Learning from the Orlando Hospitality Industry

Orlando’s hospitality and tourism sector is booming. According to statistics from the Orlando Economic Development commission, the city now has an expanding tourism and hospitality sector accounting for 25.5% of the local workforce. Hospitality now outpaces retail trade, financial activities and manufacturing as the leader in the creation of local jobs. Orlando also boasts one of the youngest populations in the State of Florida with 33 being the average age of workers there. What is clear from the numbers is that the hospitality and tourism sector is expanding massively. However, it wasn’t always this way. Orlando’s tourism and hospitality industry was severely paralyzed by the economic crash in 2008, unemployment skyrocketed to 11.9%, but has since fallen to its pre-crash levels, which shows that the industry nationally is likely to follow suit. With this in mind, what can the hospitality and tourism sector in the U.S. learn from booming Orlando?

Orlando – Best in Show for Hospitality

So what makes Orlando so special? Well, the city wasn’t always a mecca for tourism and hospitality. It is a work in progress, much like any sustainable business model. The birth of tourism in Orlando really began with the construction of Walt Disney World in the late 1960s. The opening of Disney World in 1971, and the expansion of the theme park into a resort destination increased tourism and created a booming hospitality industry to cater for the influx of visitors to the State. The arrival of Universal Orlando then consolidated the area as one of the most successful and lucrative tourism destinations in the U.S.

“The impact of tourism on our community is remarkable,” said the Mayor of Orange County Teresa Jacobs after the release of new tourism numbers for Orlando. “Our travel and hospitality industry helps to support a great quality of life for Orlando’s residents.”

According to the Orlando Economic Development Commission Disney World and Universal are now two of the three largest employers in the area. Disney have a workforce of 74,000, while Universal are at 19,000. Many of these jobs are within the hospitality and tourism sector and have a huge impact on the local economy. So, if you work in hospitality what can you learn from the success of Orlando? We’ve put together a few tips, based on the Orlando story that might help you to emulate that success.

Increase Your Offering

As well as surpassing New York City to become America’s number one tourist destination, Orlando has become a mecca for business tourism, particularly those related to the hospitality and tourism industry itself. The U.S. Travel Association, who promote and advocate on behalf of U.S. travel organisations, recently held its annual conference in Orlando, where $5 billion in U.S. sales and travel deals were negotiated, according to the Orlando Sentinel. If your own city has a convention center it is essential to capitalize upon it. Conferences bring business people into your area and, all going well, show your area at its best to them. It is not the money made during a conference itself that is the big win but the knock on business that is of greater value to the local economy. As a hospitality professional, you must ensure that you are diversifying your offering. You must also ensure you are being strategic, in order to succeed.

Never Forget Customer Service

As a hotel manager, obviously your main concern is the happiness of your guests. After visiting Orlando it is clear that the staff within each hotel are very well trained and versed on the needs of their guests. Staff are immersed in the customer service ethos resulting in a distinct competitive advantage for the area compared to others.Similarly, restaurants there maintain a continuous level of professionalism and customer focus which all adds up to a very positive guest experience. It may sound obvious, but it’s the little things that customers remember, like the accommodation of a person who eats very little for instance. Guests do remember a nice staff member, but they love someone who appears to be going out of their way to help you. Orlando has mastered the art of superb customer service, by giving customers exactly what they want at a very affordable cost. This is the major lesson to be learned for other areas.

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Find Your Special Sauce

Not everyone is lucky enough to have Disney World in its’ area but it helps if you have something to market. Californian towns often base their tourism model solely on the local climate and a laid back way of life which doesn’t sound like the most compelling offering but when done well it results in great success for the region. Paris has the Eiffel Tower, Iceland has the Hot Springs, Peru has the Incan Ruins and Germany has a vast history, from Berlin to the horrors of Auschwitz. The last example shows that ‘attractions’ do not necessarily have to be attractive and taking an open minded attitude into seeing the value of your area can reap rewards in the long term.

What it comes down to is that hospitality is about giving people a reason to visit. It would be a good idea to ask yourself what is it you offer, what can you sell to people?

Leverage Incentives

The United States has the highest corporate tax rate in the world at 39.2%, according to CNN, But in Orlando the corporate tax rate stands at 5.5% compared to 13% Statewide, according to the Tax Foundation. Orlando, with low taxes and and an expanding workforce has positioned itself as business friendly area and welcomes those who want to capitaize on its booming tourism and hospitality sector. For your organisation, regardless of what sector that may be in, Orlando offers targeted industry incentives for companies who create high-wage jobs, and grants for companies who create 25 or more full-time positions.

Tourism and hospitality in the rest of the U.S. can learn a lot from Orlando’s example. They can look at how they organise their workforce, analyze the range of incentives the city has operating for businesses and can take stock at the sheer number- and size- of their theme parks and try to develop a similar approach. Orlando didn’t develop overnight, it took a long time for the city to get where it is, but we hope some of these tips help in creating a stellar tourist destination in your area.

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