Meetings Matter Chatter
Industry trends and topics pertaining to the travel and meetings industry
Meetings Matter Chatter
Why Orlando Meetings are Unbelievably Real. A Chat with Mike Waterman, Visit Orlando
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For notes on all the places discussed today, check out www.orlandomeeting.com.
Welcome back, listeners. This is your host, Nikki McLean for Meetings Matter Chatter, and we're here for another exciting episode. Today's guest is Mike Waterman, the Chief Sales Officer of Visit Orlando. So welcome, Mike.
SPEAKER_00Thanks, Nikki. Thrilled to be with you guys.
SPEAKER_01What I like to do is I always want our listeners to kind of understand who you are, what's your background. So what can you tell us about how you've kind of grown up in the industry and how you came to be the chief sales officer for Visit Orlando?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, sure. First of all, we're thrilled to be a strategic partner with BCD. You know, we've seen really amazing growth over the last year, and we love having you guys as a partner. Um, I've got over 30 years of experience in the hospitality and sort of tourism DMO space. I started my career with Marriott back in 88, did 26 years with that company all over the country. Super fun. And then jumped over uh to the CVB DMO space back in 2015, working for Visi Houston as the president and CEO. I did that for four years and then came to Orlando in 2019 as the chief sales officer and I've been here ever since and you know, muscled through the pandemic and uh we're we're roaring out of it as we speak.
SPEAKER_01Yes, I think everyone keeps saying they're busier than ever. And I know that from our data and analytics that we have at BCD, Orlando is one of the top locations that our clients are going to every year. So that's fantastic.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we're thrilled. Look, I you know, I think I think a lot of that has to do with we, you know, strategically chose when we were going through COVID, you know, based on the circumstances in Florida. And, you know, we actively started hosting meetings in July of 2020 and hosted well over 200 between 2020 and 21. So, you know, we think that sort of showed the world that Orlando is, you know, kind of ahead of the game and we could host live and in-person events, and we think that gave us a little bit of a head start um on the meeting side, and we're definitely seeing the benefits of that as we go through 23.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. So for those who maybe haven't been to Orlando, which I don't know if that's many people that listen to this podcast, but why is Orlando the hottest destination for meetings and events, in your opinion?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, look, we think we we have a lot to offer, right? We we think we can curate some pretty memorable experiences, and we have all the you know the components to make that happen. We have the state-of-the-art Orange County Convention Center, which has over 7 million square feet of space. We just announced that they're gonna expand that, a $560 million expansion. We have Yeah, I know it's great, right? We have over 490 hotels and resorts, and that's over 130,000 hotel rooms in central Florida. So we have a lot of work to do every single day to make sure those hotels are filled. So every housekeeper and dorman and front desk clerk gets their um gets their paycheck. Uh, we also have amazing, you know, we just opened Terminal C, which is our brand new international terminal, which also hosts something I'm gonna talk about a little bit later, this brand new Bright Line train, um, which connects us to Miami and Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. Super excited about that. Uh, we also have more than 6,000 restaurants. People don't really realize that. And we've become sort of this foodie city, 46 Michel-rated restaurants in Central Florida, which is super exciting. Um, and then the theme parks, right? They continue to add uh new attractions. I've been here four years. I think there's been eight or nine new um attractions open since I've been here at the at the three major parks, you know, Disney, SeaWorld, and Universal Studios.
SPEAKER_01Wow, that is amazing. And I guess I keep hearing one about the train, and two, I keep hearing about um the restaurants and the foodie scenes. I think you're probably going to dive into that a little bit more too. But if you had to elaborate a little bit more on what's new in Orlando and what you think some of our listeners would want to hear about, what would you say is some of the top things?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, look, I think um, I think the hotels that keep at we keep adding to our portfolio is a pretty dynamic ad for the deal. We have the brand new Conrad Orlando, which is going to open this December. That's 433 rooms. That's part of this Evermore Orlando resort, 40,000 square feet. This Evermore Orlando Resort has got over 10,000 bedrooms in their villa and flats surrounding an eight-acre lake, which is beautiful. The Drury Plaza is brand new. That's in the Disney Springs area, 604 guest rooms, super 17,000 square feet of meeting space, really meetings focused. And we're really, we're really excited about a couple new hotels that are opening. There's a Fairmont in Orlando that's going to open in 25. That's between the World Center and the Gaylord Palms. Uh, the W Orlando, which is brand new. We don't have a W in Orlando. It's a 400-room uh product that's gonna have a 2,000-seat music, live music venue. Um, that's gonna be at the entrance of the new uh park Epic Adventure for Universal. That's also gonna open in 2025, which we're super excited about. And then both Tao and Nobu have announced hotels that are gonna be open in Orlando in the next couple of years. So we just keep adding these new hotels and new attractions, which makes you know our job a little bit easier and candidly more fun.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, exactly. It makes it a little bit easier to sell. And I mean, I think those names that you just dropped here were amazing because a lot of our clients are looking for new, fresh meeting space and renovated hotel rooms or brand new rooms. Because if they've been to Orlando before, they don't want their attendees to think, oh, we've already done this, we've already seen this, we've already eaten this, those kind of things. So they want fresh, new, and exciting. And it sounds like that Orlando has a lot to offer there.
SPEAKER_00Well, that's a that's a great point, Vic Nikki. So, you know, in addition to those brand new hotels, um, you know, one of our kind of signature products is the JW, Marriott, Grand Lakes, and Ritz Carlton. They've gone through a complete renovation. The Grand Bohemian, downtown Orlando, also complete renovation. Both the Signia and Waldorf that are connected hotels in Bonnet Creek are adding 90,000 square feet of new, brand new meeting space. Um, and they're also going through total renovation. So, you know, we're excited that not only to your point, Careeb Rails, another one I forgot, that also went through a full renovation. So, in addition to the new hotels, we have our sort of stallworth products that are also sprucing up and making sure they look current and ready.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, sounds like it. Well, I can't wait to see some of that. I'm actually coming down to Orlando in a couple of weeks, and so I'm excited to see some of these properties that you're mentioning.
SPEAKER_00So that's it's really fun.
SPEAKER_01All very exciting news for Orlando. So let's go back to the theme parks for a minute because it, you know, you guys have these legendary theme parks, and I cannot believe the new ones that are opening. I personally have not been to the theme parks in many, many years. So I'm definitely lacking there. But um, you know, what kind of new immersive experiences are they offering and and what things can attendees enjoy when they come down there?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, look, when you have some free time, it's always fun to kind of check out the new stuff. And SeaWorld just opened their seventh coaster called Pipeline, the surf coaster. It's the world's first surf coaster. Um, it's features dynamic surf launch, wave jumping motions, and you're actually standing as you're harnessed in this roller coaster goes up to 60 miles an hour.
SPEAKER_01Oh my gosh, that sounds a little bit scary, but also really fun.
SPEAKER_00And they're also going to open a penguin trek, which is a family coaster that's gonna open next spring. Um, Universal Orlando is just opening this Illuminations villain con minion blast blaster. It's an interactive uh product, and they opened Velocicoaster last year, which is the fastest roller coaster and literally the craziest roller coaster I've ever ridden on. So if you come down, I would highly recommend it. And then Disney just debuted their Tron light cycle uh product, which is at Magic Kingdom, one of the fastest roller coasters in the park. And then uh Epcot just opened Journey of Water, which is inspired by Moana, and that's an interactive water cycle. Uh and it really highlights the importance of water conservation. And then, really, kind of what's we're super excited about is I mentioned earlier, Epic Universe is going to open in 2025. Um, it's gonna be spectacular. And um, we we know it's gonna have two or three new hotels as well. So a couple more products we can uh get excited about selling in the future.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And I mean, your team at Visit Orlando, they're there to really help meeting planners and attendees like figure out what to do when they come down there, right? So if if I'm I'm just making this up, so I'm financial client A from New York, and I'm like, I want to go to Orlando, I want to have my meeting for three days, and then I want to do offsites every night. Like that's what your team's kind of bread and butter is, is you help us find the new and cool things to do, correct?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. We have a dedicated, we call it the destination experience team. Most of them are certified meeting planner certified, and they are subject matter experts in Orlando. So they know, you know, if you want to do a unique, you know, event on the water or you want to do something, you know, in downtown Orlando or in a park, theme park, we can make the connections that allows your team to really feel like they're in market and make it as easy and seamless as possible. And people, I think most people know this, but there's no charge. We get funded through the tourism development tax, which is the 6% tax that uh that you pay when you stay in a hotel or a timeshare. So, you know, if there's no cost to use our services, and we really are the subject matter expert in town and can direct you to the right place that matches what your clients are looking for.
SPEAKER_01That's awesome. And I think we we always can appreciate that support because by no means can you be an expert in every city that you go to. So it's fantastic to have your team there to help you. Yeah. So let's talk a little bit about more how do we get there? So obviously, Orlando has great lift. You mentioned a new kind of terminal that's opening, and like, and let's talk a little bit more about that high-speed rail service that's coming or is already there. Sorry.
SPEAKER_00Super, super excited. So last year, or the Orlando International Airport opened their new subterminal, which is primarily international. It also services JetBlue, but they added 15 new gates to the airport. The terminal itself is stunning. Um, it's one of the prettiest terminals I've ever been in. And part of that terminal C complex, um, they built the Brightline terminal, which I'll talk to you in a minute. But, you know, for the airlines that really service Terminal C, it's Erlingus, it's Azul, British BA, Caribbean Airlines, Air Emirates. So it's all the international flights come in through there, which is great. Um, but this Brightline high-speed service, I've had the luxury or privilege of being able to ride Brightline twice. So it's a private organization that connected uh Orlando to Miami, makes a stop at West Palm, makes a stop at Fort Lauderdale, makes a stop at Aventura, and then it finally ends in Miami. Um, it's about a three-hour and 15-minute uh tour or trip. My wife and I took it last week to go visit some friends in Miami Beach. It's a 15-minute Uber ride from this terminal station in Miami to Miami Beach. Super fun. Yeah, spares start at like $79 up to $149, which is what they call premium. And that's uh includes all your food and beverage. Uh and they do offer, which is really exciting, they do offer uh business and group rates if folks want to try that. Matter of fact, we're trying to figure out how to take my team in January down to Fort Lauderdale to meet our counterparts down there and take them to lunch on the beach and then come back and be back in a day.
SPEAKER_01Oh, wow, that's fantastic. And I mean, I think I just got done doing a road trip out west because there is no real service that goes out there. But like driving can be so painful and boring. But it sounds like this is a fantastic train. You mentioned it has food and beverage, it's got Wi-Fi. Like, so you could be sitting there working, enjoying, you know, watching a show, having a snack or a meal, and then all of a sudden you're there. And and what would that compare to? Like, I know there's flights, obviously, but that would be more expensive. And then what would the drive time be if you tried to do that from Orlando to Miami? Like six, seven hours, maybe longer.
SPEAKER_00Best case scenario, Orlando to Miami is about at the same time, three and a half hours.
SPEAKER_01Oh, okay, okay.
SPEAKER_00Zero traffic, perfect scenarios, right? And that's rare and and when you're traveling. The beauty, and it's really not, you know, it's not a cost or a time. I think it's a time saving because it guarantees you're going to be there in three hours and 15 minutes. Yeah. But to your point, you're not, you're not distracted. You're sitting down, you can watch a movie, you can, you can let, you know, you have Wi-Fi. My wife and I watched football games when we came back on Saturday, or I mean on Sunday. So yeah, you can get all your work done. And the really neat things is all of the stations, with the exception of Orlando, are in city center locations. So you literally can get off the train and walk to shops, restaurants, you know, it's all right there, which is super fun. And then, you know, if you got to go to the hotels, you just jump in an Uber.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And well, and it sounds like too, if if you're a meeting planner that's like, well, we want to do Orlando for a few days, and then we do want to do like Beach Miami, like you can incorporate that all by having the train be a part of that too. So absolutely. Good, good, good. Well, I'm glad to see that that's happening. I wish we could take that concept and parlay it into the rest of America so that there's more ways to go out west or, you know, go south or east and all those kind of good things. But maybe coming to the city.
SPEAKER_00Brightline is the company trying to connect LA to Las Vegas, same company.
SPEAKER_01Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_00So um I know they're working on that. And there's also um they're also working on an extension from Orlando to Tampa. Uh that's gonna take a while, but that's their end goal is to connect Tampa to Orlando and then Orlando down to Miami. So it's gonna be super.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so then Florida would be like super connected. Yeah, I love that. Now, um, what other things are going on? I I've heard some things in the news about a new health service. What can you tell me about that?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so during COVID, we partnered with one of our members, Orlando Health, which is a large uh healthcare provider here in Central Florida, and they helped us, you know, sort of navigate um the pandemic with clients. And at the end of that, you know, when we made it through the pandemic, um, we reached out to them and they became the official health care, health and wellness provider for Visit Orlando. And they actually came to us about a year ago and said, hey, look, we want, we think it would be valuable to put a wellness center in the convention center, which is the first of its kind. It's called Orlando Health Virtual Care Center. And it's in the West Building, which is the original building. And it's a small virtual care center that we that visit or that, I'm sorry, Orlando Health man's uh during conventions, large conventions. And for a $55 fee, um, you can, if you've if you you know got to Orlando and forgot your you know high blood pressure medicine or you weren't feeling well and were it's all non-emergency, just like you would do, you know, go to like an urgent care, they can take care of you right there on property. It's it's actually serviced by a uh RN or a PA. And if those folks aren't able to assess and treat, uh they do have a virtual component where they can they can dial up a doctor who can who can you know do the evaluation and then prescribe whatever's needed. So first of its kind, we're super excited about it, and it's been uh running now for gosh, probably six or seven months, and and our clients that are in the building really appreciate it.
SPEAKER_01Oh, absolutely. Like I think of how many times you've been at a convention and you're like, gosh, I'm not feeling well, or maybe you, you know, you maybe you get pink eye or you know, you get an insect bite or some of these things that you're just like, I don't even really want to bother with it, but it is bothering me. So I need to do something about it. That's great, and that's an awesome resource for those that are going to be at the convention center and nearby. So that's a really great idea. Yeah. Um, what other things can you tell me about the convention center? I mean, again, it's been a few years since I've been there, and I hopefully I'll get to see it when I come down in a couple weeks, but you guys just have so much space down there. What's going on there?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so we're really excited. Literally, last month the Orange County, Orange County approved the expansion. It's really more a completion, but um, it's gonna add an 80,000 square foot ballroom and a 60,000 square foot of meeting space, and it's gonna connect the north-south building, which is the side where the Hyatt and the Hilton are on. It's gonna connect both the north and south building with this beautiful entryway, open, wide open foyer, breakouts and meeting space. So that's a $560 million project. And that could start as early as the uh next year, uh, groundbreaking. And the hope is we'll be done by 27 or 28 at the latest. So really, really excited about that new expansion. And you know, we're still the third. We used to be the second largest convention center, and then Vegas expanded and they became second. So we're technically number three. We hope when this new new entire expansion gets done, we'll be back in the number two space, but you know, we'll see.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, that's a great goal to have. And it sounds like there's a lot that will be happening in the next like five to seven years. So, listeners, be on the lookout for that. Yeah. All right, now let's talk food. So I know it's early in the day for both of us, but I'm already hungry. So, like, what is going on with Orlando? I keep reading and hearing about on social media and you know, and different podcasts and radio shows. Like, Orlando is now, I think, like the foodie capital of the United States. So, what's new and exciting about the food scene in Orlando?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's really remarkable. I I used, like I said, I started my career in Orlando almost 30 years ago. It wasn't that, you know, that way then. But in the last really 10 to 15 years, it has really expanded and become this culinary destination. Matter of fact, Wallet Hub recently named Orlando the best food city in 2023. And you mentioned, I mentioned Michelin. So Michelin contacted us about two years ago and said, hey, look, we think you got a legitimate food scene here. We want to come in and recognize Orlando along with Tampa and Miami, um, and came in and started recognizing restaurants. And in year to date, two years now in the program, we have over we have 46 Michelin restaurants, including four four star one-star venues and 11 Bib Gourmands and 31 recommends. So super, super excited. Um, the the four-star restaurants are knife and spoon, which is at the Ritz-Carlton, uh, Kappa, which is at the Four Seasons, and then So Secchi and Cadence, which are standalone restaurants. So, and they are spectacular. So the food scene is is legit and it's it's uh it's just gonna keep getting better.
SPEAKER_01Well, and that's so exciting for those that are in the culinary industry too. Like I'm imagining a lot of chefs are have their eyes on Orlando of make maybe putting their first restaurant there or an expansion restaurant there to kind of expand their portfolio. So that's awesome to see that it's growing and getting such recognition. Um, I have heard about some other new restaurant openings. Um, and I guess what what else can you tell me about some that are near the Disney properties or on-site at hotels? Yes. What do you have there?
SPEAKER_00Um so uh we have a couple fun ones. We have the uh Rosa Mexicana, which just opened at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin. We have a couple new sports theme restaurants that are near the convention hotel, uh, Descent 21 at the Hyatt Regency, and then Fast Break at the Hilton, Orlando. And then Cava's Tacos and Tequila is going to open at Point Orlando, which is uh an easy walk from the convention center. And to your earlier point, Nikki, I actually spoke with a chef out of Washington, D.C. last month. He's got two Michelin-rated restaurants in Washington, D.C. And he's looking to open his third restaurant in Orlando with the hopes of getting um, you know, another Michelin-starred restaurant. So it really is kind of fun to see how this program, you know, sort of kind of compounds and and grows on itself.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and it's always fun to expand. So I'm sure that um he he or she is excited to to get their new restaurant open in Orlando. That's awesome. For sure. Okay, so I'm gonna talk about something that's maybe not the most like exciting, but I think we have to address it. So in the news, you know, we all know that there's a certain political climate that Florida is kind of associated with. And I know we've had this conversation with some of our customers as well. Unfortunately, there's a bit of a perception out there that Florida might be difficult to do business with, or people have concerns about some of the political statements that are coming out. How do you at Visit Orlando really combat that narrative and make people realize that that's not necessarily true?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I really appreciate you asking that question. It is sort of the elephant in the room. And really, our role is to tell the story, right? We know Orlando has always been this welcoming and inclusive destination, and we keep telling that story. People don't realize Orlando is the third largest LGBTQ community in the country behind San Francisco and New York, right? So I kiddingly say there's as many pride flags in my neighborhood as American flags. Like so it's already interwoven into our DNA. But we have created this multicultural campaign called Orlando for All. We've also been connecting with clients. We have had some cancellations, not a lot. We've had three um, you know, citywide type cancellations happen earlier in the year, but we we have we created this toolkit. We got ahead of this back in January, February when we had our first cancellation, and we said, look, we can't put our head in the sand and hope this thing goes away. We got to get ahead of it. Um, so we put this toolkit together, which we can share with clients. We also I bring my I bring my um chief legal counsel on calls. It's always better, you know, to have a have a lawyer protecting the sales guy, make sure I don't say something I'm not supposed to say. Um but but we'll do that with clients who are concerned, and and we've had regular calls with our definite clients or clients considering Orlando, just to let them know that what they hear and see on the news isn't reality. We also became a gold partner of social offset, which is a for profit that was created fairly recently. Um and they basically they're all about look, they come into the so they come into the destination, they verify legitimate not-for-profits that you can be that are charitable organizations that you can connect with either individually your constituents or your attendees or as a group um to to kind of make a difference. You know, because we we do a really a lot of work around boycotts don't work. The politicians don't care about boycotts. All it does is hurt the housekeeper or the you know the front desk clerk. Doesn't really impact the government unfortunately. And then we've got a list of these not for profits. So like for LGBTQ plus we have the One Pulse Foundation Zebra Coalition come out with Pride Orlando and one Orlando Alliance. We actually last week was our Pride Week and we actually did a float and had about 15 or 20 people on our team and some of our board um on that float just to just to be part of the organization. So yeah we're we're we're you know we're kind of going into this thing with our eyes wide open and and we know it's our job to educate those planners on your team who are getting those questions and and we are absolutely here to help.
SPEAKER_01Yeah and I would love to get my hands on that toolkit and possibly even share links in our episode notes that we put together for this podcast because I think that's something that you know as we're suggesting destinations and then the internal meeting owners are having to go back and maybe build a case as to why they want to have something there, anything that we can arm them with to help them make them feel more comfortable in having those conversations. And I actually like hearing that you might be willing to get on a phone call with them too because I think that that will help sell um sell a destination a little bit more and then also put them at ease with anything that they might be thinking about. Going back to the social offset thing. So again as we engage your services and have your team help us, if we say like hey, you know, we want to have a sustainable component to our meeting or we want to have a social responsibility component, you can help us, you know, connect us to those organizations so that if we wanted to make a donation or maybe do a team building activity, something like that, that's something that your team can help with as well, correct?
SPEAKER_00Yep. Yeah we have an entire destination experience team there's six or seven of them and they help exactly with that. They can they can help with attractions, they can help with transportation, they can help with you know corporate events, social anything you want to do, they can help you with we most of those folks are members of ours anyway, right? You know, because they want to they want to have access to to clients coming in the market. So um it's just a natural connection for us to kind of to connect you know what you're looking for with what we have in the market.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And I think that that's a lot of what we're seeing is that they're not just meeting anymore. They want to make a difference in the community in which they're having the meeting and also be able to do something that you know is is good for everyone, right? You know, make the community feel good, make the attendees feel good, et cetera. So that's great.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01All right well we have talked about a lot today on the podcast. So I want to try to wrap it up and see if it's possible even to come back and share one final thought with our listeners. You know, what would you say you want to leave people with today?
SPEAKER_00Yeah I just want all of your folks to realize that we are your partner legitimate partner in market. We have all of the resources to make your job easier. You know at the end of the day and you said it earlier it's impossible Orlando is a complicated place to come and visit whether it's for leisure or for business and our we literally think our job is to make it as uncomplicated as possible. So we'll connect to your planners with attendee guides, safety information, anything that they need photos, information, packets, we can provide that to them. We can also sometimes help with client air for air airfare transportation for site inspections all those things are are you know in our toolkit we have an amazing virtual tour that we spend a lot of time during COVID to make sure it's up to date we can walk you through that and then you know really and we have our own meetings page which most DMOs do not have a dedicated called OrlandoMeeting.com. So that's a lot of resources there. And but you know at the end of the day we're we're the boots on the ground we're the we're here to help your planners create an unbelievable experience. We want your planners and their groups to leave Orlando and say well that was the best meeting we've ever had and we can't wait to come back.
SPEAKER_01Exactly and I love hearing you say that too so we'll be sure to put that website www orlando medi in our call notes. That way people can check it out when they're on Apple Pod or Spotify. And then I've got one last final question for you and this is kind of a fun one so no stress here if you were not working as the chief sales officer for visit Orlando what would you be doing and why? Is there anything that you're passionate about that's funny.
SPEAKER_00I would be I would have to be more wealthy than I am now but I would be a ski instructor in Switzerland. That would be my dream A, I love traveling internationally and I've skied since I was four. So that would be my that would be my dream um you know retirement slash you know don't have to really worry about anything else thing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah well and you're probably not doing a lot of that in Orlando so you would definitely have to move for that. Yeah. Well that's great Mike I really appreciate you sharing that kind of personal tidbit with us and also thank you so much for sharing all of this valuable information with us about Visit Orlando. So you've been a great guest today and uh we would love to have you maybe chat about something next year too as things continue to evolve. I've got to have you back on the podcast. We're glad to do it Nikki it was a pleasure all right thank you so much and thank you listeners please look for any of the websites or toolkits that we talked about today in our episode notes and thanks for joining us for another episode of Meetings Matter Chatter