Aug. 26, 2016

Never-Before-Seen Technology for a Destination Comes to Orlando

A record-breaking number of attendees at our "Business of Travel & Tourism Luncheon" were the first to hear of a groundbreaking technology that will forever change the way we experience travel. Visitors to our destination now have access to the Visit Orlando Destination APP , which uses artificial intelligence and augmented reality allowing them to explore, play and earn savings in a way never seen before. With WayBlazer's IBM Watson-enabled technology, this innovative APP lets visitors share experiences, purchase tickets and even ask questions in their own words. It's like having a personal Orlando expert concierge on hand 24/7. Here's how it works.
 
Based on a user's conversational language, the technology offers individualized recommendations of Orlando experiences that match that traveler's preferences - using real-time data to create the best possible encounters. For example, the APP considers weather conditions when advising outdoor activities and restaurant suggestions take into account the hours of operation, neighborhood and multiple third-source endorsements. Want a venue with live music? It does that. What about experiences designed for the members of a specific group? It does that too. The "Around Me" feature uses the mobile device's GPS to locate and learn about relevant dining and entertainment options in the vicinity. Plus, there's even a game that lets players unlock Orlando deals by capturing "Magical Orbs" and a selfie scavenger hunt to further engage them in the fun.
 
At the luncheon, keynote speaker and technology pioneer Terry Jones helped us understand the role innovation has played in travel and the advancements that have led us to this revolutionary way to experience Orlando. It was a remarkable event that showcased why Orlando is at the forefront of the tourism landscape and will continue to be the destination of choice for years to come. If you haven't already, download it and experience it for yourself.

-George Aguel

Travel Price Index Declined in July

U.S. Travel Association's Travel Price Index (TPI) declined 1.8% in July versus June 2016. Travelers benefited from declines in transportation costs including airfares and the price of gasoline. Developed by the USTA, the TPI measures the one-month change of the cost of travel away from home in the United States on a seasonally adjusted basis. The TPI is released monthly and is directly comparable to the Consumer Price Index. For comparison, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) was unchanged for the same period.

Orlando Takes Center Court at U.S. Open

This weekend will mark the start of the 2016 U.S. Open Tennis Championship in NYC. The most-attended annual sporting event in the world broadcasted to more than 200 countries will prominently showcase the Orlando brand via courtside signage, online presence, promotions and a prominent fan activation experience, targeting more than 700,000 fans. The activities start on Saturday with the Arthur Ashe Kids Day event followed by the tournament start on Monday.

Top Talk Show Host Makes Social Media Splash

Tracy Moore, a top Canadian media personality and host of Canada's leading daytime talk show "Cityline," has generated more than two million impressions about Orlando across her multiple social media platforms (check out her Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts!). Hosted by Visit Orlando's Public Relations Team, she visited the destination with her family Aug. 13-20, enjoying the area's attractions, accommodations and beyond, including visits to Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Universal Orlando Resort, Walt Disney World Resort, WonderWorks and Crayola Experience.

Chilean Tour Operator Receives Destination Update

Visit Orlando's Chilean representative hosted a specialized lunch seminar focusing on the new attractions in Orlando for key Chilean tour operator Tour Mundial on Aug.17 in Santiago. Tour Mundial includes Viajes El Corte Ingles and also sells to other key travel agencies such as Viajes ATN, Esquerre, NG Viajes and Tu Viaje. Chile is a Visa Waiver country and is considered an emerging market for Orlando, with their tour operators and travel agents eager to learn about Orlando's products and special offerings.

Business Referral Group Mixes Networking & Fun

More than 50 members attended Visit Orlando's weekly Business Referral Group Lunch last Thursday at Taverna Opa in Pointe Orlando. The event, held every Thursday (unless otherwise announced), offers Visit Orlando members and member prospects a great way to network within the industry and build business relationships resulting in referrals, mutual credibility and knowledge of each other's business. Locations are announced in the Visit Orlando Events section of the Tourism Matters eNewsletter and in an email to those who have requested Referral Group information through Visit Orlando. To find out more about the Business Referral Group, contact Member Relations at memberrelations@visitorlando.com.

Pictured: Visit Orlando members Anna Pindara (left) of Canvas Restaurant & Market and Melanie Stockdale (right) of Dick's Last Resort take a break from networking for a belly dancing lesson given by a Taverna Opa employee at last week's Business Referral Group Luncheon.

Yahoo! Highlights Orlando for Labor Day Travel

Yahoo! Finance (70,000,000 unique monthly visitors) included Orlando as a top choice for Labor Day Weekend travel deals in a recent article. This coverage is a result of Visit Orlando's efforts to promote Orlando for Labor Day Weekend. Visit Orlando's Public Relations Team continues to pitch the story to media and further impressions are being generated by the Content Team's blog post and our social media channels.

Magical Dining Month Makes Impression

Visit Orlando's Magical Dining Month, sponsored by American Express, has already generated major press coverage, with a total of 22.4 million impressions reached to date. Among the coverage, top hits include the Orlando Business Journal, Orlando Sentinel and WHERE Traveler. The program, running from Aug. 29 to Oct. 2, offers three-course dinners for $33 at 95-plus of Orlando's fine dining venues, with one dollar from each meal benefiting Russell Home for Atypical Children. Interested diners can view a full list of participating restaurants and menus at OrlandoMagicalDining.com, as well as make online reservations once the event begins Aug. 29.

Visit Orlando, Local Partners Welcome SYTA

Visit Orlando, in partnership with SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, Universal Orlando Resort and Walt Disney World Resort, welcomed a record attendance of more than 1,200 delegates to the annual conference of SYTA (Student Youth Travel Association) Aug. 19-23 at Rosen Shingle Creek. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the SYTA organization has played an instrumental role in advancing the student and youth travel industry globally.

The group received an official welcome by Visit Orlando's Chief Marketing Officer Danielle Hollander during the opening general session. In addition to a selection of five local sightseeing tours, delegates enjoyed spectacular evening events hosted by the theme parks. The Travel Industry Sales Team conducted 45 one-on-one appointments with student tour operators and group travel planners during the business sessions. Student travel is a $194 billion industry with 20 percent of all global tourism revenue represented by student travel.

Pictured: Delegates enjoy Escapology during tour of International Drive attractions.

Brazilian Media: Orlando a Pokémon Haven

As a result of a recent Visit Orlando Brazilian media outreach, several online media outlets with an estimated circulation of more than 24 million featured a variety of articles about capturing Pokémon that included area theme parks, shopping, dining and entertainment venues throughout the Orlando. The articles, published by R7.TV, Parana, OGlobo, Viagem , to name a few, used the "Visit Orlando's Pokémon Go in Orlando" press release to creatively describe the diversity of the destination and its venues, including Disney Springs, I-Drive 360, City Walk, Mall at Millenia, Lake Eola and Fun Spot.

This Week at the Convention Center

Orlando Named Among Top for Labor Day Travel

According to CheapOair, a leading flights-focused, next gen concierge travel service, Orlando ranks second in the top 10 domestic destinations its consumers are booking for Labor Day Weekend. Expedia also lists the top 10 destinations for last-minute Labor Day deals.

MCO Earns 2016 Travelers' Choice Award

TripAdviser has awarded Orlando International Airport its Travelers' Choice Favorites as a Top U.S. Airport for Shopping. Presented for the first time this year, the airport awards highlight the most popular domestic airports in four categories: shopping, dining, large airports and medium airports. Award winners were determined based on findings from a survey of more than 114,000 TripAdvisor travelers from the United States.

Allegiant's 1-Millionth Passenger Orlando Bound

Last Wednesday, low-cost carrier Allegiant Air gave its one-millionth passenger, who was flying out of Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) with her family to visit Orlando, a pass good for two people to take a flight once a month on Allegiant from CVG for a year. It didn't stop there - every passenger on the flight received two free flight vouchers. The airline's Central Florida hub is at Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB).

Florida's Natural Parks Another Reason to Visit

A recent TravelWeekly article highlights Florida's "diverse and outstanding array of state parks" as reasons to visit the sunshine state, including Central Florida's Wekiwa Springs State Park. The state's park system, made up of 174 parks, is the only one in the United States to have won the sought-after gold medal as the nation's best state park system from the National Recreation and Park Association on three occasions.

Disney Springs a Top Summer U.S. Attraction

Disney Springs is named in TripAdvisor's Attractions Trend Index as one of the top 25 U.S. attractions that have seen the greatest increase in traveler interest this summer, based on year-over-year search activity on TripAdvisor.

Hotels.Com: Alfond Inn Among Top Pokétels

Hotels.com's list of top-ranking Pokétels across major U.S. cities includes Winter Park's Alfond Inn, which has six pokéstops/gyms within 500 feet and 46 within 1.25-mile radius. Rankings were determined by analyzing the number of pokéstops/gyms within a 1.25-mile radius of hotel properties. Closer pokéstop/gyms to the property held more weight in the overall score. The hotels chosen for this analysis were 'top' hotels in a range of cities based on gross booking for 2016 year to date.

Universal Orlando Moves Forward on New Hotel

Universal Orlando is moving ahead on plans for a new 600-room hotel. According to the Orlando Sentinel article, the company filed several documents with the county last Friday that gave some details on the hotel, which appears to be named Aventura. It will be on six acres southwest of Universal's new Sapphire Falls hotel.

New Wyndham Garden to Include Orlando Location

Wyndham Garden's new upper-midscale 139-room prototype design uses natural tones and materials to evoke the serenity of a garden while delivering an easier travel experience for guests via modern amenities and conveniences. Nine prototypical hotels are already under development, including in Orlando.

Celebrity Chef Joins Forces With Planet Hollywood

Planet Hollywood Orlando recently announced that chef and television personality Guy Fieri will introduce new burger and sandwich menu items as part of the Orlando flagship's transformation, set to reopen this fall as the Planet Hollywood Observatory at Disney Springs. 

Star Wars' Lightsaber to Become "Reality"?

Disney's latest patent application, for a lightsaber, could make a lot of Star Wars fans' dreams a reality. The patent application did not say precisely what Disney plans to do with the lightsaber, which is technically called an "audience interaction projection system." But it says it was designed as a new way for customers ("audience members") to participate in theatrical performances, theme park features, concerts, sporting events, or films.

2016 Global Travel & Tourism Resilient

The World Travel & Tourism Council's Economic Impact Reports 2016 update shows that, despite the challenges travel and tourism has faced in the first six months of 2016, the sector is still expected to grow by 3.1 percent, outpacing global economic growth forecast at 2.3 percent. North America is expected to perform well at 3.1 percent.

Study: Last-Minute Travel Improves Happiness

A recent survey commissioned by Booking.com found that 79 percent of people feel taking a spontaneous trip improves their happiness. The study - which reached out to more than 6,600 adults from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France and Australia - also uncovered that more than 60 percent of people agree that spontaneous getaways make them more productive at work.

British Favor Mobile for Travel Searches

Hitwise recently analyzed the web activity of some three million British shoppers and found that 60 percent of travel searches originate on a mobile, with some important phrases, such as "5-star", "best time to visit", "luxury", and "glamping" even taking a massive 88 percent share of the overall volume.

Airport Security Lines Getting Shorter

Travelers are spending shorter times in TSA security lines at airports as the result of collaboration between the agency, airports and airlines, along with Congress' work to allow TSA to shift $62 million within the 2016 fiscal year budget to increase the number of TSA agents at airports.

CDC Zika Information

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), its most current data available (Aug. 24, 2016) indicate that 29 locally acquired cases have been reported in the United States, while 2,487 travel-associated cases have been reported. For the most current information about the Zika virus, visit the CDC's Zika page.