We do a lot of talking about the visitor count in Las Vegas, and how they drew record visitors in 2014, but their count of around 40-41 million visitors pales in comparison to the visitor count in Orlando.
There was a report out this week that Orlando becomes the first destination to surpass 60 million visitors, an all-time record for the U. S. travel industry. They reported that there were 32 million room nights sold in 2014, resulting in bed tax collections topping $200 million for the first time in Orange County.
They attribute some of the increase to the number of new attractions and expansions to the area theme parks of course. Walt Disney World completed New Fantasyland and Universal Orlando introduced the Wizarding World of Harry Potter—Diagon Alley.
The Orange County Mayor, Teresa Jacobs had this to say, “the impact of tourism on our community is remarkable and, in fact, the travel and tourism industry is the largest generator of jobs and economic impact for our region”.
Speaking of interest in this area from the Big Country, I can say that we have seen a decided interest in the past year for visitors interested in taking in the attractions of Orlando. All of our agents sell that product and have been there, some more recent than others, but we all share the information of the new attractions and activities. We have also seen an increased interest in the Disney Cruise options, some for 7 nights, others take a 3-night cruise and 4-day stay at Disney.
We always try to get guests and families to consider including the Parkhopper Pass that gives unlimited access to all the attractions at Disney World all day long, as well as one of the meal plans. One new wrinkle, you might refer to it as a new revenue stream, is what they call the Memory Maker where for only $169, you will have access to all the pictures they take of you and the family while enjoying the attractions. When you consider that they provide round-trip transfers from the airport to the hotel, then this package is almost all-inclusive. For sure, there are millions of families taking advantage of this creative attraction.
As you can imagine, there are several tour operators that design packages to these locations, but over the years we have pretty well stuck with the on-site tour company to sell to our clients, Walt Disney Travel Company. They have never disappointed our clients, so we stick with them. Call Donna, Joy, or Doug who have all had extensive experience in selling the product that’s making Orlando the visitor capital of the United States. The experts can be reached at 698-1421, toll-free at 800-760-4040, or drop in for a face-to-face visit at 4150 Southwest Drive. Check our website out at this location:
www.thetravelfactoryabilene.com.