Interview: Stacy Ritter, President CEO, Visit Lauderdale

Expansion

Convention Center work has continued unabated, with some elements slated for completion by October

What are your 2020 takeaways for Visit Lauderdale? One of the highlights is that the expansion project at the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center continues. The newly expanded exhibit hall is slated for completion by the end of October 2021 with other aspects of the project continuing. The project was planned long before the pandemic and has not stopped despite what has been going on for the past year. We actually closed the center about a year ago for construction. Not only that, we did not lose any convention center business during the pandemic. The county recognizes this project is incredibly important to the economy of the region and that viewpoint carried throughout the pandemic. Tourism has always been the No. 1 industry here in Broward County alongside its two other primary economic engines: Fort LauderdaleHollywood International Airport and Port Everglades.

What is your take on how the market is going to react to the upcoming pipeline of 17 new hotels in the region? Private equity investors are unwavering in their appreciation that this is a great place to invest. Capital costs are unprecedentedly cheap these days. Our data suggests that by this time next year, our visitor numbers and our bed tax revenue generation will be what they were in 2019 when we were at historically high collection rates. We anticipate we’ll be back to business as usual, if not business better than usual. These investors, these hotel projects recognize that when they come online, people will be traveling again. This is not an industry where you can build a hotel tomorrow. These projects have been in the pipeline for years. Projects that are going to be online in the next six to 12 months will be coming online at the exact right time if they are leisurefocused. If they focus on group sales — conferences, conventions, associations, incentives, exhibitions — those businesses book from five to six years in advance. We’re booking now for 2025 up to 2027.

What is your near-term outlook for the Fort Lauderdale area in terms of tourism and the hospitality industry? Everything we look at suggests that March 2022 will be at March 2019 numbers. The fact that it will only take us a year to fully recover is a highly positive forecast. We anticipate our recovery is going to be a lot quicker than some other destinations. That will go a long way into putting people back to work throughout the community. Our No. 1 mission here is to make sure we get businesses and visitors back.

While the next three to four months may be as difficult as the past year, we fully expect that the second half of 2021 and going into 2022 will be amazing. Tourism is going to recover very, very quickly here.

Stacy Ritter

President & CEO – Visit Lauderdale