Fort Lauderdale may be touting a new look and feel, but it’s still the familiar south Florida destination that Canadians knew before the pandemic kicked in, say city tourism officials. And for travellers coming out of a near two-year lockdown into an uncertain world, “familiar” is good.
In Toronto on a mission to “re-connect” with the important Canadian travel trade, which represents the city’s top international market, Tracy Vaughan and Paul Mason told Travel Industry Today that the city has emerged from COVID crisis intact, with a host of new developments having continued last year and this.
“(In a lot of destinations investment slowed down, hotels closed, but we didn’t have any of that,” says Vaughan, Sr. VP Global Trade Development for Visit Fort Lauderdale, noting that close to 18 hotels have or are due to open soon in the city and surrounding county.
Prime among them is a new Four Seasons, which is accepting reservations for early 2022. Located on the beach in the heart of the city, the upscale 189-room/residence resort will play off Fort Lauderdale’s famed yachting culture and include an expansive third floor pool terrace overlooking the ocean, spa and wellness offerings, kids club, oceanfront dining, and champagne bar.
Other notable developments in the city include Kimpton, Courtyard and Cambrian hotels, and an AC Hotel by Marriott is set to open early next year.
Mason, Sr. Manager of Global Trade Development, notes that the landmark Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, built in the shape two guitars and boasting a 7,000-seat amphitheatre (which hosted The Rolling Stones), has largely flown under the radar due its opening in October 2019, a few months before the pandemic.
Vaughan says restaurants in the city have similarly weathered the COVID storm and are open again.
Another key development is a new pier in Pompano Beach ¬– one of eight beach communities in the area – with surrounding development.
But Mason is quick to add that, despite the developments, “a lot of what Canadians like is still there. Old Florida is still there.”
A devoted hockey fan, Mason also says Canadians will find affordable tickets to Florida Panther games and that packaging puck tourism is in the cards with local suppliers.
The trade will notice the somewhat unwieldly Greater Ford Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau was rebranded this fall as Visit Fort Lauderdale under the tagline “Everyone Under the Sun.”
The slogan, says Vaughan, reflects the city’s “biggest message” – that everyone should feel welcome.
“We have an incredibly diverse and inclusive community that is welcoming to literally everyone under the sun, and that message is now infused into all of our marketing as we invite people to Visit Lauderdale,” said Visit Fort Lauderdale president and CEO Stacy Ritter at the new brand launch.
Vaughan says she also eager to set straight any misconception that Canadians may have about travel to Florida due to the pandemic.
“We feel like we’re a very safe destination (that took the pandemic seriously),” she says, noting that over a thousand businesses in the city pledged to follow CDC pandemic protocols.
Fort Lauderdale, from its 24 beaches to its 500 km of canals, plus the nearby Everglades, is also an open-air playground ideal for pandemic-era travel, she adds.
“It’s what you do in Fort Lauderdale,” she says, noting that outdoor dining – being developed in many destinations – has always been a way of life in the city.
Travel counsellors will be able to tune into what’s new and the latest developments in Fort Lauderdale with the launch of an all-new specialist program in January.
Meanwhile, Canadians to continue to return to South Florida – “not a trickle and not a flood, somewhere in between” – says Mason, who notes there are lots of Ontario plates in parking lots again since the Canada-US border re-opened to drive traffic on Nov. 8.
Air service also continues with Air Canada, WestJet, Transat, and Flair.
Cruises have also resumed in Port Everglades, with Vaughan revealing that Disney Cruise Line will soon be a new tenant.