Like most coastal locations in the Sunshine State, Central East Florida has no shortage of incredible beaches, deep-blue ocean waters and placid bays and lagoons. Yet this region stretching from Ormond Beach down to Palm Bay is set apart by its one-of-a-kind attractions that go beyond mere entertainment to offer meaningful experiences for meeting groups.
You aren’t likely to find another Florida location where champion surfers are equally at home with astronauts, NASCAR drivers, bicyclists and bird-watchers. But as Central East Florida continues to raise its meetings profile, you’re more likely to find out for yourself how everything ties together into one fascinating package.
Daytona Beach
“Speed” may be the key word when describing Daytona Beach, home to an International Speedway that hosts some of the planet’s premier racing events, including the Daytona 500, the Daytona 200 and the Rolex 24. Yet this seaside haven south of St. Augustine has been slowly but steadily building its reputation as a mecca for meetings and conventions, combining state-of-the-art facilities with its own natural gifts and landmark heritage sites.
Consider its main convention hub, headquartered a block away from the Atlantic Ocean. Here, the Ocean Center offers 164,000 square feet of indoor conference space, including a 12,000-square-foot banquet hall, as well as 100,000 square feet of outdoor function space. Right next door is the historic Peabody Auditorium, hosting theater, concerts and other events but also available for group rentals. Venues include the 2,500-seat auditorium itself along with two smaller meeting rooms.
“During the summer, it’s a perfect time for groups to come in,” says Manager Jill Jaquet. “From October to April, we have a full performing arts schedule, but a lot of groups do dinner at the Ocean Center, then come to the Peabody for a concert and go back to the Ocean Center for a post-party.”
Flanking the Ocean Center on the other side is Daytona Lagoon, a waterpark that also offers a go-kart track, laser tag, miniature golf and a third-floor deck for group events and parties.
“We also do a lot of team building for groups,” says Trish Mucciolo, director of marketing at the center. “They love the challenges and it breaks the ice among the attendees.”
A block east of the Ocean Center and fronting the ocean are the Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort, with 744 guest rooms and 60,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space. Its neighbors include the Wyndham Ocean Walk, home to a 5,000-square-foot grand ballroom, the Plaza Resort and Spa, with 32,000 square feet of event space, and the oceanside Daytona Beach Bandshell, a National Register site also available for group events. PageBreak
But once business has been taken care of, attendees will have lots of choices for what to do next, because within walking distance are scores of surf and souvenir shops and an oceanside boardwalk complete with amusement park rides and a games/shopping arcade. The centerpiece of the boardwalk is the recently renovated, 87-year-old Daytona Beach Pier, where visitors can dine over the water at the new Joe’s Crab Shack.
“The whole boardwalk area has benefitted from the renovation of the pier,” notes Tangela Boyd, spokesperson for the Daytona Beach Area CVB. “During the spring and summer, we’ll have pedicabs that can take people up and down the boardwalk and pier… there’s a lot going on.”
But don’t let proximity discourage your group from sampling other Daytona meeting sites. A complimentary, 20-minute shuttle ride away is the AAA Four-Diamond Shores Resort & Spa, which recently announced its status as an official convention hotel of the Ocean Center. Boasting 20,000 square feet of function space for up to 400, the Shores also offers complimentary airport transport as well as free shuttle service to a variety of local attractions, golf courses and shopping districts.
To the north along Atlantic Avenue is another convention-minded property, the Daytona Beach Resort & Conference Center, which recently emerged from a $34 million transformation to offer 322 studio suites and 17,000 square feet of meeting space.
Meanwhile, the area hotel scene will be further enhanced when a HyattPlace and Courtyard by Marriott both open in Daytona Beach Shores in the first quarter of 2013.
Besides the many convention-friendly hotels, groups can go off-track at Daytona International Speedway, offering a range of function spaces, from luxury suites and club rooms to the spectacular 60,000-square-foot Velocitorium—now open only to groups and events—a cavernous showroom displaying full-size race cars and offering a host of interactive group activities such as the Chevy Pit Stop Challenge.
Space Coast
South of Daytona, the atmosphere is right for meeting on Florida’s Space Coast, as the region’s centerpiece venue, the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), continues to push the boundaries of group experiences with new programs and attractions for 2012 and 2013, including behind-the-scenes tours unveiled this year in honor of the center’s 50th anniversary.
“For the next several years, we’ll have something new every year,” says retired astronaut Capt. Jon A. McBride, a key contributor to and designer of KSC group programs. “For every dollar that goes into NASA, five dollars comes back. There’s a lot of interest in STEM right now—science, technology, engineering and mathematics.”
Any attendee harboring long-dormant dreams of space travel may find their interest reignited during the new tours, which allow groups a closer look at such facilities as the Vehicle Assembly Building, where all spacecraft, from the first Saturn V rocket to the last shuttles, were assembled for launch; the Launch Control Center, which takes groups inside Firing Room 4, one of four firing rooms—or control centers—at KSC, where the last 21 space shuttle launches were controlled; and a tour of Launch Complex 39, the enormous rocket launch site originally built for the Apollo program and modified to accommodate the space shuttles. Depending on KSC’s ongoing rocket launch schedule, tours may rotate or change, so confirm beforehand what’s available.
Speaking of space shuttles, though, one of the last to be in commission is coming home: the Atlantis, which will dock permanently at KSC in July 2013 and become not only a premier attraction and photo opportunity but a backdrop for group functions. PageBreak
“It will open the possibility of events underneath the shuttle, as we do with the Saturn V rocket, so we’ll be able to accommodate more than one group at a time,” says Bonnie King, director of sales for the Space Coast Office of Tourism, referring to the huge moon rocket towering above the ground in a gigantic hangar available for group functions. “When meetings and conventions come into the area, they’re looking for that special night, maybe the final night, when they have a great dinner or event, and we can offer that.”
KSC also offers meeting space at the 5,765-square-foot Kurt H. Debus Conference Facility, which can be configured from one to five rooms while exhibits from the Mercury and Gemini programs await exploration during breaks or receptions.
In addition, astronauts like Capt. McBride are on hand to make appearances and presentations during conferences, while the sky’s the limit (almost) on team-building possibilities, including the popular Astronaut Training Experience Program (ATX), welcoming small crews to take the controls of a space shuttle simulator from launch to landing.
Team-building experiences still on the drawing board at KSC include a biplane ride with an astronaut, the details of which were still being finalized at press time.
Still, the theme of outer space is hardly the only source of meeting space and group action on the Space Coast. In Melbourne, the Brevard Zoo’s Nyami Nyami River Lodge can host up to 300 in air-conditioned comfort as giraffes graze outside the windows, and meetings are often followed by kayak treks or zip-lining adventures. The Indian River Queen, a triple-deck riverboat, is also available for group events, as is the BCC Planetarium and Observatory, offering 15,000 square feet of space with the added bonus of out-of-this-world special effects.
Meanwhile, local hotels and resorts catering to meetings include the Radisson Resort at the Port, offering more than 30,000 square feet of flexible meeting space; the Crowne Plaza Melbourne Oceanfront, featuring 14,000 square feet of function space as well as a 2,000-square-foot, covered oceanfront deck; the International Palms Resort & Conference Center Cocoa Beach, boasting 13,000 square feet of meeting rooms and event space; and the Courtyard by Marriott Cocoa Beach, offering more than 5,000 square feet of flexible space and eight breakout rooms.
