When you want to show off the most popular U.S. tourist destinations, Orlando is probably a good place to start. So thought the organizers of the U.S. Travel Association’s IPW 2015, which took over the Orange County Convention Center from May 30-June 3 with more than 6,000 buyers, suppliers and media in attendance.
According to figures from the U.S. Tour Operators Association, IPW generates $4.7 billion in future travel, making the over 1,000 U.S. travel suppliers attending eager to showcase their destinations to travel buyers from more than 70 countries around the world.
As a seven-time host of IPW, Orlando also took the opportunity to tout its new and upcoming attractions.
“Orlando is the most visited destination in the U.S.,” declared George Aguel, president and CEO of Visit Orlando, during a press conference for IPW media attendees. “We hit the 62 million annual visitor mark in 2014, and we’re in one of the most significant periods in our entire history.”
Illustrating that point was the press conference’s location at I-Drive 360, a newly opened attraction that includes the Orlando Eye, a 400-foot-tall observation wheel; Madame Tussauds Orlando wax museum, touted as the oldest leisure brand in the world; and Sea Life Orlando, offering a close-up look at thousands of underwater creatures from the world’s oceans. All are managed by Britain-based Merlin Entertainments, which operates 100 attractions and 10 hotels in 22 countries, including Legoland Florida Resort near Orlando.
“We’re the new kids on the block,” notes Adrian Jones, Legoland’s divisional director.
But even the older kids seem to have an endless stream of new ideas, as attendees discovered at the region’s famed theme parks and attractions. Here’s a peek at some of the developments:
Universal Orlando will open its third theme park in 2017—Volcano Bay, an immersive waterpark inspired by the islands of the tropics. In 2016, Universal Orlando will welcome a new attraction, Skull Island: Reign of Kong, along with its fifth on-site hotel, the 1,000-room Loews Sapphire Falls Resort, which will be connected via air-conditioned walkway to the Loews Royal Pacific Resort. Between them, the two hotels will offer 250,000 square feet of meeting and event space.
“A lot of groups who have outgrown us will be able to bring larger groups to Universal Orlando,” says Tom Schroder, Universal Orlando’s vice president of communications.
Downtown Disney, Walt Disney World Resort’s dining, shopping and entertainment complex, is becoming Disney Springs, doubling the current number of shops and restaurants and adding new themed areas for a total of four distinct outdoor neighborhoods: The Landing, Town Center, Marketplace and West Side. Disney Springs is opening in phases, with expected completion in 2016.
The new I-Drive 360 is but the first salvo in a total reimagining of Orlando’s main drag. Plans call for more pedestrian-friendly walkways and pedestrian bridges to span major streets, making International Drive its own walkable entertainment destination. A big part of that will be the late summer opening of Mango’s Tropical Cafe, a high-energy club imported from Miami and set a mile away from the Orange County Convention Center.
“We’re bringing Ocean Drive to I-Drive,” says Josh Wallack, COO of Mango’s SOBE/Orlando. Wallack is also a managing principal of Skyplex, an entertainment complex that promises to bring the world’s tallest roller coaster to I-Drive in 2017.
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