APRIL NUMBERS
Vital signs are positive with continuing growth in hotel occupancy for the past 29 months. With the highest occupancy since 2006.

DO YOU PIN?
Follow us on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/visitlauderdale. Check out our boards and start repinning Visit Lauderdale!

LEGENDARY PERFORMER TONY BENNETT COMES TO TOWN
Tony Bennett and Sony Music chose Greater Fort Lauderdale as the production setting for the iconic singer's latest CD project, featuring some of the top musical artists from Latin America and Spain. The Latin Duets with Dani Martin, Vicentico and Maria Gadu, to be released later this year, were recorded at the world-class Cutting Cane recording studio in Davie owned by Grammy award winning producer George Noriega. The music video project will feature various iconic destinations throughout Greater Fort Lauderdale.

VACATION LIKE A VIP IN GREATER FORT LAUDERDALE
Vacation Like A VIP signature package provides guests staying at one of the upscale hotel properties a room upgrade, complimentary valet parking, $25 American Express gift card and $100 resort credit to be applied to spa, golf, food & beverage, pool/beach cabana, water activities or kids programs. For details on the Vacation Like a VIP program, starting today, June 1 through September 30 with a two-night minimum stay, visit http://sunny.org/vip.

SUPER SUMMER SAVINGS
Thanks to our many hospitality industry partners who are providing 2-for-1 experiences from arts and entertainment to transportation to encourage summer visitation. Summer visitors can discover a passion for diving, charter a fishing boat for an afternoon adventure, or spend the day relaxing and revitalizing at the spa. Consumers, meeting delegates and travel agents can now order a free Super Summer Savings card online with more than 30 special two-for-one deals available through Sept 30: http://sunny.org/supersummer. For quantities of the value-added cards for your guests, contact Frank: fpadin@broward.org to order.

UPCOMING HOLIDAYS
Send your Father’s Day events and activities to Justin jflippen@broward.org to be listed on our website. We will tweet and post on Facebook too. And we are still looking for your July 4th activities. Send your events to Justin!

LAUDERDALE SPA CHIC
Need a rub? It's almost time for the fourth annual Lauderdale Spa Chic, September 1-30. Thirteen top spas offering treatments for $99 (up to 50% savings). The Atlantic Resort & Spa; Embassy Suites Deerfield Beach Resort & Spa; Grand Resort & Spa (gay); Harbor Beach Marriott Resort; Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort; Hyatt Regency Bonaventure; Lago Mar Resort and Club; Residence Inn by Marriott Oceanfront; Planet Massage; The Ritz-Carlton, Fort Lauderdale; The W Fort Lauderdale; The Westin Beach Resort & Spa, Fort Lauderdale; and The Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa. Special Spa Chic transportation provided by USA Transportation. For details visit www.sunny.org/spachic.

TOURISM SALES
In May, Alfredo Gonzalez conducted a series of panel meetings at Port Everglades. Alfredo and Fernando Harb attended HotelBeds Workshop in Punta Cana, Santo Domingo. Josh Winston participated in the American Airlines tourism speaker panel at the Atlantic Resort & Spa. Fernando conducted sales missions to Chile and Argentina as well as the FAM presentation and arrival at the Riverside Hotel.

SPORT LAUDERDALE
Sports welcomes over 15,000 athletes, coaches, and families to Greater Fort Lauderdale in June including the Swim Fort Lauderdale Age Group Invitational at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex, Florida Youth Rodeo Championships in Davie, and the Florida Regional Boys Volleyball Championships at the Broward County Convention Center.

MULTICULTURALLY SPEAKING 
Greater Fort Lauderdale will be hosting groups such as the NAACP’s State Convention, Jack & Jill of America’s 55th Annual Teen Leadership Conference, the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the National Partnership for Community Leadership Group just to name a few. June group programs will bring more than 3,000 attendees to the destination creating more than 4,000 room nights. The Family Reunion market continues to grow with nine reunions in June. Albert Tucker and Angella Lopez will conduct two key site visits with the National Urban League and the National Newspaper Publishers Association for 2015 and 2014 respectively.

CRICKET ANYONE?
The Digicel T20 Cricket Match between the West Indies and New Zealand, takes place June 30 and July 1 at the Central Broward Regional Park. The first sanctioned International  Cricket Council (ICC) match being hosted in the U.S. is projected to bring more than 7,000 out of town/country visitors. The host hotel is The Westin Fort Lauderdale with eight additional hotels being considered by the WIBC. Tickets go on sale on today (6/1). 

CONVENTION SALES TEAM UPDATE
The convention sales team recently participated in the following: Meeting Spots in Tallahassee, PCMA Foundation Dinner, ASAE’s Springtime, ASAE’s Golf Tournament in the DC Area, Smart Meetings Summit in Orange County, GFLCVB Kansas City Sales Mission, SGMP National Education Conference, PCMA Education Foundation Partner Summit in Palm Beach Gardens, Meeting Industry Ladies Organization in Reno, NV, AAC/ FSAE Meeting in Orlando, and Incentive Research Foundation/ Houston Sales Calls. Catch the sales team at these upcoming events and tradeshows:
June 3–5: Meeting Focus Live!, B Ocean, Fort Lauderdale
June 5–7: GFLCVB Destination Preview – Post-Meeting Focus Live!
June 4–8: GFLCVB Philadelphia Sales Mission
June 5–6: Milwaukee Sales Calls
June 11–14: PCMA Education Conference, San Antonio, TX
June 13–15: Smart Meetings Mart, Seattle, WA
June 19–21: PCMA Executive Edge & AIBTM, Baltimore, MD
June 22–27: Healthcare Convention & Exhibitors Association, Orlando
June 19–23: American Marketing Group/ Well-Being Conference, Scottsdale, AZ
Mark your calendars for these upcoming 2012 Destination Previews (dates subject to change):
Super September Destination Preview: Sept 27–30
Fabulous Fort Lauderdale Fall Destination Preview: Nov 8-11

JUNE GROUP SALES UPDATE
Groups meeting in June will generate more than $16 million to Broward County. Sample groups include:   
June 4-8: Florida Professional Firefighters 2012 Annual (318 attendees)
June 4-11: National Association of Social Workers 2012 Annual (145 attendees)
June 6-9: American Health Care Association Quality Assurance Meeting  (183 attendees)
June 7-10: American National Insurance Company 2012 Summit Club Conference (450 attendees)
June 7-10: NAACP 2012 State Convention (200 attendees)

FILM & ENTERTAINMENT
Noelle Stevenson promoted the Fort Lauderdale GLBT Film Festival at the Inside Out Film Festival in Canada last month. She also hosted the Filmmaker’s Soiree in NYC in conjunction with the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. A&E renewed its flagship, original drama series The Glades for a third season, launching Sun, June 3 at 9pm. The cop series ended its second season with an averaged 3.9 million viewers. The Glades is primarily filmed in Broward County. http://www.aetv.com/the-glades. Current Productions also include: TV Series: Burn Notice (Season Four); Bar Rescue (Season Two); Real Housewives of Miami; Check Please! South Florida Favorites; ID: Investigation Discovery; Travel Channel’s Destination America; ITV’s May the Best House Win; TLC/Southwest Airlines On The Fly; Swamp Wars; America’s Most Wanted; RelativityREAL’s The Family Show; Travel Channel’s Hotel Impossible (Season One); Fishing America; Univision’s Despierta America Nature Fashion Segment; Telemundo’s Decontrol; Today in America with Terry Bradshaw; MTV’s MADE.  TV Commercials: Florida Lotto (Gas for Life); Maroone: Who Ya Gonna Call?; ITT Technical Institute; Rebound; BB&T; Mobistar (Belgium Cellphone); The Toy Project; Invicta Watches – Shop NBC. Still Photography:  Bruce Weber; Walmart; Jungle Warriors; Venus.  Telenovelas: Tu Desayuno Alegre – Exercise Segment; La Ruta; La Parabola; Una Maid in Manhattan; Quiero Mi Baby; Corazon Valiente; Galavision’s Detras Del Saber; Quiero Mi Boda; Eva Luna; Univision’s Sabado Gigante; Relaciones. Feature Films: Not For Human Consumption. Documentary: National Geographic: Mega Food/Oasis of the Seas; UK: Bermuda Triangle; UK: Plants Behaving Badly – Orchids. TV Special:  Thalassa: France 3 (Royal Caribbean). Music Video: Tony Bennett Latin Duets; MU2. Webisode: Christian Vision: Yes He Is.

NEW OPENINGS!
Red Mango, the #1 Zagat-rated brand of frozen yogurt and smoothies in America, opened the first-in-state mall location at The Galleria at Fort Lauderdale. The Quarterdeck Seafood Bar & Neighborhood Grill is scheduled to open on the Dania Beach pier by late August. Coming soon to Las Olas Boulevard: The Grille, an upscale American cuisine restaurant; The Royal Pig Pub, high-end Irish pub; American Social, featuring over 200 craft beers, wine, spirits and a unique menu; Philippe by Philippe Chow, haute Chinese dining; along with Voodka Brasserie, the Havana Republic Cigar Depot, electronics reseller One Click Apple, clothing retailer Elektrik and The Archive shoe boutique.

HOTEL NEWS
Congrats to the Wyndham Deerfield Beach for receiving a 2012 TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence for properties who consistently receive excellent ratings from their members. The Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort celebrated its third consecutive year of the Genius of the “And” Award, an exclusive honor given by Hilton Worldwide to hotels that demonstrated exceptional overall performance and have achieved their goals in each of the key performance indicators on Hilton's performance measurement system. The hotel was the only hotel in the Americas to receive such an honor in 2009. Kudos to General Manager Andreas Ioannou who received the award. The Hilton Garden Inn (HGI) Fort Lauderdale Airport-Cruise Port Hotel in Dania Beach announced their HGI Project Grow Renovation this summer, the first hotel in South Florida to showcase HGI’s new look.

DID YOU KNOW?
For the second year, Dillard Center for the Arts’ Jazz Ensemble took first place at the 17th Annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival, presented by Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City in May. The band also took first place in last year’s competition. Fifteen high school bands made the national cut as finalists to compete among the best of the best from more than 100 nationally that qualified to apply. Dillard was one of the top three top bands chosen from the field of 15 finalist bands that participated in the three-day competition and festival.

BROWARD ATTRACTIONS AND MUSEUMS MONTH (BAMM)
Experience diverse cultural treasures all for the price of one membership, thanks to the collaborative effort of 12 attractions, museums, and cultural destinations during Broward Attractions and Museums Month (BAMM). Members of any of the 12 institutions will enjoy reciprocal membership to the other venues free of charge. Participating Broward institutions include: African-American Research Library, Art and Culture Center of Hollywood, Bonnet House Museum & Gardens, Cinema Paradiso, Classical South Florida 89.7FM, Fort Lauderdale History Center, Historic Stranahan House Museum, IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame, International Swimming Hall of Fame, Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale Nova SE University, Old Davie School Historical Museum, Old Dillard Museum, Plantation Historical Museum,  and Seminole Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum. http://www.bamminfo.org.

SUNSATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING
Only a few seats remaining for our next FREE quarterly class scheduled for Wednesday, June 13 (12:45– 4:30pm) at the African American Research Library & Cultural Center. Click here to sign up.

HAPPENINGS AROUND TOWN
May 1-Sept 30: Super Summer Savings in Greater Fort Lauderdale, http://www.sunny.org/supersummer
Through June 22: Animation & Illustration: Broward Art Guild
June 1-30: Broward Attractions and Museum Month (BAMM), Broward County
June 1: Neil Diamond, BankAtlantic Center
June 2: Churches, African American Research Library & Cultural Center
June 2: Fort Lauderdale Strikers vs. Tampa Bay Rowdies, Lockhart Stadium
June 2: Kathy Griffin, Hard Rock Live
June 2-Aug 11: Saturday Nite Alive, Fort Lauderdale Beach A1A
June 3: SunTrust Sunday Jazz Brunch, Riverwalk, Downtown Fort Lauderdale
June 3-24: Sensational Sundays at McSorley’s, every Sunday
June 4: Historian Sue Gillis, Fort Lauderdale and Broward County: The Photography of Gene Hyde, Fort Lauderdale History Center
June 5-26: Pizza, Popcorn & a Movie at McSorley’s, every Tuesday
June 5-July 24: Sea Turtle Walks, Museum of Discovery & Science and AutoNation® IMAX® Theater
June 7: Celebrate Garden Week, Garden Center at Hugh Taylor Birch State Park
June 7: Don Felder formerly of the Eagles, Hard Rock Live
June 7-July 2: Prometheus: The IMAX Experience, Museum of Discovery & Science and AutoNation® IMAX® Theater
June 7-July 1: The Edge of our Bodies, Mosaic Theatre
June 8-29: Fantastic Fridays a McSorley’s, every Friday
June 8: UFC Harley Davidson Hometown Throwdown, BankAtlantic Center
June 9-Aug 19: Nathan Sawaya: The Art of the Brick, Art & Culture Center of Hollywood
June 9-10: World Ocean Weekend, Museum of Discovery & Science
June 10: Disco Night 3, Hard Rock Live
June 10: Israeli Dance Festival, Broward Center for the Performing Arts
June 12-24: La Cage Aux Folles Broadway, Broward Center for the Performing Arts
June 12: ZZ Top and 3 Doors Down, Hard Rock Live
June 13: Happy Together Tour 2012, Hard Rock Live
June 14: Il Divo and Orchestra in Concert, Hard Rock Live
June 15: Roger Waters, BankAtlantic Center
June 16: Fort Lauderdale Strikers vs. FC Edmonton, Lockhart Stadium
June 16: The Queen Extravaganza, Hard Rock Live
June 16: Tito Puente, Jr. and his Latin Jazz Ensemble, Sunrise Civic Center
June 21: Don Rickles, Hard Rock Live
June 21-24: Standing on Ceremony, Broward Center for the Performing Arts
June 22: Live MMA Professional Fights, War Memorial Auditorium
June 23: Viva Don King II World Class Boxing, Hard Rock Live
June 23-30: Family Fun Week in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
June 24: Stonewall Summer Pride, Wilton Manors
June 28: Boston, Hard Rock Live
June 30: Fort Lauderdale Strikers vs Carolina Railhawks, Lockhart Stadium
June 30-July 1: Int’l Competitive Cricket Match: West Indies vs. New Zealand, Central Broward Regional Park, Lauderhill
June 30: Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band, Hard Rock Live

Sunny wishes,


Nicki E. Grossman
President