Orlando still top US destination

By MIKE SCHNEIDER

Associated Press

ORLANDO, Fla.

It’s a crowded world after all – at least in Orlando’s hotels and theme parks.

Tourism officials announced recently that the number of visitors coming to Orlando last year jumped 5.5 percent to more than 66 million visitors.

That figure sets a record for tourists in Orlando and helps the central Florida city hang onto its bragging rights as the top tourist destination in the United States for the second year in a row.

The head of Orlando’s tourist marketing bureau says a combination of factors contributed to the increase, including momentum from new theme park rides that had opened the previous year, such as Universal Studios’ Harry Potter ride, Diagon Alley, and Walt Disney World’s revamped Fantasyland.

But Visit Orlando CEO George Aguel also credited a new marketing campaign aimed at pulling on tourists’ heartstrings. Visit Orlando’s “Neverending Story” campaign encouraged Orlando visitors to share stories about their visits, as well as photos, and they were posted on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

“What makes this destination unique is that when you come here, you get a personal, memorable experience that you don’t typically get from visiting other destinations,” Aguel said. “People really make memories of a lifetime when they come here. It’s very emotional and we make an emotional connection and we sort of tapped into that.”

More than 10 million visitors came to Orlando for conventions or business meetings, Aguel said, and the tax collected on hotels and motels in 2015 was $230 million.

There were about 5.5 million international visitors and 60.5 million domestic tourists.

Canadians and Brazilians continued to be Orlando’s top source of visitors from outside the United States, despite a weak currency in Canada and an economic slowdown in Brazil, Aguel said.