Tracy Vaughan, senior VP of global trade development for Visit Lauderdale, spoke to Travel Bulletin on the potential of trade, new openings, and an exciting year ahead.
Greater Fort Lauderdale, Florida's 31-neighbourhood beach haven, is welcoming a host of new attractions, accommodation and transport links in 2023.
The destination board for the 'Venice of America', Visit Lauderdale, returned to the UK for its first bespoke trade activation post-pandemic. Travel Bulletin's Matt Hayhoe caught up with the board's senior VP of global trade development, Tracy Vaughan, who shared a wealth of insight, emphasised the importance of the trade to the destination, and explained why 2023 is as exciting a year as any for Greater Fort Lauderdale.
"It's very important for me and the board, now that we've opened back up, to be back in the UK. We've gone through a true renaissance over the last three years, on a community level and with new openings, attractions, developments and investments in the county. The campaign and promotion that Visit Lauderdale has come out with, 'Everyone Under the Sun', is all about inclusion, accessibility, and reflecting who we are as a community.
"We truly are a melting pot, with locals from 170 or so different countries, with 147 different languages spoken on our streets. We want to spotlight our destination to people just like us; we need diversity in our travellers. International, and especially the UK, has been very important in our mix of travellers. This market has always been extremely important to us."
"We know Brits love sun and sand, and we certainly have that. Timing-wise, we've had 20 new hotels since 2020, and we've got 29 more that are scheduled between 2023 and 2026. There's a lot of investment coming into the county."
Beyond the sun and sand, sea is a key market for the destination, and one which aligns perfectly with the UK's demand for cruise travel.
"Our port has been very proactive in seeking new cruise lines. In 2023, we have four different lines that haven't sailed into Lauderdale before: Viking, Azamara, Ritz-Carlton, and Disney Cruise Line. That's a really big deal for us."
The trade has a key role to play in these cruising developments, as Vaughan explained: "WE have anywhere from 80% to 90% of those going on cruises book through a travel advisor. People are smart enough to understand that experts know all the ins and outs on getting upgrades, getting excursions, and exactly what they're going to get on board."
"On the property side, we've got the Fairfield Inn & Suites, opening in March of this year. In April the Wyndham Dolce Hotels & Resorts Hollywood and the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Fort Lauderdale open their doors, and then the Microtel Inn & Suites in May and Aloft Hotels in October."
Discussing the unique Floridian proposition that Greater Fort Lauderdale offers, Vaughan continued: "A lot of people, in the UK especially, want to explore other parts of Florida from your classic Orlando or Miami trips. We're very unique: we have water culture, where you can take a water taxi like London's hop-on hop-off buses, which cover most of Fort Lauderdale.
"Our best assets are our natural assets: our water, our everglades, our beaches, our parks, and just being in the great outdoors."
Following the activation, the trade are encouraged to get or stay involved in Visit Lauderdale's engagement.
"We're just trying to educate the folks. We created a programme called the Lauderdale Loyalist, a training programme for travel agents. It talks about all the things our county has to offer, and exactly how to sell it as an advisor. What do you need to know to upsell? What can you sell, what's free, what are you charging? Agents want to be the experts and we're trying to help wherever we can with that.
"It's mobile, you can download the app and take it all in on your mobile, or do it from a desktop. We always keep agents in the know, explaining the events that are happening, new openings, and things that are going on right now that are of interest to the clients."
