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TIPS ON WAYS TO ENGAGE WITH THE CVB

Freshen Up: Create or update your sunny.org listing. Upload new information, staff contacts, photos and special program offers and deals. Click here for a step-by-step guide. To have your official listing created or to obtain your partner login contact Rita: rwells@broward.org.

Submit & Share Your Events: Upload your upcoming events at sunny.org/submit to show on our events: sunny.org/events. Contact Johana johdavila@broward.org for assistance.

Follow Us @VisitLauderdale: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. Interact with us, post photos, make comments, ask questions, retweet and share our posts to harness the power of social media. You can also join the conversation by using #VisitLauderdale.

Collaborate: Send us your hotel, attraction, shopping and restaurant news for media releases and newsletters. Email info to Ivonne: imacmillan@broward.org or Heidi: hbarfels@broward.org.

Promote: Promote your property by donating 3-night stays and meals for online, radio & TV promotions. Send certificates to Kim: kcanter@broward.org.

Click here for a printed version. 

NEW ON SUNNY.ORG

Congrats to the Florida Panthers for winning their home opener against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Oct. 5. What a great start to the season, a moment they’ve been prepping hard for as one of the National Hockey League’s most active teams in offseason. Read Hockey 101: What You Need To Know About The Panthers’ New Season. Go Cats!

With more than 150 miles of navigable waterways leading out to world-class beaches, sandbars and ocean reefs, it’s pretty easy to see why Greater Fort Lauderdale is the 'Yachting Capital of the World." Read Everything You Need To Know For Your First Trip To The Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show to find out why they call us the 'Venice of America.'

The party surrounding Super Bowl LIV may be taking place in Miami next February, but you can party with a purpose further north in Fort Lauderdale. Read First Look At Taste Of The NFL: How To Party With A Purpose to find out how.

DO YOU HAVE A WEBCAM? 

We are looking for webcams around the destination to display on sunny.org. If you have a webcam and would like to be featured on our site, please contact Kim at kcanter@broward.org

AUGUST STATS

Greater Fort Lauderdale Average Hotel Occupancy
August 2019
% Change
70.66% 
-5.5%
Greater Fort Lauderdale Average Hotel Daily Rate
August 2019
% Change
$110.65
-1.3%

IN THE NEWS

Travel + Leisure: The Best Places to Travel in November

The TODAY Show: Beach Ball Bonanza 

The Telegraph UK: Florida Food Guide

Forbes: No One Laughs Anymore At The Florida Craft Beer Scene

InsideHook.com: One Night Out...in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

SOCIAL BUZZ

Follow us on TripAdvisor! @VisitLauderdale recently launched a Travel Feed Profile on the world’s largest travel platform, TripAdvisor, where 490 million travelers visit each month for trip inspiration. We encourage you to follow us for travel content and experiences from Greater Fort Lauderdale: tripadvisor.com/Profile/VisitLauderdale.

Matador Network Experiences Video: @VisitLauderdale teamed up with Matador Network to welcome national travel influencer Francesca Murray of @onegrloneworld to Greater Fort Lauderdale, where she was guided around town by local voice Marisa Folz of The Wander Shop (pictured here). Stay tuned for the video by Matador Network following their experiences.

NEW ON THE SCENE

The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood will complete their $1.5 billion expansion this month. The integrated resort becomes home to three hotel towers, including the world’s first and only iconic guitar-shaped hotel tower with 638 luxury guestrooms, and an adjacent 168-room tower overlooking a new pool lagoon. The property will also unveil an expanded gaming floor, a new Rock Spa, 13.5 acres of recreational waterscape, premier meeting and convention space, entertainment venue, retail shops and much more. Grand opening takes place October 24, 2019. 

Coming to the Riverfront district, the upscale Rivertail will feature a large, island raw bar, indoor and outdoor dining and lounges, and an open grill kitchen. The restaurant will center around seafood offering a variety of small dishes and family-style plates. The Wharf, also located in the city’s Riverfront district on 1.25 acres along the New River, will have an open-air setting, communal tables, astroturf and food trucks with a nautical theme and have dockage.

Camp Cocktail Bar + Grill, a unique new establishment in downtown Hollywood, is decidedly reminiscent of summer camp. The rustic wood bar serves red, white and sparkling wines, beer, mixed drinks and camp-themed craft cocktails. The ambiance is enhanced by light bulb fixtures dangling from the ceiling on wires, while a wall adorned with various outdoor gear including canoe paddles, fishing poles, water skis and an orange life jacket reinforces the summer camp motif. The staff is even attired in camp counselor-style khaki shorts and Camp Cocktail T-shirts.

GFLCVB HIGHLIGHTS

TOURISM SALES

Caitlan Etchevers partnered with the Marriott Pompano Beach Resort, The Diplomat Beach Resort and Margaritaville Hollywood Resort and attended the Apple Leisure Group Trade Show in King of Prussia with more than 500 travel professionals in attendance. She also attended the Delta Vacations University Trade Show in Detroit (pictured here) with more than 2,000 travel advisors, while Gonzalo Rubio attended the ASTA Small Business Network Conference in Aurora, Colorado. 

Tracy Vaughan, along with our UK Sales & Marketing team, attended Brand USA Travel Week in London last month meeting with more with 34 hosted tour operators from key European markets. She also attended six enrichment seminars – a series of sessions featuring innovative speakers and covering current trends, challenges and opportunities related to USA travel and attended VISIT FLORIDA’s partner update. Tracy, along with Gabriel Martinez and Merle & Roja from our German office, conducted a Germany Sales Mission hosting training seminars and sales calls to four key German markets: Munich, Frankfurt, Hannover and Hamburg. They also attended PR events with media reps and influencers in Frankfurt and Munich. And Gabriel attended La Cita in Kissimmee last month.  

International Team
The UK PR team secured a press trip for February 2020 with a key UK title, Fabulous magazine, for a double page destination spread. The team also secured a range of pieces including House of Coco and trade title Selling Travel.   

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

Stacy Ritter and Richard Gray attended the Connect Thrive Summit in San Francisco last week. Stacy introduced keynote speaker Anderson Cooper of CNN and officially kicked off the countdown to Pride of the Americas, taking place in Greater Fort Lauderdale April 2020.

Congrats to Richard Gray for receiving the 2019 Hero Award from the Greater Fort Lauderdale LGBT Chamber of Commerce and the Tiffany Arieagus Community Leader Award for 2019-2020 at Julian’s Reverse Quinceanera Event. 

Next stop for Richard is the Out & Equal Summit, the largest LGBT+ conference in the world, held in Washington DC. Richard will also be the presenting sponsor at WE Trade Conference in Bogota later this month, promoting the Pride of the Americas 2020.

Excitement is building and preparations are underway for the first Pride of the Americas celebration, April 21-26 in Greater Fort Lauderdale. Hundreds of thousands of visitors from North America, the Caribbean and Latin America are expected to attend the parade, parties, festivals and international LGBT+ business, travel, health & wellness and senior conferences. The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau is proud to be the presenting sponsor for this exciting event. Click here for a glimpse at what's to come. And check out the latest ad here

Pride Fort Lauderdale is working with Delmay and Partners in Hollywood to create a housing/hospitality program for the festival. If your property would like to participate, contact Jeff Delmay at jeff@delmaycorp.com. To learn more about sponsorship, advertising and other marketing opportunities during Pride of the Americas, contact J.W. Arnold, Executive Director, at jw@pridefortlauderdale.com.

MULTICULTURAL
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

During IMEX America in Las Vegas last month, the Multicultural Department hosted an African-American Meet-Up with more than 50 attendees (pictured above) and received a variety of good leads for future business.  

Last month, influential African American professionals and entrepreneurs from around the world gathered with emerging leaders for the ICABA Global Hall of Fame Weekend at The Diplomat Beach Resort. Check out Albert Tucker's interview on NBC 6 discussing the event

UNDERGROUND
LAUDERDALE

OUTshine Film Festival celebrates its 11th anniversary, Oct 10-20 with more than 50 full domestic and international screenings at Savor Cinema and The Classic Gateway Theatre. Find the lineup of events here.

The Broward Art Guild presents Fall Fiesta Salon Exhibit now through October 18 at the Broward Art Guild Gallery where artists bring their imagination and creativity with paintings, sculptures, photography, mixed media and jewelry. Click here for more info. 

September Film Permits = 33

OCTOBER CONFERENCES & CONVENTIONS

The CVB Convention & Groups Sales team and partners at IMEX America in Las Vegas last month. 

Groups meeting in October will generate more than $175 million to Broward County. Groups include:
Oct 2-9: International Esthetics, Cosmetics, and Spa Conference (2000 attendees)
Oct 5-6: NACAC- Fort Lauderdale National College Fair (2500 attendees)
Oct 8-10: Rashby Jewish Congregation, Yom Kippur (600 attendees)
Oct 10-13: SCRS Global Site Solutions Summit 2019 (900 attendees)
Oct 10-17: National Commission on Correctional Health Care (1000 attendees)
Oct 11-19: Merck Oncology 2S 2019 Meeting (1000 attendees)
Oct 14-16: Charter Schools USA National Conference (600 attendees)
Oct 18-25: American Physical Society – APS Division of Plasma Physics (1400 attendees)
Oct 22-28: ECOG-ACRIN The Cancer Research Group (600 attendees)
Oct 28-30: Ocean Exchange 2019 (500 attendees)
Oct 29-Nov 5: Cannonball 2019 (600 attendees)
Oct 30-Nov 3: 60th Annual International Boat Show (125,000 attendees)

The 2019 Annual Sports Banquet and Induction Dinner, honoring six of Broward County’s Sports legends: Dr. Guy Harvey, Fishing; Tamara James, Basketball; Roberto Luongo, Ice Hockey; OJ McDuffie, Football; Eddie Rodger, Soccer and Jesse Vassallo, Swimming on Tuesday, October 29, 2019 at the Broward County Convention Center. Click here for invite. 

Contact Saskia Fisher at 954-767-2455 or via email sfisher@broward.org, if you would like to contribute an auction item or attend this great event

FLL NEWS

August total traffic: 2,939,892, down -2.6%; domestic traffic: 2,149,295 down -3.4%; international traffic: 790,597, down -0.4%, YTD total traffic: 25.3M, up 2.5%.  

NEW SERVICE 

  • Spirit Airlines: Nashville (Oct)
  • Frontier Airlines: Cleveland and Cincinnati (Nov)
  • Southwest Airlines: Cleveland, Louisville, Boston (Nov, all seasonal)
  • Swoop: Winnipeg (Nov)
  • Air Transat: Vancouver (Dec)
  • Azul: Belo, Horizonte, Brazil (Dec)

The North Runway at FLL officially reopened early this month, following a relaunch ceremony with dozens of invited guests including Broward County officials and members of the construction team. Spirit Airlines' Flight 404 to Atlanta was the first aircraft to depart from the rebuilt runway. The north runway boasts safety lighting, drainage, electrical and structural improvements on top of a new 9,000-foot concrete strip to what used to be the oldest runway at the airport.

Click here to read the latest edition of FLL’s NewsFLLash.

PORT EVERGLADES

Royal Caribbean Cruises will debut its newest ship, Odyssey of the Seas, next year. The ship is set to make its maiden voyage from Port Everglades November 2020. Port Everglades will serve as its homeport and the ship will split its time between South Florida and Europe. While in North America, Odyssey of the Seas will have six- and-eight day itineraries. The eight-day voyages will travel to Aruba and Curacao, while the six-day trips will make calls at Cozumel, Mexico; George Town, Grand Cayman and Royal Caribbean's private island CocoCay in the Bahamas.

CVB TEAM ON THE MOVE

Oct 1-6: Connect Thrive Summit, San Francisco
Oct 2-4: Destinations Florida, Weeki Wachee Springs 
Oct 2-6: Travel Agent Forum, Cancun
Oct 3: PCMA NY Education Day and NECVB Reps Reception, NYC
Oct 14-18:
Out & Equal Summit, DC
Oct 20-21: Tour Connection Nashville
Oct 23: BizBash, NYC 
Oct 28-30: Connect Faith, Grand Rapids
Oct 30-Nov 2: WE Trade Conference, Bogota 

Click here to check out more of our CVB team in action at various events and functions around the world.

Liz Kara pictured above with Vera Shapiro from the Bonaventure Resort & Spa attending the Kellen Annual Managers Summit 2019 in Tampa last month. 

HAPPENINGS AROUND TOWN

Oct 5-27: Harvest Festival Weekends at Flamingo Gardens
Oct 8: Florida Panthers vs. Carolina Hurricanes, BB&T Center
Oct 8-20: Les Misérables, Broward Center for the Performing Arts
Oct 10-20: 11th Annual Fort Lauderdale Edition of Outshine LGBT+ Film Festival
Oct 12: Lauderale Brewery Beer Run
Oct 18: Florida Panther's vs Colorado Avalanche, BB&T Center
Oct 19: Hollywood Brewing Beer Run
Oct 19: South Florida Pride Wind Ensemble: (R)evolution, Broward Center for the Performing Arts
Oct 19-20: 32nd Annual Las Olas Art Fair
Oct 19-20: 8th Brazilian Festival Pompano Beach
Oct 19-20: Creole Culture Fest, Miramar Regional Park
Oct 19-27: Calling All Boos and Ghouls, Brightline
Oct 21: Cat & Nat: #MOMTRUTHS Live, Broward Center for the Performing Arts
Oct 21: Post Malone, BB&T Center
Oct 21: Downtown Hollywood Artwalk, Market & Mural Tour 
Oct 22: Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Florida Panthers, BB&T Center
Oct 24: Bill Engvall, Broward Center for the Performing Arts
Oct 25: Maroon 5, Hard Rock Live
Oct 25: WWE Returns, BB&T Center
Oct 25-Nov 1: Spirits of Stranahan House Halloween Tours
Oct 25-Nov 10: Shrek The Musical, Broward Center for the Performing Arts
Oct 26: FATVillage Art Walk
Oct 26-27: Miami City Ballet's Program One, Broward Center for the Performing Arts
Oct 30: So You Think You Can Dance, Broward Center for the Performing Arts
Oct 30-Nov 3: 60th Annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show
Oct 31: Wicked Manors Halloween, Wilton Manors

For more events visit sunny.org/events. If you would like to submit an event for approval, go to sunny.org/submit.

Best wishes,

Stacy Ritter, President

Copyright © 2019 Visit Lauderdale
Our address is 101 NE 3rd Avenue Suite 100, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301

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