Well-founded optimism has Florida feeling pretty good about itself. When it comes to the future of tourism and by extension, the future of meetings and conventions, the proof is in the real estate. New hotels are opening their doors, new convention centers are being unveiled, with more either in development or on the drawing board, and new transportation options are making it easier than ever to bring groups into the Sunshine State.
And behind it all, according to tourism professionals? More tourists. Recent figures released by Visit Florida show 94.7 million visitors came to the state in 2013, exceeding the previous high of 91.5 million in 2012.
One of the major contributors to climbing tourism figures is one of the state's largest urban areas, Greater Miami.
"We had over 14 million visitors in 2013 and that was a record-breaker," says Ita Moriarty, senior vice president of convention sales for the Greater Miami CVB. "That's a mix of group, leisure, business travelers, everything. From a hotel perspective, 2013 was off the charts in group business. It surpassed our 2012 projections."
But Miami isn't alone.
"We had a banner year for leisure tourism in 2013," says Debi DeBenedetto, sales and marketing manager for the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades CVB, adding that there was also increasing interest from meeting planners. "My year was up over 20 percent for group RFPs and inquiries coming into the CVB."
Meanwhile, other CVBs are reporting encouraging gains in group bookings.
"They're definitely strong," says Alex Kaptzan, director of convention sales for Visit Tampa Bay. "We booked 20 percent more definite room nights in 2013 over 2012. It was the largest convention goal we ever had, and we exceeded it."
That might change in 2014, though—for the better. With the year barely under way, Kaptzan says Tampa is already ahead of the game.
"We're over 25 percent better in booking pace going into '14 than we were last year going into 2013. We've already booked into 2020 and 2021."PageBreak
Meeting Momentum
In Northeast Florida, Jacksonville is also seeing group numbers climb.
"[This year] is going to be a really great year for us," says Katie Mitura, Visit Jacksonville's director of marketing and product development. "So far, our group business is above where we were last year, and we're also on pace for 2015."
Mitura points to significant renovations at such downtown hotels as the Hyatt Regency, the Crowne Plaza and the Omni as signs of Jacksonville's forward momentum, with competitive rates the name of the game.
"First and foremost, we're more of a value," she says. "Yet we have both the beach and the beautiful downtown."
Other destinations are similarly invested in promoting their assets.
"I would love to make us just as well known in the meetings arena as we are among leisure travelers," says Pamela Johnson, the new deputy director of the Lee County VCB (and its former director of sales).
Johnson points to a proposed project that may help do just that—the expansion of the Harborside Event Center, the area's largest convention venue, set within walking distance of the downtown Fort Myers shopping and dining scene.
Meanwhile, there's a new group sales manager at the Seminole County CVB, Stephanie Hunicke, who is focused on new business during what Danny Trosset, the bureau's executive director, calls "a key time for us, as we gear up for an ambitious schedule of meetings, sports events and new development."
"I want to bring awareness to this destination, so we're working on grant programs to incentivize planners to come here," Hunicke says.PageBreak
Central Perks
Planner incentives are also an important part of the marketing efforts at Experience Kissimmee, says Carole Pilkington, product manager for meetings. So is spreading the word about this land of golf courses, massive lakes and rodeos that bills itself as the closest area to the Disney parks.
"Planners are looking at more team building, more outdoor activities and more emphasis on CSR programs, and all three absolutely play into our strengths," she says.
Pilkington also touts Kissimmee's strength as a transition destination from meetings to leisure.
"Attendance is generally up when you bring a meeting to Central Florida, associations in particular, which is a huge market for us," she says. "Those folks are traveling on their own dime and they appreciate being able to combine a meeting with a family vacation."
Of course, the words "family vacation" are inextricably linked to Kissimmee's neighbor, Orlando, which is also a powerhouse meetings destination in its own right.
"We're the second-largest convention destination for major trade shows in the country," says George Aguel, president and CEO of Visit Orlando. "And we're second only to Las Vegas in number of hotel rooms."
Could that change? It might, if Orlando keeps going the way it is.
"Right now we're undergoing one of the most significant capital investments in our history," Aguel says. "We have more coming out of the ground, which keeps us diversifying and adding to our portfolio of luxury brands."
Among those new projects is the Four Seasons Orlando, opening this summer at the Walt Disney World Resort, and Universal Orlando's newly opened, 1,800-room Cabana Bay Beach Resort. But development doesn't stop at hotels, Aguel notes.
"We're seeing this continuing investment on the hotel side, the theme park side and just on a general level," he says, pointing to expansions at Universal CityWalk and Downtown Disney, along with new additions like I-Drive Live, a shopping, dining and entertainment center that will include a 425-foot-tall Ferris wheel and will start opening in stages this summer.
"We're just hitting it on all cylinders," Aguel says.
Another cylinder coming to the fore in Orlando is incentive business.
"We have significant options for incentives. We have the Hiltons, the JW Marriotts, the first new-build Waldorf and a new Four Seasons," Aguel says. "We like the fact that you can come here and pick one of our hotels and be within minutes of a huge retail and dining complex."PageBreak
Market Value
The rewards of incentive travel are also being realized in Naples/Marco Island, which is welcoming more, and courting more, incentive groups, says Debi DeBenedetto, the bureau's sales and marketing manager.
"I'm seeing more inquiries about incentives," she says. "We are an incentive destination and we do market that. We offer a great alternative to going out of the country."
To that end, DeBenedetto says she recently added incentive-themed events to her regular itinerary of industry trade shows.
"Incentives are a new focus of mine, and I'm trying to find new ways to go after that business," she says. "In general, our entire campaign has focused toward the luxury market, rather than competing with everyone else on everything else."
Similarly, Greater Miami has been discovered by a lucrative niche market, technology shows.
"We've seen a big increase in technology-related business," says Ita Moriarty, senior vice president of convention sales for the Greater Miami CVB. "Whether you say we're becoming the 'little Silicon Valley' of South Florida or the 'Art Basel of the technology world,' it ties into our mayor's overall plan to keep technology graduates here and to grow that whole marketplace."
Among the major technology shows coming to town is eMerge Americas, which will host thousands of attendees at various locations in Miami and Miami Beach this May.
"It's going to be a very high-profile event and bring in technology interests from around the globe," notes Barry Moskowitz, the Greater Miami CVB's vice president of sales.
