February Numbers
February 2007 bed tax collections rose 11.55% over February 2006 to $5,468,005. Hotel rates rose 22.7% to $180.06 and Greater Fort Lauderdale hotel occupancy was 84%, while Florida hotel occupancy was 74.1%.

Summer of Discovery program with Travelocity
To help generate bookings for the summer season, we are working with Travelocity on a special summer campaign. The Summer of Discovery includes two-for-one offers on various attractions and this year, we added a strong retail message for hotel bookings June 1 through September 30, 2007. If a customer books online at sunny.org/summer at partner hotels and uses a special promo code, they save $75 on their booking (if total is more than $300). This dollar savings amount will be covered by the CVB since Travelocity is the new booking engine for our sunny.org site. If you have not already joined up with Travelocity and are interested in expanding your marketing reach, please contact Stephanie Sherwood, the market manager at 407-241-1162 or Stephanie.Sherwood@travelocity.com. Travelocity partners should also touch base with Stephanie to see how to boost your property with special summer packages. We hope that you will work with Travelocity, so we can help increase your summer bookings.

GFL Goes Portable with New Travel Podcasts
Continuing its trend of using new media to reach new demographics, Greater Fort Lauderdale has begun producing podcasts. Consumers can now listen in to hear the story of Greater Fort Lauderdale's renaissance, taking them from its days as a Spring Break haven to the sophisticated, diverse destination that exists today. Click here to listen to "Inside(954): From Beach Babes to Beach Chic" Podcast. Or listen to the Summer of Discovery podcast on the Sunny Radio on the sunny.org homepage.

Spring/Summer Visitors Guide & Map Now Available
To order a quantityof the new Visitors Guide & Maps, please call Frank Padin at (954) 765-4466.

Summer of Discovery
Check out www.sunny.org/summer for the details on the great values available from attractions June 1-Sept 30. The public relations and advertising campaigns have begun. Two-for-one offers on 30 attractions from scuba diving, golf, spa, nature, arts and entertainment. If you want copies of the free Summer of Discovery brochure for your guests, please stop by our offices to pick them up. We are producing 100,000 booklets to supply the I-95 and I-75 Welcome Centers and in-state and southern Georgia AAA offices. In addition, the colorful brochures will be distributed with our Vacation Planner and featured in all online marketing and tourism advertising strategies. The GFLCVB’s $1 million-plus Summer of Discovery advertising campaign includes billboards in NYC, Atlanta and Tampa, plus full page ads in Self Magazine, Conde Nast Traveler, AAA Going Places, Coastal Living, Gourmet, Self, Glamour, Allure, Bon Appetit, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Frommers Girlfriends Getaways, in-state newspaper advertising insert in 20 Florida cities, out of state newspaper insert in 12 targeted cities, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, radio in key markets and lots more.

GFL Spreads Sunshine across the globe
The GFLCVB participated in ITB Berlin, the world's largest tourism fair. The CVB team and several industry partners including the Seminole Indian Tribe, E-Charter Boats, Inverrary Resort, Sawgrass Mills and Hollywood Office of Tourism, set up shop in the VISIT FLORIDA section and met with wholesalers, tour operators and international media. Alfredo Gonzalez, vice president of tourism and international business development (pictured right), does a radio interview with The Buzz 101.9 radio in Berlin. The CVB also participated in Visit USA Brussels with a luncheon for the top 20 wholesalers and media, followed by a travel trade show. GFL had a presence at the New York Times Travel Show, one of the largest consumer shows, with heavy interest in the Florida product.

Black Meetings & Tourism honors Albert Tucker
Congratulations to Albert Tucker, vice president of multicultural business development, who has been selected by Black Meetings & Tourism magazine to receive the 2007 APEX Award for Distinguished Service.

April Convention Sales Update
Groups meeting in April generate more than $101 million to Broward County. Sample groups include:
Apr 1-6: Florida General Baptist Convention
Apr 1-11: Kabbalah Centre International Convention
Apr 9-13: National Association of Home Builders
Apr 11-16: Georgetown University John Carroll Awards
Apr 11-19: Human Resource Planning Society
Apr 11-20: American College of Radiology
Apr 13-20: Hawaii Trade Conference
Apr 15-21: Florida State Primitive Baptist Convention
Apr 17-20: Bellissimo Foods Buying Conference
Apr 17-23: Travel Professionals of Color
Apr 18-22: Huntington Investment Company Incentive Trip
Apr 18-23: Sidley Austin Brown & Wood LLP Partner Meeting
Apr 18-27: Duty Free Show of the Americas
Apr 19-26: General Mills 2007 Consumer Foods National Sales Meeting
Apr 24-28: AT&T - Chicago Circle of Excellence
Apr 26-May 4: Global Customer Conference
Apr 30-May 1: Florida Association of Public Purchasing Officers
Apr 30-May 7: Navigant Meetings & Incentives

Sport Lauderdale
Greater Fort Lauderdale welcomes the following sports groups in April:
April 1-6: YMCA National Short Course Swimming and Diving Championships, 2500 participants
Apr 9-15: Westminster Academy Hofball Fever Classic, 1,000 participants
Apr 13-15: Synchronized Swimming Zone Championships, 500 participants
Apr 13-15: Triple Crown Spring Chase for Champions Baseball Tournament, 900 participants
April 13-15: AAU Diving National Championships, 360 participants
April 14-16: International Archery Championships, 400 participants
April 27-29: AAU Super Regional Basketball Championships, 1350 participants
April 27-30: East Coast National Swimming and Diving Championships, 420 participants
April 28-May 3: FHSAA Regional Track and Field Championships, 1100 participants

W Fort Lauderdale Welcome Center Opens
The CVB PR team, with TravelHost publisher Ina Lee, attended the opening of the new W Fort Lauderdale Hotel & Residences Welcome Center, located at the Gallery at Beach Place -- a sneak peek of what awaits buyers and visitors to South Florida’s first W property, opening in early 2008 on Fort Lauderdale Beach.

Hotel News
Fort Lauderdale Grande's lobby level floor in the main tower is complete and includes a $100,000 marble inlay. The meeting space renovation should be complete by mid-April, while the tower level rooms will be ready in May. The pool area will be renovated during the summer. Hyatt Regency Pier 66 now offers poolside cabanas available for rent. All guest rooms now have the Hyatt Grand bed. Soon to come are granite countertops and plasma tvs. Front desk renovations begin in June, followed by lobby, lobby bar, restaurant and meeting space renovations. Bahia Mar's new Breezes Restaurant is now open with indoor/outdoor seating. Amerisuites 17th Street transforms into a Hyatt Place, a new concept that features 42" flat-panel HDTV, Hyatt Grand beds, free wi-fi, complimentary continental breakfast and made-to-order entrees and snacks 24/7 available at the cashless food center. Other Hyatt Places touches include kiosk check-in, free-flowing gallery lobby with coffeehouse vibe and feelings of home. Il Lugano by Homewood Suites-Hilton opens in Fort Lauderdale along the Intracoastal in June, with 105 studios and suites featuring private balconies, in-room washer/dryer, flat panel tvs, fully-equipped kitchens, granite countertops and marble floors. Congratulations to Marketing Advisory Committee member, Jean Laboda-Capps, who is now the General Manager of the Sheraton Suites Plantation.

Walk through the Red Door
New on the spa scene is the Elizabeth Arden Red Door Lifestyle Spa at the newly renovated Hyatt Regency Bonaventure Conference Center & Spa in Weston. The 48,000 square foot spa, the first "lifestyle spa" in the U.S., features 30 treatment rooms, a Zen Garden, Pilates studio, fitness and weight room, sauna, steam room and Bamboo Spa Cafe.

Imperial Majesty Cruise News
Imperial Majesty now offers two-night cruises from Port Everglades to Nassau/Paradise Island every other day, year-round aboard The Regal Empress. Vintage features include wood paneling, brass fixtures, enclosed promenade and main dining room with ocean view.

New Megayacht Venue
Charter One introduced its newest luxury party vessel, The Grand Floridian, formerly the Sir Winston. The 125 foot, five-deck megayacht can accommodate up to 400 passengers in ultimate luxury and style. Features include full wet bars on each deck, six spacious rest rooms, and an elevator accessible to all 5 decks, a feature only found aboard this yacht.

Restaurant News:
Shula’s on the Beach celebrates 10 years in Fort Lauderdale at the Sheraton Yankee Trader. Now open on A1A is the new Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., located at the soon-to-open Courtyard by Marriott (former Doubletree Oceanfront) on Fort Lauderdale beach. Kilwin’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream and Chocolates now has a Lauderdale-By-The-Sea location. Beach Watch (owned by former La Tavernetta restaurateurs) recently opened on Dania Beach Pier. And coming soon: China Grill at the Fort Lauderdale Grande, PF Changs at The Colonnade Outlets in Sunrise. Chef Dean Max of 3030 Ocean fame at the Harbor Beach Marriott will be in NYC for a media fam with VISIT FLORIDA.

Solar Knight to make South Florida appearances
South Plantation High School has a team of future scientists and engineers who are working diligently to construct a solar-powered car. This car of the future, the "Solar Knight," will make appearances at local middle schools, car shows, universities, and community events to increase environmental awareness throughout South Florida. South Plantation's Solar Knight will compete against the nation's brightest high school solar teams in the Dell-Winston Solar Car Challenge, a cross-country race from Texas to New York, in July of 2007.

Happenings Around Town
Florida Marlins, Dolphin Stadium: Apr 6-11, 18-25
Apr 5-7: Florida Grand Opera presents Sampson et Dalila, Broward Center for the Performing Arts
Apr 7-8: Orchid Show, Flamingo Gardens
Apr 11: Jazz Legends Come Alive, Broward Center for the Perfoming Arts
Apr 13: Tom Jones, BankAtlantic Center
Apr 14: Lynyrd Skynyrd, Pompano Beach Amphitheater
Apr 15: Romeo & Juliet, BankAtlantic Center
Apr 15: Sinbad, Hard Rock Live
Apr 17: Symphony of the Americas, Broward Center for the Perfoming Arts
Apr 18: Ray Romano and Brad Garrett, Hard Rock Live
Apr 18: HSMAI Southeast Florida luncheon at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co
Apr 19: The Killers, Hard Rock Live
Apr 19-June 3: The Lion King, Broward Center for the Performing Arts
Apr 20-22: Ocean Fest Dive & Adventure Sports Expo, Fort Lauderdale beach
Apr 21: Downtown Hollywood Rhythm & Blues
Apr 22: Smokey Robinson Legacy of Love Concert, Hard Rock Live
Apr 26: Band Camp, Hard Rock Live
Apr 27-30: Pompano Beach Seafood Festival, Pompano Beach
Apr 30: Diana Ross, Hard Rock Live
Through April 15: Cradle of Christianity: Jewish and Christian Treasures from the Holy Land
Through May 1: Chicano Visions: American Painters on the Verge, Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale

With all best wishes,

Nicki E. Grossman
President