19 CONSECUTIVE MONTHS OF TOURISM GROWTH
June had the highest hotel occupancy since 2007, up 5.2% from 2011. Tourist tax collections show double-digit growth over the last three months with an increase of 11.6% in May 2011. March and April also had dramatic increases with 15.4% and 25.2%. June marked the 22nd consecutive month of positive growth in total passenger traffic at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Cruise traffic at Port Everglades jumped 25% during the first quarter of 2011, setting a world record for total passengers.
LESS TAXING
Did you know that the typical visitor to Fort Lauderdale will pay 80% less than a tourist in Chicago, according to a new analysis by Global Business Travel Association which just ranked Fort Lauderdale the lowest tax-imposing of the top 50 U.S. cities in their annual study of car rental, hotel and meal taxes.
VISIT FLORIDA GOVERNOR’S CONFERENCE ON TOURISM
The 44th Annual Florida Governor’s Conference on Tourism is September 25-27 at the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa in Hollywood. “Friends, Fans and the Future” is the theme for the conference this year with 18 educational sessions and more than 30 expert speakers. Register here: http://www.floridatourismconference.com.
SAVE THE DATE: Greater Fort Lauderdale Marketing Plan Presentation
Mark your calendars for Thursday, October 13 at 11am for the 2012 Greater Fort Lauderdale Marketing Plan Presentation and Luncheon at the Broward County Convention Center (celebrating 20 years). See what's on the horizon for tourism sales, convention sales, multicultural business, public relations and advertising as we gear up for the year ahead. FRLA is organizing a trade show before the luncheon at 11am. And cultural groups will be exhibiting as well. Contact Lynne Hernandez lhernandez@FRLA.org for exhibition information.
ROLLING OUT THE RAINBOW CARPET
Bringing an estimated one million GLBT travelers to Greater Fort Lauderdale last year, we are proud to celebrate marriage equality in New York. To reach our top visitor audience, we ran an ad in the July 24 The New York Times’ Sunday Styles section, and its Weddings/Celebrations marriage listings, launching a honeymoon with pride webpage with gay honeymoon packages at The Atlantic Resort & Spa, Grand Resort & Spa, and The Royal Palms Resort & Spa. Newlyweds have a chance to win a gay honeymoon on Fort Lauderdale beach at www.sunny.org/honeymoonwithpride. National media coverage included Reuters and MSNBC as well as locally in the Sun Sentinel, Miami Herald, Ch. 10 and Ch 4.
LAUDERDALE SPA CHIC
Take some time to refresh during the fourth annual Lauderdale Spa Chic, September 1-30. Enjoy spa treatments for $99 (up to 50% savings) and Spa Chic Stays, including spa treatments and overnight accommodations, starting at $239. Relax and renew at one of 14 participating spas: The Atlantic Hotel; Grand Resort & Spa (gay); Harbor Beach Marriott Resort; Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort; Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six; Lago Mar Resort and Club; Living Waters European Day Spa; Residence Inn by Marriott Oceanfront; Planet Massage; Renewal Spa; The Ritz-Carlton, Fort Lauderdale; The W Fort Lauderdale; The Westin Beach Resort, Fort Lauderdale; and The Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa. For details and info on our Spa Chic contest visit www.sunny.org/spachic.
SUMMER DEALS
Summer deals are in full swing. Visit http://sunny.org/Lauderdeals for the latest info on Vacation Like A VIP at Lauderdale Luxe hotels, Super Summer Savings 2-for-1 offers, Cruise and Play deals, special deals for Latin American visitors, Florida Resident hotel deals, plus Tax-Free Weekend and Spa Chic offers. And if that’s not enough…we’ve put together 10 Ways To Play while visiting Greater Fort Lauderdale. Click here to see how.
TAX FREE SHOPPING
Florida's tax-free weekend is August 12-14, 2011. Greater Fort Lauderdale has created a page to help shoppers: http://sunny.org/taxfree. Promotions in the Caribbean will encourage Bahamians and Trinidadians to visit and shop Broward. Listen here to the current radio ad running in the Caribbean & Bahamas. If your hotel would like to offer special rates during the tax-free weekend, email kcanter@broward.org with your special deal.
DINE OUT LAUDERDALE
Enjoy three-course dinner menus for $35 October 1-November 10 at over 35 top Broward restaurants: Blue Moon Fish Co., Bongos Cuban Café at Seminole Paradise, By Word of Mouth, Cafe Maxx, Cafe Vico, The Capital Grille, Chart House, China Grill at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina, Coco Asian Bistro & Bar, da Campo Osteria by Todd English at il Lugano, Dapur, East City Grill, 15th Street Fisheries, Grateful Palate, Grille 66 & Bar Restaurant at the Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six, Hi-Life Café, ilios at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort, Ireland's Steakhouse at the Hyatt Regency Bonaventure, Johnny V, Le Bistro, Lola's on Harrison, Mai-Kai Restaurant, Market 17, The Melting Pot, Morton's The Steakhouse, North Ocean Grille at the Pelican Grand, Primavera, SAIA at B Ocean Fort Lauderdale, Shula's on the Beach at the Westin Beach Resort, Fort Lauderdale, SoLita Las Olas, Spazio, Sunfish Grill, Tatu at Seminole Paradise, III Forks Steak & Seafood, 3030 Ocean at the Harbor Beach Marriott Resort & Spa, Trina at The Atlantic Hotel, Truluck's Seafood Steak and Crab House, Via Luna at The Ritz-Carlton, Fort Lauderdale. Visit www.sunny.org/dineout for details and menus.
INN-FORMATION, INN-OVATION, INN-SPIRATION
Greater Fort Lauderdale will host the 2011 Superior Small Lodging Annual Conference, at the Broward County Convention Center, Sept 27-28. Superior Small Lodging members from the around the state will gather to share ideas and plan for the year ahead. SSL members interested in attending should contact Donna Boucher executivedirector@superiorsmalllodging.com.
SUPERIOR SMALL LODGING WHITE GLOVE AWARDS
Congratulations to the 72 properties in the 2012 Superior Small Lodgings program from Deerfield Beach to Hallandale Beach. Recipients of the White Glove Award for best housekeeping practices, properties that score 100% during the annual inspection from the independent Property Review Program, include: Deerfield Beach: Berkshire Beach Club, Carriage House Resort, Deerfield Buccaneer Resort Apartments Fort Lauderdale: Alcazar Resort, Alhambra Beach Resort, Ambrosio's Inn, Beach Guesthouse, Birch Patio, By-Eddy Motel, Estoril Paradise Inn, Fort Lauderdale Manhattan Tower Apartment Hotel, Kira-Mar Waterfront Villas, Napoli Belmar Resort, The Pillars Hotel, Pineapple Point Guest House, Summerland Suites, Sun Tower Hotel & Suites, Villa Venezia, Worthington Guest House Hallandale: Richard’s Motel Extended Stay Hillsboro Beach: Rainbow on the Ocean, Royal Flamingo Villas Hollywood: DeSoto Oceanview Inn, Grenier’s on the Beach, Hollywood Beach Golf Resort, Hollywood Sands Resort, Manta Ray Inn, Marine Villas, Ocean Inn, Quality Inn & Suites, Richard’s Motel Courtyard, Richard’s Motel Studios, Shell Motel, Shell on the Beach Motel, Tide Vacation Apartments Lauderdale by the Sea: Away Inn, Best Florida Resort Motel, High Noon Resort, Sea Spray Inn, Tropic Seas Resort, Windjammer Resort & Beach Club Pompano Beach: Cottages by the Ocean, Dolphin Apartments & Motel, Ebb Tide Oceanfront Resort, Pelican Place, Pineapple Place and Sunny Place.
TOURISM SALES
Greater Fort Lauderdale’s UK & Ireland office organized a combined trade and media mission, led by Alfredo Gonzalez, meeting with key decision makers from the UK and Irish tourism sector including Royal Caribbean, Tour America, British Airways, Cosmos and Virgin Holidays. In addition to a series of travel agent trainings, they also met with core media outlets including Selling Long Haul, The Irish Times and RTE television – the public service broadcaster for Ireland. On top of the one to one sales calls Greater Fort Lauderdale also hosted a table at the annual Visit USA Ball in London and held a lunch for key trade and media in Ireland. Fernando Harb attended Virtuoso training, while Josh Winston hosted Royal Caribbean’s destination preview and training for southeast regional travel agents.
MULTICULTURAL MEETINGS
Albert Tucker is participating in the 94th Annual American Tennis Association (ATA) National Championships in Atlanta in August, as he conducts pre-promotion events. Greater Fort Lauderdale will host ATA, and 2,000 participants, in August 2012. Albert will also be hosting a board luncheon for the Gospel Choirs and Choruses in Atlanta in preparation for receiving their 2013 Annual Conference. The Progressive National Baptist Conference announced that they are bringing the 2014 Annual Conference, with more than 7,000 members, to Greater Fort Lauderdale in August 2014. The CVB will host a board dinner at the 2011 Conference in Washington, D.C.
NEW URBAN EXPERIENCE GUIDE
To celebrate our colorful history and today’s vibrant communities, the CVB has launched an Urban Experience Guide providing insightful vacation ideas, tips and planning resources for the culturally diverse traveler. Colorful “scan tag” icons provide readers instant access to information or videos right from a Smartphone. Visit www.sunny.org/multicultural.
CONVENTION SALES TEAM UPDATE
The convention sales team recently participated in the following:
July 11 – 12: GFLCVB Chicago Sales Mission and Client Event – Nora Gorman
The GFLCVB along with 12 partners (The Atlantic, B Ocean, Broward County Convention Center, GalleryOne, Harbor Beach Marriott, Hilton Marina, Hyatt Regency Bonaventure, Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six, Lago Mar, Riverside Hotel, The Westin Diplomat, and Embassy Suites Fort Lauderdale) hosted a spectacular event for more than 100 Chicago area planners on the water at the exclusive Chicago Yacht Club. Though rains came through the morning of the event, it didn’t dampen people’s spirits and they came to enjoy the ambiance of Lake Michigan and soak up the rays of Fort Lauderdale!
July 14 – 17: GFLCVB Destination Preview
The GFLCVB brought in 8 qualified meeting professionals from the northeast, and southeast for this mini-preview of the area. Along with our partners - GalleryONE, The Westin Beach Resort, The Westin Diplomat, Crowne Plaza Hollywood Beach, Hollywood Beach Marriott, Riverside Hotel, Hyatt Regency Bonaventure, Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina, Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six, Embassy Suites, and Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort – the guests were able to experience our breathtaking views, cooling ocean breezes, water taxi ride on the IntraCoastal Waterway, Hollywood’s famous broadwalk, the history of downtown Fort Lauderdale and shopping on Las Olas among other activities. We’ve already received some direct business opportunities from these planners that have never been to the area before!
July 20 – 22: Destination Marketing Association International Annual Meeting – New Orleans
Greater Fort Lauderdale was represented by Sally Slater and Josh Winston at the 97th Annual Convention in New Orleans with more than 1000 destination marketing professionals, focused on education, innovation and industry trends in the destination marketing industry.
July 20 – 22: Florida State Association Executives Annual Meeting, Miami – Michele Bemis
Michele Bemis participated in this annual conference in Miami attended by key association executives in the State of Florida.
July 23 – 27: Meeting Professionals International World Education Congress (MPI WEC), Orlando – Michele Bemis, Christine Tascione, Steve Aird, Dion James
Greater Fort Lauderdale was at MPI WEC at the Orlando Convention Center in force, participating in 16 hosted buyer appointments with individuals with great potential for the area. Additionally we sponsored a reception during the Global Marketplace Blitz!, and sponsored and presented at the Chapter Leaders Forum, and the MPI International Board’s Past President’s breakfast where we had a unique opportunity to network with 25 of the elite past leaders of Meeting Professionals International’s Global Board of Directors.
July 25 – 29: International Association of Venue Managers Annual Conference, Phoenix, AZ – Kelly Tortoriello
The Greater Fort Lauderdale area and Broward County Convention Center are the host for the 87th IAVM Annual Conference and Tradeshow – July 19 – 25, 2012. Kelly Tortoriello, VP Strategic Client Services for the GFLCVB attended this year’s IAVM conference to promote the destination and the conference in Phoenix and to work with conference planners on site to plan components for next year’s conference. Next year’s conference promises to be a great event with more than 2000 attendees from all over the globe represented.
Catch the sales team at these upcoming events and tradeshows:
Aug 1–3: Kellen Summit, Atlanta
Aug 5–10: American Society of Association Executives Annual Meeting, St. Louis
Aug 15–18: GFLCVB Boston Sales Mission
Aug 16–19: Chuck Cook Show, Tallahassee
Aug 22–24: IncentiveWorks, Toronto
Aug 25–26: Connect Marketplace, Chicago
AUGUST GROUP SALES UPDATE
Groups meeting in August will generate more than $15 million to Broward County. Sample groups include:
Aug 2-6: Ladies Retreat (500 attendees)
Aug 3-16: 2011 Quadrennial Convention (745 attendees)
Aug 12-14: 16th Annual South Florida Tattoo Expo (150 attendees)
Aug 12-18: ANS Utility Working Conference 2011 (500 attendees)
Aug 23-30: 2011 National-Interstate Council of State Boards of Cosmetology Conference (125 attendees)
Aug 27-Sept 3: DMSMS & Standardization Conference 2011 (600 attendees)
BARBIE & KEN CELEBRATE 50 YEARS IN FORT LAUDERDALE
The 2011 National Barbie® Doll Collectors Convention at the Harbor Beach Marriot Resort & Spa was a hit with more than 900 collectors from around the world attending this four-day event for Ken & Barbie. Nicki E. Grossman presented a proclamation on behalf of Broward County declaring July 27, 2011 as “National Barbie® Doll Collectors Day.”
SPORT LAUDERDALE
Greater Fort Lauderdale welcomes the following sports groups in August, with more than 5,700 competitors plus family and friends:
July 30-Aug 7: Bowling Tournament of the Americas (1200 attendees)
Aug 1-3: International Soccer Classic (1450 attendees)
Aug 6-10: Venezuela/Honduras Soccer Training Camp (250 attendees)
Aug 13-15: Hollywood Beach Volleyball (180 attendees)
Aug 13-15: FITA Archery (200 attendees)
Aug 20-22: Fort Lauderdale State Beach Volleyball Championships (275 attendees)
Aug 25-28: USA Swimming Officials Summit (950 attendees)
Aug 25-28: Roller Derby Training Camp (250 attendees)
Aug 26-29: College Pre Season Soccer Training (800 attendees)
Aug 27-29: Florida State Closed Table Tennis Champs (200 attendees)
FILM & ENTERTAINMENT
Current productions in the works include: Feature Films: Rock of Ages and Finding Joy TV Series: Magic City; The Glades (Season Two); Burn Notice (Season Five); Swamp Wars; MTV: Teen Mom; CTV MADE; UK’s Discovery Channel Mobsters; Heat Seekers; HGTV’s My First Sale; Planeta Feroz (Latin America’s Discovery Channel); Investigation Discovery’s Nightmare Next Door; and truTV’s All Worked Up Telenovela: Grachi (Season Two) TV Commercials: Blah Blah Bracelet; and Slick Fix Slide Still Photography: Wal-Mart; NSW Always On; Yellow Door; and Image Capture Photography Music Videos: Mizz Nina; Sean Garret ft Rick Ross; Warner Brothers IYAZ; and Your Lover Independent Short: Genesis Documentaries: Ireland’s Mission Beach USA; UK’s Super Tiny Animals; NBC’s Disappeared; Unfit: The Ward vs. Ward Story; Industex; Jaco Pastorius; Dual Suspects 2; Zopical.com; Prohibition and the South Florida Connection; and EDSA.
PARTNER NEWS
The new EcoDiscovery Center at the Museum of Discovery and Science, opening this fall, offers more dynamic hands-on exhibits to explore. Experience simulated Everglades Airboat Adventure or category one hurricane force winds in the Storm Center, dig for fossils alongside a 50 foot prehistoric megalodon. Enjoy the playful antics of otters in their indoor/outdoor habitat. Test you piloting skills with nine flight simulators in the Aviation Station or take a simulated trip to Mars. Visit http://www.mods.org/expansion for more info. Do you love to eat? World-famous chef Lenore Nolan-Ryan has opened her doors and transformed her kitchen into a cheerful classroom near the beach in the heart of Lauderdale-By-The-Sea. Visit http://www.lenorenolanryan.com to find out more and to sign up for a cooking class.
HAPPENINGS AROUND TOWN
Through Sept 30: Super Summer Savings, http://sunny.org/supersummer
Through Oct 2: The Art of Jim Henson Featuring The Muppets, Young at Art Children's Museum
Aug 3: Engelbert Humperdinck, Hard Rock Live
Aug 4-7: Florida Marlins vs. St. Louis Cardinals, Sun Life Stadium
Aug 5: Brian Wilson, Hard Rock Live
Aug 5: The Goo Goo Dolls, Pompano Beach Amphitheater
Aug 6: Fort Lauderdale Strikers vs. Carolina RailHawks, Fort Lauderdale Stadium
Aug 6, 13, 20, 27: Saturday Nite Alive, Fort Lauderdale beach Aug 7: The Go-Go’s, Hard Rock Live
Aug 7: The Go Go's with Tom Tom Club, Hard Rock Live
Aug 8-10: Florida Marlins vs Atlanta Braves, Sun Life Stadium
Aug 9: Kellie Pickler, Hard Rock Live
Aug 11-14: Girl Talk: The Musical, Parker Playhouse
Aug 12-14: Florida Marlins vs San Francisco Giants, Sun Life Stadium
Aug 12-14 : Tax-Free Weekend, http://sunny.org/taxfree
Aug 16: Bill Engvall, Hard Rock Live
Aug 17: Make & Take Jewelry Class, Cypress Hammock Park
Aug 19: Fight Time 3 – “It’s War” War Memorial Auditorium
Aug 19-20: Monster Jam, BankAtlantic Center
Aug 23: Cine Zarzuela: Fort Lauderdale, Cinema Paradiso
Aug 23-25: Florida Marlins vs Cincinnati Reds, Sun Life Stadium
Aug 25: Social Fitness Party, Riverside Hotel
Aug 26: Fort Lauderdale Bus Loop
Aug 27: Fort Lauderdale Strikers vs. FC Tampa Bay, Fort Lauderdale Stadium
Aug 27: Kenny Vance and the Planotones, Parker Playhouse
Aug 28: Hippiefest, Hard Rock Live
All best wishes,
Nicki E. Grossman
President
