Industry eNewsletter

APRIL 2022

A MESSAGE FROM STACY RITTER

Visit Lauderdale President and CEO Stacy Ritter issued the following statement on the passing of restrictive Florida bills that further marginalize our communities. The statement has been shared on LinkedIn, @VisitLauderdale, with news media and professional organizations.

"Travel transcends politics and decisions made at the state level do not always align with our mission, values, and community. Visitors to Greater Fort Lauderdale can be assured they are in a place where diversity, inclusion and acceptance is actively championed as an established way of life that is fully ingrained throughout our community. We encourage you to stand with us in support of the more than 88,000 tourism industry employees who work in our hotels, restaurants, venues, and attractions by booking your trip now. The Visit Lauderdale slogan, 'Everyone Under the Sun,' reflects the open and welcoming nature of our community and when we say 'Everyone Under the Sun' we mean it."

LATEST AVAILABLE STATS

 

February 2022

 Compared to 2019 Compared to 2021

Occupancy

 81.8% -5.3% +15.2%

ADR

 $212.13 +9.7% +61.5%

RevPAR

 $175.77 +4.8% +85.2%
 

Jan 1 - March 26, 2022

 Compared to 2019

Occupancy

 77.4% -7.4%

ADR

 $206.08 +11.1%

RevPAR

 $162.75 +4.3%

WHAT'S NEW AT VISIT LAUDERDALE

Candace Hartsell, Sr. VP of Administration

Candace Hartsell has been promoted to Sr. VP of Administration.  Prior to her position at Visit Lauderdale, Candace was COO and CMO at SRG Technologies, and Deputy Chief of Staff and Executive Director of Community & Media Relations at the Broward Sheriff's Office. 

Ivonne MacMillan has been promoted to Senior Manager of Marketing. In this role, she will be responsible for Visit Lauderdale’s digital and social marketing efforts, as well as overseeing the daily management of the advertising agency of record.

Johana Davila has been promoted to Digital Marketing Manager. In this role, she will be overseeing visitlauderdale.com and social media efforts. 

Ivonne, Camila and JoNell pose with the 2022 Sliver Adrian Award

 On March 30th, Visit Lauderdale received a Silver Adrian Award from Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) for travel marketing excellence in the category of Public Relations – Special Event for the May 5, 2021 launch of the new Visit Lauderdale “Everyone Under the Sun” brand. Ivonne MacMillan, Camila Clark and JoNell Modys accepted the award on behalf of Visit Lauderdale.

The Visit Lauderdale team was hosted by Judi Hartstein for a tour site of both the Wyndham Garden Fort Lauderdale Airport & Cruise Port and TRU by Hilton Fort Lauderdale Airport and Cruise Port. Above they posed in celebration of International Women's Day.  Special shout out to Grampa's Bakery and Jaxon's Ice Cream for sweetening the visit. 

MEDIA & PR

Visit Lauderdale, in partnership with VISIT FLORIDA, welcomed four journalists from Colombia to Greater Fort Lauderdale in April. The writers stayed at the AC Fort Lauderdale Sawgrass Mills/Sunrise. During their visit, they experienced Las Olas, the Water Taxi, the beach, jet skis, Sawgrass Mills shopping and a variety of culinary delights. Coverage will appear in Colprensa, Revista Cromos, El Espectador and El Tiempo.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook
Total reach: 4.6M
Total impressions: 5M

Instagram
Total reach: 1.7M
Total impressions: 2.8M

Twitter
Total impressions: 25k

EVENTS TO EXPLORE

April in Greater Fort Lauderdale is packed with more live in-person events! The month kicks off with a weekend packed with options! There's something for everyone under the sun to enjoy!  

For Egg-citing Easter Hoppenings, click or tap here

CLICK FOR APRIL'S EVENTS

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

Richard Gray attended the Travel & Adventure Show in NYC where he hosted a media reception with 52 journalists.

Richard Gray was presented with the Arts United Community Award at Lips on Tuesday March 15th

CONVENTION SALES

The Convention Sales team does not have any travel planned for April, but they've been busy with fams and site visits. 

Agnes Zaranski with one of her clients from Messer Americas.

Three convention attendees standing in front of a Visit Lauderdale display booth

Claudia Lupo (Marriott Harbor Beach), Dion James-Zanfordino (Visit Lauderdale) and Dafne Anderson (GFL/Broward County Convention Center) attending the 2022 Destination Showcase in Maryland. 

SPORTS DEVELOPMENT & ENTERTAINMENT

The Sports Development and Entertainment team has a busy month ahead of them with preparations in full swing for Rock the Ocean's Tortuga Music Festival and the Fort Lauderdale Air Show. 

Dawson Pritchett will be heading to DC, April 5-8 to participate in the Destination Capitol Hill/Emerging Travel Leaders Program. 

The team will be attending the Sunshine Sports Council on April 19th.

Last month Visit Lauderdale hosted the first APP Plantation Open at Central Park in Plantation.  The tournament was a great success and picked up coverage by WSVN 7News. 

VL welcomed the 2022 Pepsi USBC Youth Championships to Greater Fort Lauderdale.  The Championship is taking place at Strikers Bowling Center in Sunrise, over five weekends.  Let the good times roll!

Saskia fisher at the BCCC in front of a team of gymnasts warming up on the mats

Saskia Fisher checked in on the American Twister Tim Rand Invitational at the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center.

GLOBAL TRADE DEVELOPMENT

The Global Trade Team kicked off March with a bang, Caitlan attended the Boston Travel and Adventure Show early in the month and has just returned from the New York Travel and Adventure Show. Caitlan hosted a travel advisor training in Boston, where she connected with hundreds of travel advisors and travel enthusiast. Next on the itinerary, Caitlan is attending the next Travel and Adventure show in Atlanta, where she’s hosting another travel advisor breakfast and training.

Ava Rivera welcomed the next class of franchise owners from Cruise One / Dream Vacations with an adventure through the Everglades and ended the day with a refreshing tour through Flamingo Gardens.

Ava also appeared at Cruise Planners’ Star University, meeting over 50 travel advisors who are new to the industry. This was the first of many training classes we’re attending.

The Team met with Delta and toured the recently renovated Delta Sky Club in Terminal 2 at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The Delta Sky Club’s tasteful interior and amenities make it a great addition to Terminal 2. With the Delta Sky Club and dining options like Starbucks, Shake Shack, and Wasabi Sushi, visitors will love flying through FLL.

Paul Mason successfully relaunched the Visit USA Germany website, where Visit Lauderdale is highlighted as a top destination to visit in Florida. Visit USA Germany promotes tourism from Germany to the United States and is a leading network for US travel. Our partners at Lieb participated in the Visit USA Germany Virtual Roadshow, which had 52 attendees. Lieb also attended TravMedia’s IMM in Berlin, where there were 23 meetings with media, and they represented Visit Lauderdale to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

Lauderdale Loyalist, Visit Lauderdale’s agent training platform, is now available through a mobile app, with a Spanish translated version coming soon! Don’t forget to log on and take the course!  Please log on with your email as if you were a travel advisor and fill out the questionnaire however you like so that you can access the program.

Cruise 360 brought over 500 travel advisors to the Broward County Convention Center. Broward County Vice Mayor Lamar Fisher and Stacy Ritter welcomed the crowd at the opening general session. The Global Trade team hosted two training seminars and four different FAM trips for advisors attending Cruise 360. Looking forward, World Travel Market Latin America and Atlanta Travel and Adventure Show are up next. Tracy and Paul are flying out to Sao Paulo, Brazil for World Travel Market LATAM, the leading global event for the Latin American travel industry. With appointments fully booked, they anticipate this to be a great comeback to WTM since the pandemic.

Remember to follow @LeisureLauderdale to view recent pictures and stories from our FAMs and more!

PARTNER TO PARTNER

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To see if Shady's products are a fit for your bar or restaurant contact Jamaal to learn more about Shady Distillery's products, or to schedule a tour and tasting. #GetShady

CONSUMER UPDATES

Our latest consumer newsletter featured tips on "How to do Tortuga", what's going on for Easter, great brunch spots and information on the Fort Lauderdale Air Show, coming to our skies at the end of this month.  Click below to read the full newsletter.

March '22 Consumer Update
Visit Lauderdale

101 NE Third Avenue, Suite 100, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301 | 954-765-4466