In an interview with Invest:, Mark Tester, executive director of the Orange County Convention Center, talked about the impact that investments in facilities for sport tourism will have on Orlando’s tourism sector and the recovery in attendance rates after COVID-19 because of people having more flexible schedules.
How have attendance rates at the Orange County Convention Center evolved over the past year?
2023 was not only our 40th anniversary but also a year of attendance recovery. As COVID-19 restrictions disappeared, we saw one event after the other reach and surpass pre-pandemic levels. With the size of the Orange County Convention Center, every event that we host is the most important in that industry. Our events are where the movers and shakers go and new products are launched, so attendance has exploded. We know that if you bring quality buyers, the sponsors and exhibitors will come in a big way, which is what we are seeing. In 2024, we are seeing exhibitors and sponsors spend more after seeing great events in the past year. The convention industry has incredibly healthy events, and it is recovering very quickly, so we are excited about our future.
At the same time, we are seeing people follow their passions in terms of hobbies and athletics. For instance, we sold 184,000 tickets for Megacon, which is our version of ComicCon. We saw something similar happen with amateur athletics, the first market to return after the pandemic. The first event of that sort that we hosted was the AAU Junior National Volleyball Championship in July 2020, and we have seen those events come back in a big way. People with a family member who is a middle or high school athlete who aspires to go to college will get involved. The amateur athletic market has also become a big market for us in Orlando. Our largest attendance event, with close to 200,000 people, will be the Junior National Volleyball Championship. Nevertheless, we host all sports – cheerleading, wrestling, dance, basketball– and all are well attended.
How has the trend of “bleisure” travel impacted the tourism sector in Orlando?
We have noticed that as people have more flexible schedules, bleisure (business and leisure) has become a big topic. People are tying together a little bit of R&R alongside business or amateur athletics events. They are adding two or three days on the front or the back end of a business trip or sports trip. Orlando is the best tourist location for that – people can go to theme parks, host family events, enjoy the weather, and visit nearby beaches and amenities, which makes us a great draw. Our busiest time is between January and March. We are seeing an unbelievable demand because the weather is much better during this time than in other places around the country.
How is Orlando’s tourism sector shifting because of investments in sports stadiums?
We aim to attract events that bring tourists, but the different players do things differently to support the overall market. For instance, Camping World Stadium is making its facility more competitive by adding more big-time events, such as the Pro Bowl, and participating in the international soccer market. On the other hand, the University of Central Florida continues to grow its offerings after receiving tourist development tax funds to expand its football stadium and joining the Big 12 Conference. In the case of the Orange County Convention Center, it is, for the most part, amateur athletics. Nevertheless, we have hosted the NBA G League’s mid-winter tournament and the Mr. Olympia Fitness Week on several occasions. Moreover, the Kia Center is important to maintain our basketball status with the Orlando Magic.
How is the growth of sports tourism impacting the greater economy of Orange County?
As our tourism sector grows, it helps us attract trade shows and conventions where the growth is occurring. For instance, the development of the medical offerings in the Lake Nona area has made us more attractive to medical conventions such as the American College of Chest Physicians and the American College of Rheumatoid Medicine. Moreover, as our economy grows, more people are looking to attend events, from volleyball tournaments to conventions like the Veterinary Meeting & Expo (VMX).
How is the Orange County Convention Center incorporating sustainability into its business model?
Sustainability has become very important in our industry for several years. Our North-South building is LEED Gold certified, and we aim to adopt additional efforts to make us more sustainable. For instance, we are replacing the roof in our North-South Building, and at the same time, we will replace nearly 6,000 solar panels that are now old technology, bringing more sustainability to the facility. When we do not have an event in our facility, the new solar array will make our building carbon-neutral and help us save more energy.
We also prioritize reducing the carbon footprint of the events that we host. We want to partner with our clients to recycle and reclaim as many products as possible so that as little as possible goes to the landfill. On occasion, it does not make sense financially for an exhibitor to send their booth or leftover products back to their organization, so we work with them through our sustainability team to donate those items to nonprofits and give them back to the community. For instance, leftover pet products and supplies from the Global Pet Expo, such as pet food, toys, and collars, will be donated back to a local animal charity. Additionally, in January 2024, we packaged over five million meals at three different events. Our events help better our community whether that is through donations, food, or community service projects.
How will the redevelopment of Orange County Convention Center’s North-South Building increase the hosting capabilities?
The Orange County Board of County Commissioners and the Mayor approved a significant capital improvement project on our North-South Building, which will be a great benefit. When our North-South Building was developed, it was impacted by the effects of 9/11 on the tourist development tax that we rely on significantly. We had to cut some key components off that building, but with the new development, we will finish the building. That project will include a large concourse that connects our North and South sides with big pre-function areas, concession stands, and areas for mingling, as well as an 80,000-square-foot ballroom and 60,000 square feet of meeting space.
The improvement project of our North-South Building will enable us to layer robust events on top of each other. Additionally, many events need a big ballroom or a lot of meeting rooms, so that project will give us a lot more flexibility to host any type of event. On November 15, the Board of County Commissioners approved a reinstatement agreement to bring back the original design team for that project. We are officially in the design phase for that facility. It will take the rest of this calendar year to do that, and will hopefully break ground on that project sometime in 2025.
Our West Building is already one of the greatest event facilities in the world. We have every amenity needed to host any type of event, with 1.1 million square feet of exhibit space that breaks into 15 different configurations, a 60,000-square-foot ballroom, and 135 meeting rooms. We are excited about that, as having two state-of-the-art facilities will allow us to host more robust events.
