Destination Articles

• The Call of The Wild

  By Jessie Fetterling

  November 20, 2012

  Florida is full of excitement, from Miami’s Latin-inspired festivities to Orlando’s never-ending theme-park rides. But it also offers a bounty of natural wonders to FdMisicaomvier : The tvheirrgdl aldaregse isn't cthorea sl orueethf . Tharrieern asytisotenm’s lianr gtehset wurobraldn opffar tkh sey cstoeamst of Jacksonville. And several national and state parks in between.

• Suprising Central Florida

  By Steve Winston

  August 30, 2012

  You probably know that Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center is the second-largest in America. You may know that Orlando has nearly 116,000 hotel rooms—the second most in America. And that it hosts the second-largest number of meetings and trade shows in the U.S. And of course you know its major theme parks all rank among the Top 10 in the world.

• Orlando: Three Days, Three Ways

  By Gary McKechnie

  April 28, 2012

  In 2010, Orlando became the first city in American history to welcome more than 50 million visitors in a single year. This happened because, among other reasons, Orlando is home to seven of the world’s top 10 most visited theme parks, as well as one of the busiest airports on earth. The city also offers the nation’s second-largest convention center and a 115,200-room inventory among its resorts and hotels. Perfectly placed in the heart of Central Florida, Orlando is only 45 minutes from the Atlantic Ocean and 90 minutes west of the Gulf of Mexico. Not only does a slate of international corporations call it home; nearly 400 arts and cultural organizations do as well. Per capita, Orlando has the country’s highest number of entertainers and artists ready to share their creative talents.

  In addition to regional U.S. fare, Orlando restaurants feature international cuisine for an international clientele, and there are more certified wine sommeliers than in Paris. It’s quite likely, too, that the 176 golf courses and golf resorts surrounding the City Beautiful far surpass those found in the City of Light.

  It’s difficult to see everything Orlando has to offer. But with advanced planning, incentive groups, midsize corporate groups and large associations can get a satisfying taste of it over three days.

• Florida’s Heartland

  By Robert Jenkins

  August 29, 2011

  On a map, the area of central Florida defined by Orlando, Daytona Beach and Kissimmee is a pretty narrow triangle. But it offers planners the broadest range of meeting options outside its high-tech convention centers: an oceanfront playground, the world’s most-popular collection of theme parks and simple, back-to-nature Florida. You can put your delegates in hotels streamlined to host conventions or lodgings with décor that plays upon fantasies and dreams. As for the all-important R&R outside the professional development sessions and exhibit halls, planners will need a checklist—there’s hot-air ballooning, ziplining, getting up-close-if-not-quite-personal with alligators, surfing and golfing where the top pros compete. Airlift is among the nation’s best, with no winter storms to close the runways.

• Capture the Magic

  By Karen Misuraca

  February 28, 2011

  Dependably sunny skies, world-famous theme parks, a NASCAR speedway, hundreds of golf courses and endless beaches are the main attractions in East Central Florida. Add to that affordable, high-tech meeting and event venues and services, plus top-notch international airport accessibility, and you begin to understand why Orlando, Kissimmee and Daytona Beach are unbeatable for meetings and conventions.

• Florida's Northern Exposure

  By Maxine Cass

  October 28, 2010

  Orlando is the big kid on the block for Florida meetings with the most meeting space in the state, while three Sunshine State destinations in the north offer small- and medium-size meetings a taste of history and nature in a relaxed setting. St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra and The Beaches combine the country’s oldest city, golf and Atlantic beaches. Tallahassee, Florida’s capital, is a mecca for nature lovers, surrounded by natural attractions such as freshwater springs, a wildlife refuge and arched trees over canopy roads. On Florida’s Panhandle, the emerald waters and white-sand beaches of Destin, Fort Walton Beach and Okaloosa Island nurture conferences in a laid-back atmosphere.