Events at Amway Center and other nearby Orlando venues are drawing more tourists to downtown, according to data.
Repeat visitors, word of mouth help trend grow
Downtown Orlando’s combination of arts and sporting events, topped with restaurants and nightlife, has made its way to tourist itineraries.
The Downtown Orlando Information Center recorded a 6 percent year-over-year increase in the number of tourists registering there in 2015, said Thomas Chatmon, executive director of Orlando’s Downtown Development Board/Community Development Agency.
Of that 8,550 people, 40 percent were international, said Chatmon.
“We’re seeing diversity in the demographic of people coming to downtown,” he said.
Bridget Keefe, executive director of the Downtown Orlando Partnership, said she has noticed an increase in the number of tourists spending time downtown.
“It’s definitely visible,” she said.
Keefe’s organization works to “enhance business and community relationships through collaborative events downtown and initiatives.” They work with businesses downtown to organize and host events, including the Downtown Food Tours created last year after seeing the increase.
The tours, offered every Saturday from 2-4 p.m., take guests through the Central Business District on a culinary walk with stops at a variety of participating restaurants.
“It’s just meant to be supplementary to their trip,” she said.
The tour has been so successful that Partnership leaders are discussing if they want to expand the program with new tours, said Keefe.
Orlando also offers Downtown Historic Walking Tours, which focuses on buildings in downtown that have been updated or renovated for modern uses and lasts 90 minutes.
Chatmon said 2015’s success can partially be credited for the number of community venues that went online or under renovation in recent years.
“I think downtown has become recognized for sport and arts,” he said.
Between the Orlando Magic and concerts at Amway Center, performances at Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, and Orlando City soccer games at Orlando Citrus Bowl, the city’s venues increase the likelihood visitors will go there.
“It gives them a different perspective of our city,” said Chatmon.
Alan Fyall, professor at the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management, said urban tourism has been popular in large cities for a long time — Orlando’s just a little late catching on to that trend.
“I think, generally, there’s an element of surprise when people go downtown,” said Fyall, who moved to Central Florida about three years ago.
Fyall said some of the increased tourist traffic to downtown is twofold: it is the result of more word-ofmouth recommendations from locals and what happens when the region gets repeat visitors.
Repeat visitors, said Fyall, eventually start “branching out” and want to find new adventures away from the three theme parks and major attractions south of the city.
Ting Rappa, founder of American Ghost Adventures, which offers ghost tours in downtown, said she gets her fair share of Central Florida’s repeat visitors.
“I think Disney had such a good marketing program where they were giving them packages to make them stay on property,” said Rappa. “But if you’ve done that three or five years, you’ve done it all.”
Rappa, however, doesn’t think the city has done enough to make downtown a priority for tourists. She’d like more family-oriented businesses or attractions to entice new visitors.
“I think it’s a little shift in spending habits,” she said. “But we’re going to lose them again if we don’t amp it up.”