Tour operator fears that a greater focus on the conference sector would result in a shortage of beds for the central Orlando leisure industry have been cushioned by more planned bed capacity.
Orlando World Centre Marriott completes its expansion later this year with another 500 rooms and an extra 15,000sq ft of exhibition space. The chain is also opening a six-storey Courtyard property offering 200 rooms, while Walt Disney World now has its latest hotel, the 1,920-room All-Star Resort, in operation.
In 2000, further capacity is provided by the opening of The Grand Bohemian, a 250-suite downtown hotel designed as an early 20th century Austrian property.
This is in addition to the 650-room Loews Hard Rock Hotel at Universal Studios Escape, and the expansion of the Peabody Orlando to 1,600 guest rooms and 125,000sq ft of meeting space. Another newcomer in 2000 aimed at the conference sector will be the Westin Orlando, a 1,200-room convention hotel near the Pointe Orlando shopping and entertainment complex.
Another 3,700 rooms are already planned for the following year, with the opening of the 1,000-room Loews South Seas themed property, Disney’s 1,300-room Animal Kingdom Lodge, and the 1,400-room Opryland Hotel-Florida hotel and convention centre, located near the Walt Disney World main gate.