Orlando tourism is on track for visitor growth this year, thanks to an influx of international tourists and a push to showcase its non-theme park offerings, as the destination holds steady amid an overall domestic travel slowdown.
But current hotel data indicates a downturn in the Orlando market as it settles back to more normalized, prepandemic travel patterns.
Visit Orlando, the destination’s tourism marketing organization, reported that metro Orlando hotels saw a 2.4% decrease in occupancy and a 0.9% drop in demand year to date through August, compared to the same time frame last year. ADR over the same period remained relatively flat with a slight 0.1% increase, while RevPAR declined by 2.3%.
These hotel performance indicators come as Orlando’s visitor numbers held steady at around 74 million last year, buoyed by the destination’s international tourism sector, which grew by 25%, to 6.1 million travelers, in 2023.
“We did see a little bit of dip domestically, but overall, our international growth was really strong,” said Visit Orlando CEO Casandra Matej.
Orlando’s experience was similar to that of the U.S. overall, which saw domestic leisure growth decelerate in 2023 after surging in 2022 as travel restarted.
Visit Orlando anticipates modest growth of 1% to 2% in overall visitation for 2024, said Maria Henson, senior director of market research and insights at Visit Orlando. The destination’s fourth quarter, traditionally strong because of Halloween celebrations and the holiday season, should help drive a solid year’s end, Matej added.
The Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association also reported that demand was “a little bit softer” this summer, said CEO Robert Agrusa, noting that many U.S. travelers opted to fly to international destinations like Europe or returned to sea after the cruise industry’s extended pandemic-era pause.
But Agrusa said there is optimism that 2025 will be strong, citing the highly anticipated opening of Universal Orlando Resort’s third theme park.
“Next year, we’ll be having a new theme park in our destination: Epic Universe,” he said, calling the expansion “a major opportunity for our community.”
Epic Universe will be home to more than 50 attractions, entertainment, dining and shopping experiences as well as the Universal Helios Grand Hotel. (Two more properties, the Universal Stella Nova Resort and Universal Terra Luna Resort, are slated to open adjacent to the park by the first quarter of next year.)
Katie Coleman, a Florida-based travel advisor with SuperfamilyTravelistic, reported that she’s seen a slight drop in Universal Studios demand among her clientele, even as her more Disney-focused business remains strong.
“I think that speaks to the fact that Epic Universe is coming out next year, and so people are waiting,” she said. “People are cautious and curious.”
Visit Orlando’s Henson, however, said concerns about visitation dips due to upcoming openings don’t pan out in the data.
“Looking at all of the major openings going back to the ’90s, we really do not see any major delay in visitation,” Henson said. “We have so many visitors, and if you haven’t been here the last three, five or seven years, the number of new products and experiences that will be new to you is incredible.”
Outdoor activities in Orlando
Epic Universe is far from the only demand-driver Orlando is putting in the spotlight these days.
In a bid to diversify its visitor base, Visit Orlando and other tourism stakeholders are actively promoting the destination’s expanding array of nature-oriented and cultural attractions.
“Sometimes people don’t view us as this outdoor destination, but we actually have a lot of ecotourism,” said Visit Orlando’s Matej, pointing to activities like kayaking or swimming with manatees in local springs as examples of the area’s outdoorsy offerings.
Matej also highlighted Orlando’s burgeoning arts and culture scene, with its Broadway-caliber shows at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts and the Blue Man Group making its return to Orlando at Icon Park on International Drive next year.
SuperfamilyTravelistic’s Coleman said that some of her clients are expressing interest in diversifying their Orlando itineraries, cutting back on pricey theme park days in favor of other local experiences.
“I’m seeing those families who fall more in the value range going toward vacation rentals, and since they’re not staying in that Disney bubble, I’m helping them figure out other things to do in Orlando,” said Coleman, who typically suggests options like an NBA game at the Kia Center, a Gatorland visit or a trip to the Kennedy Space Center.
The Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association’s Agrusa predicted that Orlando’s reputation as a destination will continue to evolve as the city further matures.
“You know, we’re still relatively young in the grand scheme of things — we’re still only 60 or 70 years old as a community,” he said. “We have a culture that has now grown here with our employee base and the people who have decided that this is home, and with that comes all these new experiences, from music to art to museums and other things that have not been as traditional for our destination as they have for many older metropolitan areas.”
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