2014 Lakeland Convention & Visitors Bureau Annual Report

LAKELAND, FLORIDA

L A K E L A N D

LOCATED IN THE MIDDLE OF CENTRAL FLORIDA, Lakeland is everything you look for in a Florida vacation! If the Tigers’ Spring Training isn’t enough baseball action for you, Lakeland has 8 major league teams within an hour’s drive! Lakeland offers year ‘round baseball action with the Lakeland Flying tigers, as their Minor League team also calls Lakeland home! When not at the ballpark, Lakeland recommends 14 area championship golf

F L O R I D A

courses, a historic downtown district with antique and specialty shops, great museums, the world’s largest single site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright Architecture, great shopping locations, beautiful parks and more than 100 area fishing and recreational lakes. Check out nearby Fantasy of Flight, Bok Tower Gardens, LEGOLAND Florida, Disney World, Universal Studios, Busch Gardens and Florida’s famous Gulf and Atlantic beaches!

For more information contact the Lakeland Convention and Visitors Bureau at (863) 688-8551 or visit LakelandChamber.com

LAKELAND AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 1-800-828-7655 visitcentralflorida.org

35 Lake Morton Drive • Lakeland, Florida 33801 (863) 688-8551 • LakelandChamber.com

AS ONE OF FLORIDA’S TOP INDUSTRIES, TOURISM IS THE LARGEST JOB CREATOR AND A LEADING DRIVER OF THE STATE’S ECONOMY. Lakeland and Polk County remains a competitive tourist destination providing a solid foundation to a more stable economic future and a higher quality of life for all our citizens. This past year has produced record numbers of visitors for Florida - including Polk County and Lakeland! According to preliminary estimates, 26.7 million visitors came to Florida from January through March, an increase of 2 percent over the same period last year. In Polk County and Lakeland - that number increases to 13% over the same period last year!

OUR MISSION To market Lakeland and Polk County as an ideal convention and tourism destination resulting in increased sales of room nights, generate tourism tax revenues and employment opportunities.

AND FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SEVERAL YEARS, HOTEL AND MOTEL SALES INCREASED. Several factors contribute to the increase, continued optimum targeted marketing and sales strategies, extreme weather conditions in many of our visitor origins, increased attendance for our key events and a rise in government and corporate travel. This is especially significant for Lakeland visitors as the commercial traveler makes up approximately 30-33% of our annual overnight stays. In Winter Haven and other areas, LEGOLAND and STREAMSONG have significantly impacted Lakeland’s visitor numbers—staying here while enjoying their amenities. Spring Training and our multiple Championship Events at The Lakeland Center account for much of February and March’s increase.

With the success of Sun ‘n Fun this year, our April numbers increased by 8%.

LAKELAND’S ECONOMIC FUTURE IS INTERCONNECTED WITH TRAVEL AND TOURISM! More than 584 million people visited Lakeland last year generating millions of dollars in economic support of our City. More than 300 business in greater Lakeland are directly associated with the tourism industry which employs approximately 20,000 citizens in Polk County. When it comes to sales tax revenues, no other industry as proven as powerful as the tourism industry for Florida.

In 2014, tourism generated 23% of the sales tax revenues for Florida or $4.6 billion dollars! Tourism sales break down to 25.2% pf spending on lodging, 16.8% on admissions to attractions, 44.7% in dining, and 13.3% other expenditures such as shopping!

Additionally, REVENUES FROM POLK COUNTY’S BED TAX WAS A MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR TOWARDS THE FUNDING OF THE RENOVATION OF JOKER MARCHANT STADIUM necessary to extend the contract to keep our Detroit Tigers in Spring Training - and all their minor leagues in Lakeland for another 20 years. Their combined economic impact reaches more than $60 million in Lakeland and Polk County.

GOALS & OBJECTIVES •Promote and support special events with potential to bring overnight visitors •Implement a comprehensive marketing plan including the artistic, cultural and heritage assets of Lakeland Chamber of Commerce •Establish a broad image for Lakeland as an ideal destination •Focus on increasing visitor numbers during umbrella seasons •Increase market share within Polk County and Florida •Create a friendly environment for Lakeland’s visitors

MIGUEL CABRERA Most Valuable Player American League

MAX SCHERZER Cy Young Winner American League

JUSTIN VERLANDER

JUSTIN VERLANDER

AY, FEBRUARY 20

THURSD • GATES OPEN 6 PM JOKER MARCHANT STADIUM Florida 33805 2301 Lakeland Hills Blvd. • Lakeland,

www.LakelandChamber.com Tigers Join us in welcoming back our Detroit 2014! to Lakeland for SPRING TRAINING & under ) $25 ADULTS $50 • CHILDREN (12 NON-CHAMBER MEMBERS $60 BBQ WITH A 2014 SOUVENIR MUG! ENJOY TRADITIONAL SOUTHERN NO TAKE OUT ORDERS • NO AUTOGRAPHS SPONSORED BY

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20

JOKER MARCHANT STADIUM

• GATES OPEN 6 PM

2301 Lakeland Hills Blvd. • Lakeland, Florida 33805 www.LakelandChamber.com

Join us in welcoming back our Detroit Tigers to Lakeland for SPRING TRAINING 2014!

ENJOY TRADITIONAL SOUTHE RN WITH A 2014 SOUVENIR MUG!BBQ NO TAKE OUT ORDERS • NO AUTOGRAPHS SPONSORED BY

LCVB works because of partnerships: •The City of Lakeland - including The Lakeland Center and Parks and Recreation •The Central Florida Visitors and Convention Bureau •Polk County Sports Marketing •The Detroit Tigers •The Lakeland Flying Tigers •Sun ‘n Fun •Visit Florida •Florida Southern College •Southeastern College •Polk State College •The Lakeland Hotel & Motel Association •Downtown Lakeland Partnership •Lakeland Downtown Development Authority •And several industry related venues have all increased our ability with regard to public relations, familiarization tours, social media, print media internet media and networking.

•Partnered with the CFVCB to bring the SKILLS USA Competition from Pensacola to The Lakeland Center with approximately 2500 attendees for three years 2015 through 2017. Attended the last event in Pensacola to assist with implementing the event to be held in Lakeland for three years.

•Partnered with the CFVCB in a Spring Training Advertising and Promotional Campaign promoting a very successful Spring Training in Lakeland.

•Partnered with City of Lakeland and The Detroit Tigers to help successfully obtain funding for renovation of Joker Marchant Stadium.

•Organized a group of Lakeland Chamber of Commerce members and community fans to travel to Detroit demonstrating our City’s continuing support of the Tiger organization in Lakeland.

Additionally, organized the 67th Annual Tiger Bar B Que – the community’s official “welcome back” to Spring Training for more than 78 years.

•Partnered with the Championship Committee and The Lakeland Hotel & Motel Association for Lakeland and The Lakeland Center’s FHSAA Championship games during February and March increasing attendance and bringing approximately eight ($8) million dollars or economic impact into our community.

2013 Partnership Accomplishments:

JOIN US IN WELCOMING BACK OUR DETROIT TIGERS TO LAKELAND FOR SPRING TRAINING 2014!

MAX SCHERZER

MIGUEL CABRERA

Cy Young Winner American League

Most Valuable Player American League

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20

JOKER MARCHANT STADIUM • GATES OPEN 6 PM 2301 Lakeland Hills Blvd. • Lakeland, Florida 33805

ADULTS $50 • CHILDREN (12 & under) $25 NON-CHAMBER MEMBERS $60

ENJOY TRADITIONAL SOUTHERN BBQ WITH A 2014 SOUVENIR MUG! NO TAKE OUT ORDERS • NO AUTOGRAPHS

FOR MORE INFORMATION

JUSTIN VERLANDER

68TH ANNUAL TIGER BBQ LAKELAND AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PO BOX 3607 • LAKELAND, FLORIDA 33802 (863) 688-8551, EXT. 224 or 223

MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO THE LAKELAND AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS ONLINE 2014TigerBBQ.LakelandChamber.com

SPONSORED BY

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Responsible for obtaining housing commitments to bring the 2015 National Corvette Restorers Society to Lakeland during January 2015. They outgrew their event at Old Town in Kissimmee and wanted to move to the Sun ‘n Fun grounds - but were not able to solidify the contract due to a lack of room availability. The LCVB was able to obtain the necessary rooms and secure the three-event which will bring 25,000 visitors to Lakeland at the end of January from 2015-2017.

•Partnered with The City of Lakeland and Sun ‘n Fun to increase the visibility of the economic impact and educational opportunities of Sun ‘n Fun for their Annual Spring Convention and their year ‘round activities to our local business community.

•Partnered with The Lakeland Hotel & Motel Association and Sun ‘n Fun to provide charter bus transportation for visitors staying in local hotels and motels during the 2014 Sun ‘n Fun Annual Convention. In addition to providing a tremendous service to our visitors, it helped visitors gain access to shopping and dining in the greater Lakeland area.

•Partnered with the CFVCB and Sun ‘n Fun to assist visitors – keeping them in Lakeland during the Sun ‘n Fun annual convention.

•Partnered with Outpost 27 to promote Downtown Lakeland during the holiday season for shopping, dining and entertainment.

•Partnered with Gene Conrad, Lakeland Linder Regional Airport Director and our own Chamber KSI to assist in bringing commercial and Charter business to Lakeland Linder Regional Airport.

•Partnered with the CFVCB on several Latin American FAMS to bring them into Lakeland showcasing the key visitor points of interest. The Latin American market is a relatively new market for Lakeland and Polk County and has produced hundreds of thousands of dollars in media coverage.

•Obtained accommodation room block commitments for several sporting events held in Lakeland bringing in approximately 4500 visitors with an estimated economic impact of $607,000.

DID YOUKNOW? The Detroit Tigers, Lakeland Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Lakeland invite you to be a member of LAKELAND’S 2014 NORTH WITH THE TIGERS - this year to Kansas City, Missouri, when the Tigers take on the Royals September 19-21! Join the Lakeland Chamber and City fans as they head to Kansas City to support our Tigers in a two (2) game series against the Royals at “the K”- beautiful Kauffman Stadium - one of MLB’s crown jeweled ballparks!

Kauffman Stadium

Lineup packages include:

MAX SCHERZER Cy Young Winner American League

• Luxury Accommodations at the Kansas City Marriott Downtown • Tickets to two MLB Detroit Tigers vs Kansas City Royals games • Opportunity to visit some of Kansas City’s most exciting attractions including the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, American Jazz Museum, Hallmark Visitors Center, Country Club Plaza Art Fair, The College Basketball Experience, Kansas City Speedway - and of course, the famous Kansas City BBQ! FRIDAY EVENING: Pregame reception with terrific seats!

SATURDAY: Enjoy the day in Kansas City with evening game in a deluxe Dugout Suite - ground level right next to our Detroit Tigers! Food and beverages provided.

SUNDAY: Head home after a great weekend in Kansas City!

2013 Lineup Package: A $650 per person* B $475 per person** Arrive Friday and enjoy 2 nights stay in the exciting Kansas City Power and Light entertainment district downtown Kansas City with tickets to two ballgames at Kauffman Stadium.

JUSTIN VERLANDER

MIGUEL CABRERA Most Valuable Player American League

• Visitors to Lakeland bring in new money and contribute significant tax revenues that support essential services yet they only minimally use these services.

• EVERY 85 VISITORS TO FLORIDA EQUALS ONE TOURISM JOB! • Florida’s $60.9 billion tourism industry provides 23% of the State’s sales tax revenues, far more than any other single source industry.

• domestic visitors are worth an average of $134.60 per day.

• Last year Polk County hosted more than 230 sporting events generating more than $150 million in economic impact to our area. The LCVB partners with Polk County to assist with events and local accommodations.

• Lakeland’s Visitor Guide and additional visitor information is distributed at all Lakeland, Polk County and State Visitor Centers. 30% of all visitors who stop at the Florida Welcome Centers do not have complete accommodation reservations or itineraries for their Florida visit.

• Polk County offers more than 6350 hotel and motel rooms. Lakeland alone offers more than 3100 rooms.

For more information on our 2014 NORTH WITH THE TIGERS trip, please contact JACKIE JOHNSON at Jackiej@lakelandchamber.com or call(863) 688-8551 ext. 233. To REGISTER, visit our website at NWT14.LakelandChamber.com!

Reservation deadline is August 8.

MEDIA SCHEDULE

*Single Person Occupancy **Double Person Occupancy

• AAA Going Places Small Business Opportunities • Official Florida Vacation Guide • Sun ‘n Fun Program • NJCAA Live Stream • Visit Florida’s “Worth the Drive” Publication

• Florida Media Events Planner • Detroit Tigers/Lakeland Flying Tiger programs and schedules • Florida Square and Round Dance Programs

JACQUELINE JOHNSON Senior VP of the LCVB

• Member of the Tourist Development Council of the central Florida Visitors and Convention Bureau - (Polk County) • Secretary and Organizer of the Lakeland Hotel & Motel Association • Marketing Committee Chair for the TDC • Member of the Polk County Sports and Special Events Committee • Member of the Polk County All-Sports Awards Committee • Member of the Championship Committee for the Lakeland Convention & Visitors Center working with the FHSAA Wrestling and Girls’ and Boys’ Basketball Championships - including a member of the Host Committee • Liaison for Lakeland to Sun n’ Fun Visitor Information Center • Committee Member for the International Practical Shooting Competition-October, 2014 • Committee Member for Skills USA Competition 2015-2017

JACKIE JOHNSON

(863) 688-8551, Ext. 223 • jackiej@LakelandChamber.com

LAKELAND AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 35 Lake Morton Drive Lakeland, Florida 33801 LakelandChamber.com