Orlando Under Development, Expanding Biz Options
Five billion dollars of construction in Orlando will not inconvenience business travelers visiting the area in coming months, but will make the city a more attractive destination for corporate travel buyers, according to officials.
Important changes in the city's infrastructure include the expansion of the Orlando International Airport and the growth of the Orange County Convention Center and its adjacent hotels.
Hank Roeder, director of meetings and conventions at the National Business Travel Association, agreed that Orlando is improving as a business destination. "We are aware of the expansions in Orlando on the convention center side as well as the hotel side," he said. With conventions set for 2002 and 2003, NBTA is planning for 2004, "and we will be considering major properties in Orlando. The city is competing among the big boys, and upcoming airport and venue expansions will put Orlando in the major league."
Orlando International Airport has the fifth-highest growth rate in the country, according to Carolyn Fennel, director of public relations for the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority. The airport expects to handle 38 million passengers by 2005, up from 31 million this year. It is in response to this growing demand that $1 billion worth of construction currently is underway at the airport, she said.
Expansion at the airport includes the construction of a new runway, a new air traffic control tower and a new passenger terminal. Orlando's existing terminal is designed to handle about 36 million passengers, and the new terminal will expand total capacity to about 70 million by 2005.
Fennel said customer service, price and punctuality are among the airport's strongest points, adding that, "Travelers in the airport should hardly notice the construction at all." In fact, she said, the airport won first place in the J.D. Powers and Associates 2000 Domestic Airport Passenger Satisfaction Survey.
In terms of Orlando International's selling points, Fennel said the facility enjoys a "very good on-time rate" for departing flights, with a 70 percent on-time arrival rate and an 80 percent on-time departure rate. The airport is relatively inexpensive, too. Airline fees equate to less than $5 per passenger boarding, a bargain compared with major airports in such cities as San Francisco at $7.83, Miami at $10.63 and Denver at $13.07.
Existing amenities that please business travelers include dataports at all public phone banks and 15 restaurants on property, ranging from such fast-food establishments as McDonald's to upscale eateries like the Hemispheres Cafe. Added Fennel, "Business travelers coming through Orlando experience great ease of transportation when it comes to getting to our downtown hotels. We have very little traffic between the airport and downtown, and we have the largest car rental market in the world."
Meanwhile, Orlando's Orange County Convention Center, which at 4 million square feet already is one of the largest in the country, will double its space by 2005, said Bill Peeper, president of the Orlando Convention and Visitors Bureau. A new convention hall that will constitute much of the center's increase in size, will be done by 2003. "Out first show in the new hall is booked for October 2003," Peeper said. When the work is done, the convention center will be the second-largest in the nation, after Chicago's McCormick Place complex.
Diane McNeill, director of citywide sales for the Orlando CVB, acknowledged that "most corporate travel buyers are more concerned with hotel growth than convention center changes." She said many hotels near the convention center are expanding and that several new properties are slated for the area.
The Downtown Orlando Hyatt will have 1,400 guest rooms by 2004, McNeill said, and will be connected to the convention center by an overhead walkway. Additionally, the Peabody Orlando will expand to a total of 1,800 guest rooms by 2005. And by summer 2003, new projects by Horizons by Marriott Vacation Club, Ritz-Carlton and local developer Rosen Hotels & Resorts also will attract business travelers to the city.