AUGUST & SEPTEMBER ARE RESTAURANT & SPA MONTHS

From savory, signature dishes created by top chefs, to relaxing treatments at Greater Fort Lauderdale’s most sublime resort & day spas, Restaurant & Spa Months provide visitors with extraordinary culinary and pampered experiences at affordable prices during August & September.


Food lovers have the opportunity to taste innovative flavor creations from world-renowned celebrity chefs at sought-after restaurants during Restaurant Month. More than 65 top restaurants are offering specially created three-course gourmet dinner menus priced from $35. For more information on participating restaurants and menus, visit sunny.org/RestaurantMonth.


Spa lovers can disconnect and experience some of the most coveted spas in Greater Fort Lauderdale. During Spa Month, the destination’s top spas are offering special packages and services starting at $99, including signature full body massages, exfoliations, facial massages, masks and eye and lip treatments. Take some time for yourself, find participating spas at sunny.org/SpaMonth. 

We are continuing to spread the news on the programs and securing local media and social media influencers to experience the offerings throughout August and September. Check out some of the fantastic coverage that both programs have already received: Broward Palm Beach New Times; Sun Sentinel; WSVN; Hombre; and FTNnews.com.  

VACATION LIKE A VIP & SUMMER SAVINGS

Still time to enjoy 2-for-1 deals during Summer Savings at more than 45 attractions through September 30. Visit sunny.org/summer to view special summer deals.

Exclusive Greater Fort Lauderdale Vacation Like A VIP packages are also available through September 30 at participating Resort Collection properties. For details on  participating properties at sunny.org/vip. 

JUNE STATS

Greater Fort Lauderdale Average Hotel Occupancy
June 2019
% Change
72.75% 
-4.2%
Greater Fort Lauderdale Average Hotel Daily Rate
June 2019
% Change
$119.73
-1.3%

IN THE NEWS

SOCIAL BUZZ

Geoffrey Zakarian Instagram Takeover

@VisitLauderdale was thrilled to have Geoffrey Zakarian, Food Network star and celebrity chef of Point Royal at The Diplomat Beach Resort, take over our Instagram page on July 27 & 28. Zakarian highlighted his favorite things to do while in Greater Fort Lauderdale on @VisitLauderdale Stories, with reposts onto @geoffreyzakarian @diplomatbeachresort and @pointroyal. The takeover resulted in more than 164K impressions in just two days. View the posts here.

NEW ON THE SCENE

Cooper’s Hawk Restaurant & Winery, a nationally renowned establishment which combines a restaurant, Napa-style tasting room and artisanal retail market, opens this month at The Galleria Mall in Fort Lauderdale. Occupying 15,000 sq-ft on two levels inside the mall, the restaurant boasts a contemporary-American menu infused with international flavors and includes the award-winning Cooper's Hawk wine collection and 70 food offerings, each listed with a bin number guiding guests to a wine pairing. 

A new sports bar opens this month on Las Olas Boulevard. Bo’s Pub, located on the first floor of The Balcony, will serve American classics. Guests will also be able to enjoy brunches on Saturdays and Sundays.

Craft Beer Cellar, Fort Lauderdale’s newest craft-beer bar and bottle shop, opens this month featuring more than 200 rare craft beers in bottles and 12 more suds on draft. Divided into two rooms, the Cellar’s southern room boasts a 750 sq-ft bottle shop and beer shelves are divided into multiple sections. 

HOLLYWOOD'S SCENE

Sidecar Speakeasy, a Prohibition-style bar inside the recently opened Hotsy Totsy Bar and Grill, requires a secret password for entry. Merci Restaurant, a clubby, bright Mediterranean eatery opened in April on the western edge of downtown. El Bayu de wela Sara, aka Grandma Sara's Party, features Puerto Rican inspired dishes. K.O.N.A. Kitchen and Bar, a new Caribbean fusion spot on Harrison Street combines Jamaican recipes with Italian-Asian dishes. Rossini by Pesce Pasta features Italian-Latin fusion cuisine. Oaxaka, featuring Mexican-Asian fusion cuisine, recently opened on Harrison Street. SideLines Sports Bar II is the newest place to cheer on your team. Camp Cocktail Bar and Grill, opening soon, will feature craft camp-inspired cocktails and log cabin-inspired decor including fishing poles and canoe paddles mounted on log cabin-inspired walls and bartenders dressed as  camp counselors.  

GFLCVB HIGHLIGHTS

TOURISM SALES

Greater Fort Lauderdale welcomed Global Travel Marketplace (GTM) at The Diplomat Hollywood Beach Resort hosting the welcome reception with our GFL partners. Caitlan Etchevers conducted 30-minute presentations 6-minute one-on-one appointments with more than 144 travel advisors from North America. The destination looks forward to welcoming back GTM at The Diplomat in 2020!  

Caitlan Etchevers & Gonzalo Rubio participated with the Dream Vacations / Cruise One New Franchise Owner Training Trade Shows meeting with more than 50 industry travel advisors at the Westin Fort Lauderdale. Gonzalo also held Salt Lake City and Omaha Sales Mission last month.

Gabriel Martinez held a series of sales calls with trade partners in Toronto including Air Canada and Air Canada Vacations, WestJet, TravelBrands, Tripcentral.ca, Travel Industry Today and Baxter Media. He is also working with TravelBrands launching a joint campaign with Greater Fort Lauderdale and Royal Caribbean, tour operators for a FAM with 40 top-sellers in October, and Despegar.com in Ecuador launching a joint campaign with JetBlue, The Diplomat Beach Resort, Sawgrass Mills and Sawgrass Recreation Park.

International Offices

The UK team co-hosted trade and media partners at the Visit Lauderdale x London Art Swap, along with Trailfinders and Virgin Atlantic. The UK PR team secured press coverage across UK including Visit USA travel planner, Travel Bulletin and VIVA magazine. The UK Sales & Marketing team conducted training with British Airways Holidays and Funway Holidays. Press coverage was secured in the online travel magazine The Chill Report, the travel trade magazine tip, the blog I heart Alice and the consumer magazine America Journal. The Brazil team trained 96 agents from the call center of Operadora Azul Viagens. The German team finalized the “Summer Out of Home Campaigns” with tour operator partner CRD Reisen and Faszination Fernweh.

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

UNDERGROUND

Greater Fort Lauderdale co-sponsored the GNetwork 360 International Business Conference on Business, Marketing and LGBT+ Tourism in Buenos Aires. During the conference, Richard Gray presented to the South American Governments and attendees and promoted Pride of the Americas 2020. Upcoming speaking engagements include the LGBT+ Business Forum and the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Global Conference.

Coming soon: The destination’s new & improved one-stop-shop brochure for film, music, fashion/shopping and arts. 

Stay tuned for exciting news on Broward County’s Signature Event taking place later this year and potential wine & food, rock music and projection mapping festivals coming to the destination. 

July Film Permits = 40

CONVENTION & GROUP SALES

MULTICULTURAL
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Jennifer Sena received Meeting Professionals International's New Jersey Chapter Volunteer Award. She will continue to serve on their Board of Directors as Director of Recruitment, Membership Committee for the organization in 2019-2020 term. Congratulations Jenn! 

AUGUST CONFERENCES & CONVENTIONS

Groups meeting in August will generate more than $11 million to Broward County. Groups include:
Aug 1-4: Tuskegee Nat'l Alumni Association 
(175 attendees)
Aug 1-4: Alpha Pi Chi National Sorority Regional Convention (225 attendees)
Aug 1-9: FL Airports Council Conf & Expo
(470 attendees)
Aug 2-9: American Nuclear Society Utility Working Conf (600 attendees)
Aug 5-12: Team National Convention
(6000 attendees)
Aug 11-13: Institute of Internal Auditors, Governance Risk & Control Conf
(650 attendees)
Aug 15-18: Southern Comfort Transgender Conf, Riverside Hotel (250 attendees)
Aug 18-21: Seventh Day Adventist Church, World Headquarters Retreat (500 attendees)
Aug 22-29: American Society of Travel Agents Global Convention (600 attendees)
Aug 30-Sept 1: S. Florida Regional Narcotics Anonymous (900 attendees)

Greater Fort Lauderdale hosted the 82nd National Association of Negro Business & Professional Women’s Clubs Annual Conference (NANBPW) at the Urban League Complex, the Latin American Association of Insurance Agencies, and the American Tennis Association’s 103rd National Championships. The conferences produced more than 3,200 room nights for the destination. Pictured above: Broward County Commissioner Barbara Sharief and Fort Lauderdale Vice Mayor Robert McKenzie presenting the key to the City to Dianne Toppin, President of NANBPW. 

Booked Business for 2020:
Conference of Minority Transportation Officials 
National African-American Insurance Association 

SPORTS DEVELOPMENT

Sports welcomes more than 8,000 athletes, coaches, and families to Greater Fort Lauderdale in August including various events at National Wrestling Coaches Association Annual Convention at the Broward County Convention Center, Dig the Beach Volleyball Series in Pompano and Fort Lauderdale, inaugural LaLiga-Serie A Cup FC Barcelona vs SSC Napoli Soccer at Hard Rock Stadium and Monster Truck Jam at the BB&T Center in Sunrise.

FLL NEWS

January-May 2019: FLL ranked 17th in total traffic, 9th in total international traffic, 11th in total passenger growth, 54th in total passenger traffic worldwide and 97th in total international traffic worldwide. FLL hosted approximately 19.2 million travelers from January through June, an increase of 4% from roughly 18.5 million people during the same period in 2018, according to the Airport Council International Report.

June total traffic: 3,007,805, down -0.1%; domestic traffic: 2,258,269, down -0.6%; international traffic: 749,536, up 1.3%, YTD total traffic: 19,239,187, up 4%. 

TERMINAL 3 UPDATE
Terminal 3 modernization project is expected to be completed by December 2021. Improvements for Concourse E & F include new concessions, centrally-located double-sided restrooms, new passenger seating with charging stations, and upgrades to air-conditioning systems. In the post-security (Las Olas Corridor) walkway connecting the concourses, there will be a new VIP Lounge and renovations to existing food and beverage spaces. A new automated exit control system will also be installed. In addition to Bokamper's Sports Bar & Grill, other food and beverage offerings to be added by June 2021 include Bonefish Grill and a food court. An enclosed connector walkway is expected to be operational between Terminals 3 and 2 by March 2022.

NEW SERVICE

  • Spirit Airlines: Nonstop service to Nashville starts Oct 10
  • Frontier Airlines: Seasonal service to Cleveland kicks off Oct 10
  • Southwest Airlines: Seasonal Sunday-only service to Birmingham begins Nov 3
  • Swoop: New service to Winnipeg, Canada is scheduled to start Nov 16
  • JetBlue Airways: Resuming twice-weekly seasonal service to Steamboat Springs on Dec 14
  • Air Transat: Launching service to/from Vancouver on Dec 20

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

PORT EVERGLADES

The Navy commissioned its newest Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, USS Paul Ignatius (DDG 117), at Port Everglades last month. It is the first warship named for Paul Ignatius who served as U. S. Secretary of the Navy under President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1967 to 1969. Ignatius previously served with honor as a commissioned Lieutenant in the Navy during World War II. 

Baleária Caribbean, which currently operates the fast ferry service between Fort Lauderdale and Freeport, began the same fast ferry service to Bimini this week, arriving in Bimini in 90 minutes.

CVB TEAM ON THE MOVE

Stacy Ritter was named to Destinations International’s 2019-2020 Board of Directors. Destination International is the world’s largest resource for official destination organizations, convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs) and tourism boards.

July 30-Aug 3: GNetwork 360 International Business Conference, Buenos Aires
Aug 1: Marriott Trade Show, Omaha
Aug 5-11: LGBT+ Business Forum, Cartagena
Aug 10-13: ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition in Columbus
Aug 10-14: Virtuoso Travel Week, Las Vegas
Aug 16-20: ESTO U.S. Travel Association, Austin
Aug 21-26: National LGBT Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Global Conference, Tampa
Aug 25-29: ASTA Global Convention, Fort Lauderdale
Aug 25-31: Brazil Sales Mission
Aug 26-28: Connect Marketplace, Lexington

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

HAPPENINGS AROUND TOWN

Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is hosting a 3-day job fair August 19-21 at the Hard Rock Event Center. Click here for more info.

Aug 10: Fort Lauderdale Beach Sweep
Aug 10-11: Monster Jam, BB&T Center
Aug 14: Madagascar Jr, Broward Center for the Performing Arts
Aug 15: It’s a Mermaid Life, Swimwear Fashion Show, The Royal Palms
Aug 17: Queen + Adam Lambert, BB&T Center
Aug 17: A Midsommar Night’s Dream, W Fort Lauderdale
Aug 17: The Fort Lauderdale Gift Show, Broward Convention Center
Aug 17-18: Filmed in Broward, Savor Cinema Fort Lauderdale
Aug 17: Downtown Hollywood Artwalk, Market & Mural Tour
Aug 18: Hippiefest, Broward Center for the Performing Arts
Aug 22-Sept 1: Murray & Peter Present: Pray the Gay Away
Aug 23: Backstreet Boys, BB&T Center
Aug 29: The B-52s with OMD and Berlin
Aug 31: FATVillage Artwalk

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