From high honors to a new app, here's your weekly look at what's happening across America's most visited destination.
Visit Orlando Receives Golden Dragon Award
Last weekend, I had the pleasure of joining Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, along with other elected officials and community leaders at the Asian American Chamber of Commerce's Golden Dragon Awards. Visit Orlando was recognized with the chamber's highest honor for the significant community impact we generate by representing our destination on a global scale. A special thanks to AACC President Coco Johnston and her volunteer leaders for their hard work in helping our Asian American business community continue to succeed in Central Florida, and congratulations to all the other award winners. Above: Ray Hyde and Tina Huynh, Northrop Grumman, and Coco Johnston, AACC.
New Destination App Now Available
This week, we rolled out our newly redesigned Visit Orlando App, the ultimate digital guide to all things Orlando. Now available in English, Spanish and Portuguese, the app features discount tickets to theme parks and attractions, as well as trip-planning resources, interactive maps, access to expert vacation guides, and the latest destination information. Download it today on Google Play or the App Store.
Training Latin American Travel Professionals
We recently partnered with Agentes de Viajes, a key Latin America tour operator, to host a destination orientation and member marketplace. More than 300 travel professionals heard updates from several member companies and were introduced to our newly redesigned Orlando Travel Academy, which provides tools and resources to help sell our destination. Last month, our team also hosted 30 top-selling travel agents and tour operators from the key international market of Mexico.
'Elvis Duran and The Morning Show' Spotlights Orlando
Visit Orlando just wrapped up a month-long effort with the highly popular "Elvis Duran and The Morning Show," the most-listened-to Top 40 morning radio show in the U.S. This partnership helped our destination secure national coverage in 80 markets, reaching 3.5 million weekly listeners. The show also sent co-host Danielle Monaro to Orlando, where she created five social media videos (recap above) about her family's adventures. By the end of the promotion, 10 lucky listeners had won a family trip to Orlando.
OTHER NEWS FROM VISIT ORLANDO
» Thanks to Visit Orlando's public relations team, Today.com featured a detailed roundup of Orlando's Halloween events.
» Last week, our community relations team spoke to Oak Ridge High School students taking classes in the Academy of Hospitality & Tourism. Through its hospitality management magnet program, Oak Ridge provides valuable career readiness experiences such as job shadowing, mentor programs and internships.
» With support from our meetings and conventions team, 500 financial and technology professionals will converge on the Rosen Centre Oct. 23-25 for the Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals' annual convention. Local hospitality professionals interested in attending are encouraged to register online.
