Invest: spoke with Robert Agrusa, president and CEO of the Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association, about its Heart of Hospitality program, which helps to promote advancement in the sector, its multifaceted education program designed for workforce development in the hospitality industry, and record funding for Visit Florida.
What are you most proud of regarding the overall contributions of CFHLA over the last three years?
There is a lot, but I will bring it back to when I began my role in January 2021. We were at the height of the pandemic, and our industry, which represents one-third of the entire workforce, was crippled and came to a screeching halt in Central Florida. The tourism industry generates more than $87 billion in positive economic impact on the region, and our jobs and community were affected in so many ways. Professionals within the industry rely on our tourists to come here and fuel our sales tax and support our local economy, from retail to restaurants to small businesses and conventions. Luckily we’ve come roaring back over the last three years. In 2022, we brought back over 74 million visitors to the destination, just shy of our 2019 visitors of 75 million. We bounced back faster than anyone expected.
Our industry is now looking into the future because the landscape has changed tremendously. We are now working to position our industry and our workforce for the future. In 2022 and 2023, we evaluated our organization and created a new strategic plan, which we hadn’t done in a decade. The plan now entails industry recognition, taking and elevating the industry to a larger scale while promoting career paths in the hospitality industry. We want people to be able to work and move upward relatively quickly, so they can become a general manager of one of the most prominent properties in the world. One program, Heart of Hospitality, takes stories of individuals in the industry and brings them to life, showing how they are moving up in the industry. Another element is investing in workforce development and education. We know that 24% of our industry is near retirement age. Only less than 1% of 18-year-olds are currently employed in our industry, so we need to recruit the future generation to hospitality. That is where our focus has shifted, and we are dedicated to putting resources into getting people from hospitality and culinary programs so we can expose them to different career paths and recruit them directly into the industry.
How would you describe the region’s progress in workforce development?
Over the last five years, we have tracked the demand for hotel and lodging positions. In Central Florida, we have seen a 5% increase in growth within the job sector of hotels and resorts. First, we are focusing on primary and secondary education. We are identifying programs that have magnet programs, so we can get students energized about a future in the hospitality industry. The schools we are in are Title I, and they aren’t generally presented with these opportunities, so we are looking to open those doors for these students.
Second, we are helping students through CFHLA scholarships. We have given about $1.5 million in scholarships, including a record $130,000 last year.
Third is a focus on retention and recruitment. We’ve identified positions needed within the engineering departments, as we can’t find folks with hands-on skills who can work on HVAC and maintenance projects at our local hotels and resorts. Our engineers’ council has worked with Valencia College to create a new 10-week accelerated program that doesn’t require any experience in the field to begin.
The final factor is career development. We have taken up-and-coming diverse leaders in the industry and paired them with mentors. We pair small-business owners with people in our properties so we can expose an up-and-coming leader to leadership guidance, for example. If we don’t invest in our people, we will lose the industry we have worked so hard to build.
What is on your advocacy agenda this year?
We have been focusing a lot on our advocacy efforts. From a state perspective, we want to continue supporting the statewide funding of Visit Florida and its marketing efforts. This past year, we rallied to get $80 million in funding, the largest appropriation in the state’s history. There is also the tourist development tax, which is assessed every time you visit a hotel—the funds are used to drive more tourists to a destination. Fifty-one percent of our sales tax is from out-of-town visitors, so we must continue to drive more people to the destination, which inherently supports our community’s needs and priorities. For example, at the convention center, we recently approved enhancements so it can hold multiple conventions simultaneously, creating more revenue and a positive economic impact for our community.
How is the hospitality sector taking steps toward sustainability?
We have been working with our city and county governments. The technology in the new hotels we build is entirely sustainable. We have added charging stations for EV cars at our hotels. Many hotels also focus on sustainability in their processes. There isn’t room service every day, and we focus on being eco-friendly and more sustainable as we look to the long-term future. Overall, we are considering the consumer’s interests and have identified how to play a more vital role in being a partner for our community and the globe.
How has population and sports tourism growth changed the tourism industry in the Greater Orlando region?
Sports have exploded in Central Florida. People used to know only about the Orlando Magic, but then we brought in Orlando City Soccer. Since the pandemic, the Greater Orlando Sports Commission has worked hard to bring even more amateur and collegiate sports. Many destinations cannot offer tourism that complements sports, which has translated to historic heights, including the recent #1 ranking in the U.S. We are leading the entire nation regarding interest in these sporting events, and the economic data is backing it up.
What is your outlook for CFHLA in the near term, and what are your priorities?
Our vision is to be the country’s largest, most recognized, and influential regional hospitality association. As a critical community partner, our efforts create a place where people desire to work, visit, and play. That is our long-term trajectory, and it is what we will focus on as an industry and organization. Our advocacy for workforce housing and transportation are the things we need solutions for moving into the future. Another element is enhancing our community partnerships. Our starting wages are on par with construction, healthcare, and manufacturing. It is about elevating the industry so our community understands how we impact people’s lives and how we affect those not in the industry. This is what we will focus on for the next five years. The future is exceptionally bright.
