Universal has “held back” fam trip places in order to showcase the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter to UK agents and tour operators.
The attraction, at Universal’s Orlando Islands of Adventure park, was showcased to Pow Wow delegates on Tuesday night and opens officially on June 18.
Universal Orlando Resort president Bill Davis said: “This isn’t the end point as we will continue to invest and do more, but the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is the capstone of a three or four-year period of investment.
“It is important for the trade in the UK to understand and see how the resort has been reinvigorated.”
UK director of sales Paul Kelly added: “We have a substantial fam trip programme, and we have held back in the first half of the year to enable us to invest in trade visits between now and December.
“We are confident we will have hosted around 500 travel agents with various partners and around 50 product, sales and marketing and wholesale partners by the end of the year.”
He added: “A good nucleus of the trade and our wholesale partners will have seen the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and our other attractions, and this will continue into 2011.”