Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon
You come and go, you come and go.. But please keep it coming.
The group Visit Lauderdale works with organizations across the country to bring conventions to Broward County. The group’s president and CEO, Stacy Ritter, said there is a clear pattern when it comes to recent cancellations.
Broward County has lost more than a half-dozen conventions as their organizers cite the divisive political climate as their reason to stay out of Florida. The list was compiled by Visit Lauderdale, formerly known as the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Broward’s tourism arm said the lost conventions could have brought hotel stays to Fort Lauderdale and its surrounding cities, which also meant money spent on restaurants and attractions.
“We lost this program due to political climate,” according to a Visit Lauderdale spreadsheet listing the decision of the Supreme Council of America Inc., Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite Masons to cancel their convention — and 855 rooms — in August 2024.
The South Florida Sun
According to @alltherooms, the Orlando DMA for Air BnB is down 35% from May 2022 to May 2023. Per @VisitOrlando: rentals in Orange County, occupancy year-to-date so far 60.9%, down 10% from 2022. The average daily rate through May 2023 is $175, a 7% increase from 2022.
In other Florida news: Health officials have confirmed two new cases of malaria have been contracted in Southwest Florida as a statewide health advisory for the mosquito-borne illness remains in effect. Health officials confirmed finding three mosquitoes carrying the parasite in Sarasota County in early June.
Per the CDC, these malaria cases are the first “locally acquired” cases reported in the US since 2003.
And finally the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and its Division of Plant Industry announced that a quarantine and treatment area has been established in specific areas of Broward County in response to previously detected giant African land snails. The snails also pose a serious health risk to humans by carrying parasite rat lungworm, known to cause meningitis in humans.
Please avoid Florida.
