Visit Orlando

To preview Visit Orlando’s Magical Dining presented by Orlando Health, beginning Aug 16 – Sept. 30, our team collaborated with Yelp Orlando to host an exclusive Yelp Elite Squad preview dinner at The Pinery, an upscale dining venue located in Ivanhoe Village in downtown Orlando. The event brought together Yelp Orlando’s top reviewers, local food influencers, as well as representatives from the Yelp community, Ivanhoe Village, charity beneficiary The Mustard Seed of Central Florida and presenting sponsor Orlando Health.

Visit Orlando’s Chief Marketing Officer Danielle Hollander joined Casey Leppanen (Experience Kissimmee) and Gui Cunha (Seminole County Government) for Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association (CFHLA)'s (CFHLA) Mentoring Program panel to discuss 2024 travel trends, future marketing campaigns and more. Danielle highlighted the value of tourism, Visit Orlando’s role in booking meetings and conventions and the impact of Visit Orlando’s campaigns like "Winter Doesn’t Exist," culinary features such as Netflix’s "Somebody Feed Phil," and multicultural initiatives to attract visitors to our destination. CFHLA’s Mentoring Program engages 18 up-and-coming professionals in Central Florida’s hospitality industry through networking, philanthropy and education.

Visit Orlando team members joined community leaders and business professionals at the I-Drive Chamber's "Heart of I-Drive" luncheon to celebrate the many ways our tourism industry gives back to the local community, from volunteering and mentoring youth to financial and in-kind donations. As part of the celebration, ICON Park was honored with the 2024 Harris Rosen Philanthropic Award, given annually to a business that demonstrates exceptional philanthropic work, making our community and the world a better place. Congratulations to Chris Jaskiewicz, Visit Orlando board member and ICON Park President & CEO, and his team for this outstanding accomplishment!

City of Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, President & CEO of United Arts of Central Florida Jennifer Evins, and various community arts agencies recently introduced DTOLive, downtown Orlando’s newest arts initiative. The unique experience will transform downtown Orlando, with more than 800 events a year at 11 public spaces and showcase our destination’s arts and cultural experiences to residents and travelers seven days a week. DTOLive is a collaborative effort between the City of Orlando’s Downtown Development Board, United Arts of Central Florida, Inc., the Creative City Project, and the Downtown Arts District. It will feature a daily schedule of live performances at iconic locations. https://bit.ly/3We5wCB

Please join us in welcoming Lisa Messina to Visit Orlando! Lisa will begin August 19 as Chief Sales Officer and oversee several departments, including the meeting & convention sales and experience team, travel industry sales, membership and supporting services. She joins our organization at a crucial time as the Orange County Convention Center embarks on an expansion project to the North-South Building, opening up opportunities for new businesses to our region. Welcome, Lisa! Read the press release: https://lnkd.in/eSrrW7QR

Visit Orlando’s destination experience team welcomed the National Association of Home Builders to Orlando for a site visit ahead of its International Builders Show 2026 in February 2026. Co-located with the National Kitchen & Bath Show, the events will use all three concourses at the Orange County Convention Center, attracting an estimated 80,000 attendees. The group visited several venues during their site visit, including The Hampton Social, Kavas Tacos & Tequila Bar, LIVE! At Pointe Orlando, Mango’s Tropical Café, Tom’s Watch Bar and the Universal Orlando Resort EPIC Universe Preview Center. Visit Orlando's destination experience team serves as the local experts to connect our clients with Orlando businesses to create exceptional events that positively impact our local economy.

Orlando has been named North America's Leading City Break Destination 2024 in the 2024 World Travel Awards, marking the second consecutive year and fourth overall win. The World Travel Awards recognizes and celebrates excellence across the travel, tourism and hospitality sectors. https://bit.ly/4eSTPZk

One of the most magical times of year is almost here! Celebrating 19 years, Visit Orlando’s Magical Dining presented by Orlando Health returns this fall from Aug. 16 through Sept. 30 with a record-breaking 150 restaurants, including 25 new restaurants and nine recognized by The MICHELIN Guide! Menus are now live on the new OrlandoMagicalDining.com website. Browse the selections and book your reservations today. And remember, it’s all for a great cause with every meal raising money for a local charity! Discover more: https://bit.ly/3xXS0cM #MagicalDining Orlando Health

As part of Orlando’s Summer of Soccer, with several major international events held in our destination, Visit Orlando collaborated with ESPN Chile to increase awareness for the destination around the Copa America 2024 match between Canada and Chile at INTER&Co Stadium. Through the partnership, Visit Orlando’s TV spots aired daily during SportsCenter and Futbol studio shows. The coverage also included on-site reporting and editorial content previewing the matchup, highlighting Orlando as the host city by showcasing Luminary Green Park in downtown Orlando, Winter Park and insights from fans immersed in the excitement. It was the first time Visit Orlando aired its TV commercials in the Chile market.

Visit Orlando’s travel industry sales team participated in the Travel Planners International Open House, a tradeshow mixer attended by over 200 travel advisors nationwide. Additionally, they recently joined over 3,000 travel advisors at the annual Travel Leaders Network EDGE Conference. Travel Leaders Network, one of the largest global travel consortiums with over 100,000 advisors, books tens of thousands of hotel room nights annually for Orlando. During these events, our team conducted destination training sessions and operated a booth at the trade show.