic recession."
SMERF City
In the Northwest Florida city of Destin, the "S" in SMERF is really bringing the groups in.
"We’ve seen a definite increase in the SMERF market, including family reunions, and weddings have exploded in this area," says Sherry Rushing, CTIS, travel industry sales director for the Emerald Coast CVB.
Meanwhile, great rates are definitely diversifying the clientele in the Beaches of Fort Myers and Sanibel, where hotels that didn’t really solicit SMERF business before have completely changed their tune, according to Pamela Johnson, director of sales for the Beaches of Fort Myers and Sanibel.
"They’re realizing that the customer is king and that all the negotiating power is on their end," she says. So now we see convention hotels competing with the limited-service properties for sports groups and SMERF business."
It’s a buyer’s market, agrees Tammi Runzler, senior vice president of convention sales and services for the Orlando/Orange County CVB.
"Hotels have gotten out there and done a really good job of marketing the value proposition that they have, and I think SMERF markets aren’t afraid to ask right now. They’re out looking for deals, and there are a lot to be had," she says.
Medical Miracles
While much association business in Florida is holding steady, one segment in particular is healthier than ever: medical meetings. At press time, Greater Miami was preparing for the last of three big citywide conferences that started with the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology in November, followed by January’s meeting of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and ending with the American Academy of Dermatology, whose attendance two weeks prior to the March 5 event was at 17,000 with about 5,500 rooms booked.
Barry Moskowitz, vice president of sales for the Greater Miami CVB, calls the attendance for all three events "record-breaking."
"We have great hotel product that obviously these doctors are accustomed to," he says. "They’re attracted to the destination, the great cuisine, the weather and the accessibility. A lot of associations also look to the local medical community."
Moskowitz also says they look to do off-site visits, pointing to such recognized institutions as Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami.
"Miami is a major player in the medical world," he says.
Miami’s neighbor, Fort Lauderdale, boasts a similar roster of visiting medical associations, including Pri-Med, an educational platform for science and medicine, and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, which visits in rotation every couple of years, says Christine Tascione, vice president of convention and group sales for the Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB.
"[Medical meetings] continue to be a market we’re focusing on—not just medical organizations but associations as well, which seem to be fairly resilient in this recession," Tascione says.
Putting a different spin on the concept of a medical center, Orlando is in the midst of developing Medical City, which will include facilities such as the University of Central Florida College of Medicine and the Burnham Institute for Medical Research—both already up and running—along with a half-billion VA Medical Center that will serve an estimated 90,000 veterans throughout Central Florida.
However, Medical City "won’t just be a corporate business park but a residential community," says Runzler of the Orlando/Orange County CVB.
Indeed, with Medical City as its centerpiece, the surrounding town known as Lake Nona will be a 7,000-acre master-planned community complete with homes and schools, a golf course and country club, and an open-air town center of shops and restaurants.
In Sarasota, home of the Silverstein Institute, a leading research center for ear, nose and throat disorders, the CVB has seen an uptick in RFPs from the medical field, reports Kelly Defebo, sales manager at the bureau.
"A lot of medical professionals are well aware of our destination. On top of that, we have some of the higher-end hotels that cater to those professionals," she says, referring to such luxe options as The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota and the Longboat Key Club & Resort.
Meanwhile, other Florida destinations are taking their ability to host medical meetings to the next level, as Jacksonville did a few years ago, organizing its promotional and marketing efforts under one umbrella brand, "America’s Health Center," which is anchored by 11 partner institutions including the Mayo Clinic, Shands Jacksonville and the University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute. The result so far?
"We increased our definite room nights for medical meetings from 1,917 to 6,619, an increase of 245 percent over last year at this time," says Lyndsay Rossman, senior director of corporate communications for Visit Jacksonville.
The city is also expecting some big bookings over the next few years, including the 2011 annual conferences for the American Hospital Association and the Association of Oncology Social Work, and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons’ 2013 meeting.
