Visitor-Centric Florida

Visit Florida implemented a creative marketing campaign, “Share a Little Sunshine,” to boost in-state tourism in 2009, and destinations around the state joined in by adding special touches for meeting planners from custom Web sites for your attendees (Visit Jacksonville) to custom branding on artisan soaps (Naples Soap Company).

“Everything is about being visitor-focused and visitor-centric,” says Tracy Louthain, Beaches of South Walton director of PR and visitor services. “Folks are getting more creative; it is more about packaging. It isn’t just about coming and staying at a specific property, but what else comes along with that. Whether that is making sure you have a beach chair set up when you arrive or adding unique experiences … how is it being taken to that next level?”

GULF BEACHES TO INLAND WATERS

Fishing off the coast of Panama City

Curiously, visitors will find that the farther north you travel in Florida, the more “Southern” Florida becomes. Drive into Northwest Florida from the south and you’ll find billboards for Walt Disney World and Ron Jon Surf Shop give way to rolling hills and moss-swept drives.

Convenient to the I-10 corridor, Tallahassee is an easy drive for groups with attendees from major cities in the South. Home to Florida State University, the state’s capital offers more than 400,000 square feet of meeting space in facilities such as FSU’s new Turnbull Conference Center — a 47,000-sq.-ft. facility with a 400-seat auditorium.

“Not only is Tallahassee the heart of Florida’s government, but it is a city known for its charm and hospitality,” says Kerri Post, senior marketing director for Visit Tallahassee. “Spirituality is also a vital presence in our city,” Post says. She recommends the Mission San Luis, a 17th-century Spanish mission and Indian settlement, and the John G. Riley Center/Museum of African American History and Culture as two must-visit attractions for faith-based multicultural groups coming to Tallahassee. For accommodations, planners should take note of two new downtown properties: the 117-room Hotel Duval and 162-room Aloft Tallahassee Downtown, both within walking distance of the governor’s mansion and state capitol building.

Panama City and its meeting facilities are abuzz about the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport opening in May. The Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort opened the SeaWatch Conference and Entertainment Center on the water at the beginning of 2009, adding 4,000 square feet of meetings space to the resort’s existing 3,000. The Edgewater Beach and Golf Resort recently revamped with a new logo, Web site and renovation of its 32,000-sq.-ft. conference center. The Bay Point Marriott Golf Resort and Spa, with 40,000 square feet of meeting and event space that can accommodate meetings ranging from 10 to 700, offers a Marriott’s Meetings Matter promotion through the end of the year.

North of Panama City Beach, the Beaches of South Walton (including picturesque Alys Beach, Rosemary Beach and Seaside) stretches west into the more developed Emerald Coast towns of Destin and Fort Walton Beach. Known for its pastel-painted beach cottages and new urbanism developments (Seaside was the setting for “The Truman Show”), the area offers a postcard-ready backdrop for retreats and small- to medium-sized groups that favor seclusion.

Go inland from Seaside, off U.S. 98, and you’ll find idyllic Eden Gardens State Park, a 161-acre park and historic site centered around the Wesley house, a two-story mansion filled with antiques and surrounded by white columns and verandas. Living up to its name, the park has ornamental gardens packed with heritage roses, camellias and azaleas, as well as a butterfly garden and reflection pond. Large, old Southern live oak trees with Tucker Bayou as a backdrop add to the dramatic setting. Tours of the house are offered and there are picnic areas, nature trails and a fishing dock. All in all, it’s an enchanting side trip for any group.

For a convenient all-in-one destination, the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, part of the Beaches of South Walton, has 1,500 total accommodations ranging from hotel villas to rental homes. They are centered around two conference centers and the Village of Baytowne Wharf, an adjacent complex packed with entertainment, dining and shopping. Nearby, the 598-room Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort and Spa offers 32,000 square feet of meeting space, a 12,000-sq.-ft. spa and access to 72 holes of championship golf.

Justin Graves, lead pastor for the Foundations Church of Tulsa, Okla., says the area’s Southern hospitality and amenities have kept him bringing his Christian youth camp of more than 400 to Sandestin for the past seven years. “The [resort’s] Linkside Center is perfect for us. We can put on a service with lights and sound, and be as loud as we want and stay as long as we want,” Graves says. The Linkside Center’s exhibition hall offers more than 12,000 square feet of event space and 24 breakout rooms. In addition, the resort recently built the 60,000-sq.-ft. Baytowne Conference Center.

“I can find a beautiful beach,” Graves adds about other destinations. “What I can’t find are great facilities that are affordable and incredibly nice. We want people to come back not just because we pulled off a great camp; we want them to come back because they loved where we hosted it. This has been the case every year for us.”

Destin Harbor is one of the most stunning sights on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Fishing boats, charter and party boats, sailboats and historic ships ply its blue waters. Groups can party in the shallow bay waters of Crab Island, enjoy dinner cruises in the harbor, or head into deeper waters offshore for snorkeling or dolphin watching. There’s shopping, dining and entertainment at the Harborwalk Marina as well as surrounding the Destin Bridge.

Meeting facilities and off-site venues dot the shoreline of the Emerald Coast and the inland lakes and rivers as you venture farther down the coast. The Emerald Coast Conference Center in Fort Walton Beach has more than 35,000 square feet of space, and venues such as Pensacola’s National Naval Aviation Museum and the Air Force Armament Museum at Eglin Air Force Base in Fort Walton Beach are popular choices.

While the miles of white, sandy beaches are a huge draw, inland adventures offer another view of Florida. Blackwater River State Forest and its surroundings have more than 1 million acres of wilderness for hiking, kayaking, birding and camping. Adventures Unlimited offers team-building exercises from a ropes course to kayaking trips within the forest.

TAMIAMI TOUR

Tampa, the state’s third most populous city, is a popular choice for planners who are looking for convenience and an abundance of cultural options. The 600,000-sq.-ft. Tampa Convention Center has 4,000 hotel rooms within four miles of its waterfront downtown location, which is also home to the Florida Aquarium, St. Pete Times Forum arena and Channelside Bay Plaza. Three newly built museums add to the attractions: The Tampa Museum of Art, The Tampa Bay History Center and the Glazer Children’s Museum (opening late 2010). And the ever-expanding Tampa Riverwalk connects many of the downtown venues.

“The riverwalk is a lively and interactive waterfront experience that has become a vital component to the overall convention experience,” says Paul Catoe, president and CEO of Tampa Bay and Company. Consisting of green spaces, art installations and public entertainment venues, the Tampa Riverwalk makes the city an attractive destination for groups that value walkability.

Follow the Tamiami Trail south and Naples and Marco Island are sure to woo you. At the Naples Zoo, proceeds from every ticket go toward conservation around the world; a tree is purchased for every group that uses the venue. Up-close encounters with lions, primates, bears and more are available to groups (as well as just about any creative idea you can come up with for your event according to Doug Rickenbach, director of external affairs for the zoo).

Dolphins off coast of Naples

The 10,000 Islands Dolphin Project is a conservation experience for attendees off the coast of Naples, which makes a dolphin cruise more than just a sightseeing activity. Visitors step aboard and immediately join in the research. Teams of a crew chief, photographer, observer and recorder work together to collect data as they cruise coastal, bay, river and estuary waters of the region.

Southeast Florida offers two event-worthy destinations within an hour of one another: Fort Lauderdale and Miami. The northern stop is Fort Lauderdale, a casual, family-friendly beach town. Well, to call it a town is a bit misleading since it offers a number of big sites and venues to accommodate large groups, yet it never feels too busy or overwhelming. The Broward County Convention Center is a 600,000-sq.-ft. exhibit and meetings space that sits directly on the Intercoastal Waterway, providing attendees with gorgeous views of sunny, palm-tree-speckled South Florida. The center recently underwent a $34 million expansion and renovation, so you won’t find any stuffy rooms or dated fixtures. The weather’s gorgeous year-round, so it won’t be too much of hassle to walk to any of the nearby hotels suited for groups including the Hyatt Place Ft. Lauderdale Airport North, Holiday Inn Express, Hyatt Regency Pier 66 and Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina. Of course, the beach is never more than 15 minutes away in Fort Lauderdale.

Head south to Miami, where you’ll find the same sun, fun and abundant meeting space. Take your pick from more than 200 hotels three convention centers, including the Miami Beach Convention Center that spans four city blocks near the historic Art Deco District. The district is filled with classic Miami Art Deco architecture from the early 1900s; many of those buildings have become restaurants and shops. If you’re looking for a special venue you can only find in Florida, consider the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden or the Historical Museum of Southern Florida, both of which can accommodate meetings and are good places to spend an afternoon with the family.

Speaking of family, don’t miss the Miami Children’s Museum if the kids are along, with exciting exhibits like a six-foot piggy bank where you can create your own money and the underwater “Sea and Me” exhibit that teaches kids about the underwater life that surrounds them in Florida.

ADD A LITTLE MAGIC

Orlando, the No. 1 ranked convention destination in the country (according to Metropoll, a study conducted for the meetings industry), has 112,000 hotel rooms in the city proper and 43 group-dedicated hotels that offer a combined 3 million square feet of meeting space in addition to the 7 million-sq.-ft. Orange County Convention Center. For planners of small- to medium-sized groups, those numbers might be a bit intimidating, but the draw of Orlando is in its hospitality towards groups of all shapes and sizes.

“Orlando’s best assets are value and variety,” says Tammi Runzler, senior vice president of convention sales and services at the Orlando/Orange County Convention and Visitors Bureau, who points out that hotels can be found at all price points, from quality value brands like Best Western and Holiday Inn to the recently opened Waldorf Astoria Orlando. “There’s still a lot of value to be had in Orlando,” Runzler adds. “Many groups find dates at hotels they didn’t think they could afford.

“Meeting planners who are new to Orlando or haven’t visited in a while are surprised by the growth and development compared with other destinations,” says Runzler, who lists the newly opened 1,400-room Hilton Orlando and The Peabody Orlando’s current $450 million expansion (both are connected to the convention center) as examples. In addition, by the end of 2010, the city will have added two new theme parks: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Aquatica at SeaWorld, which opened in 2009. Plans are also in the works for a Legoland theme park, and Walt Disney World Resort is gearing up for an expansion of its Magic Kingdom park to be complete by 2013.

Kissimmee offers its own entertainment and attractions, yet it is easily accessible to Orlando and its resources. Horseback riding and other adventures of the great outdoors are among the diversions in Kissimmee, in addition to its range of meeting facilities. One of the area’s largest meeting hotels, The Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center has the largest in-hotel exhibition facility in the state, the Florida Exhibition Hall with 178,500 square feet of flexible space. The resort’s One Partner program offers credits to new meetings booked in 2010 to offset any attrition for that meeting.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Golf in Daytona Beach

Daytona Beach completed a $76 million expansion on its Ocean Center Convention and Entertainment Complex that included an addition of 100,000 square feet of exhibit space and 30,000 square feet of new meeting space. Home to LPGA, United States Tennis Association, Daytona International Speedway and the Daytona 500 Experience, and the Daytona Cubs, the beach town has sports in the air, but the sandy beaches, Museum of Arts and Sciences and historical sites are also popular draws.

Every summer since 2004, Student Life, a Christian youth conference that meet in multiple locations across the country, consistently has gathered 6,600 students from all over the country in Daytona Beach. Danielle Sullivan, property specialist with StudentLife, notes the size of the Ocean Center and its proximity to the largest, nicest hotels in the area as reasons the group keeps coming back. “The cost is always very reasonable,” she says. “And their hospitality is one of the big things. The CVB is incredible, easy to get in touch with, so nice and the hotels all work well with groups.”

The northeast side of the Sunshine State is doing its fair share to lure in meetings. In addition to a social networking site, udontknowjax.com, and a mobile site to help visitors get around like a local, Visit Jacksonville offers dedicated, custom Web sites for your meeting. Attendees can access information specific to your meeting, itineraries and area information. Discover attractions such as the Riverside Arts Market — 160 artists, live music, street performers and a fresh produce market Saturdays from April through December — and deals and packages ranging from seeing the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars play to escapes to nearby St. Augustine or Amelia Island. Attractions such as the more than 300-year-old Castillo de San Marcos National Monument in St. Augustine are a short drive away for an afternoon excursion.

The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens added the Asian Bamboo Garden and Komodo dragon permanent exhibit in 2009, which includes a garden that can accommodate as many as 250 people for a special event. The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens is another setting for events or simply to peruse. The galleries, as well as its historic gardens and education center are available for rental.

On Amelia Island, the laid-back island getaway known for its natural beauty and historic feel, time seems to slow down, but its meeting facilities are as good as it gets. The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island completed construction on its $22 million ballroom expansion, adding 11,000 square feet of meeting space to the property. The resort now has 35,000 square feet of available conference space. The Amelia Community Theatre opened a new 144-seat theater in February with event space and a catering kitchen.

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