Fort Lauderdale Pins Its Success on Travel Agents

What sets Fort Lauderdale apart from the myriad other Florida beach destinations? The main difference is its family-friendly orientation, according to Fernando Harb, vice president of tourism sales for the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau.

In addition to a wide variety of attractions for families, greater Fort Lauderdale holds special appeal for the LGBT and African-American communities and cruise clients, giving agents a host of opportunities to sell the destination.

Travel Market Report talked to Fernando Harb, vice president of tourism sales for the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, about what agents need to know and how they can sell the destination.

What sets Fort Lauderdale apart from other Florida destinations?
Harb: The number one difference from destinations like Miami is we’re more family-oriented. All of our restaurants have a kid’s menu. We have playgrounds on the beach, so kids can play while the parents are sunning.

We have the Museum of Science and Discovery where kids can do things like sit in a flight simulator and fly a plane. Most of our water activities, like the water taxi, are family friendly. There is so much more to do as a family. If you want to party, go to South Beach [in Miami].

How important are travel agents to Fort Lauderdale?
Harb: We’re seeing more travel agent bookings than in recent years. The reason is the cruise industry. Because we are one of the major cruise ports in the U.S., travel agents are vital to our industry.

We are so close to Miami that people think we’re a suburb, but they can save themselves a ton of money by staying in Fort Lauderdale. We need travel agents to communicate that to their clients.

How do you work with travel agents?
Harb: We spend 70% of our time on travel agent education and training and being a source of information for them, because they can communicate with the rest of the world. Between sales missions and trade shows, we do about 20 travel agent trainings and seminars per year.

How do you think agents respond to your destination?
Harb: With surprise. They don’t realize how easy it is here, how beautiful the beaches are. There’s that mentality that we’re still the old 1950s mom and pop motels. There’s so much to do here in our county. In 15 minutes you can get to the Everglades and the Indian villages. Once they see it, everybody’s on board.

What do agents find surprising?
Harb:  More than anything, the biggest surprise is the beauty of the canals that are intertwined through the area. We are the Venice of America. We have over 300 miles of navigable canals in our county. The water taxi is hop-on hop-off, goes up and down the canals and is a great thing to do.

Also, you can find affordable hotels on the beach. That’s something you don’t find in other beach destinations. We have some great properties that are mid-level, affordable and right on the beach. In addition, we’re relatively small in size, so everything’s easy to get to.

Where do most of your visitors come from?
Harb: Traditionally the tri-state area – New York, New Jersey, Connecticut – followed by the Chicago area and any of the cold-weather states.

How important is the LGBT market?
Harb: We’re in the top five destinations in the U.S. for LGBT visitors. They’re travelers with high disposable income. We hosted the ILGTA a couple of years ago and have a city [in Greater Fort Lauderdale], Wilton Manors, that’s been designated a gay city.

How about the African-American market?
Harb: We have a vice president of multicultural business development whose job is to attract more African-American meetings, family reunions and sporting events. The department was established to promote our destination as an African-American destination.