Disney and sunshine have pulled tourists to Florida for decades, making it a popular place to own a holiday let. But, as Richard Way of OverseasGuidesCompany.com discovered during a visit, demand for accommodation is being fuelled by more diverse types of tourism and a growing population
Article written by The Overseas Guides Company
Central Florida’s rental market, both long and short term, is being boosted by the region’s fast-growing working population and the emergence of tourists visiting for sporting, medical and educational purposes.
Historically, holidaymakers have been the mainstay of the rental market in the gated communities – or ‘subdivisions’ – in and around Davenport and Kissimmee, particularly within the ‘Golden Triangle’, an area south of Disney World where short-term rentals are permitted. But local realty firms and tourism agents are highlighting growing demand for vacation homes from other sources.
“Between February and April is an especially busy time for accommodation,” said Mark Jackson, director at Tourism/ Sports at VisitCentralFlorida, which focuses on Polk County. “We get professional baseball teams from around the country basing themselves here for their spring training and it’s also when we host an event for 215 collegiate baseball teams, who come down with their families and all need somewhere to stay. Polk County is a major sporting community, hosting more than 230 sporting events a year, with baseball, softball and football being the most popular.”
Garrett Kenny, CEO at The Feltrim Group, a Central Florida developer and property specialist, said: “Only recently there was a softball team from Michigan staying in Tuscana, the resort we built in ChampionsGate, which is just 20 minutes from Disney. Our newly opened Fountains resort next door and future Balmoral resort in Haines City will have the same appeal for renters, which accounts for the interest we receive from Chinese investors.”
Across in Kissimmee, medical and educational tourism are becoming an increasingly important source of local income. “It’s not just foreign patients coming here to get treatment from world-leaders in certain fields of medicine, but it’s also the groups of international doctors and students that come here for conferences and to liaise with those specialists,” said Maria Grulich, international development director at ExperienceKissimmee, who helps forge relationships between foreign companies or organisations in Kissimmee. “Education tourism includes foreign students coming here to learn English – Kissimmee is a very popular place to come. Proof is the new village for English language students opening at the Poinciana campus of Valencia College. In Kissimmee, more than seven million people, both international and domestic, stay overnight each year.”
Meanwhile, evidence of Orlando’s growing status as both an economic and tourist hub include major infrastructure projects. “The $1.5billion construction work at Orlando airport is for the new international terminal,” added Mr Kenny at The Feltrim Group. “It will help to serve the growing number of visitors into Orlando, both domestically and internationally and subsequent need for flights. It’s a good sign that Emirates is launching the first Dubai-Orlando flight in September, which I’ll be on as part of a delegation.”
According to local reports, metropolitan Orlando’s population grew 2.2 per cent in 2014 and now stands at 2.3 million, while Florida has been forecast to become the third most populated US State by 2016.
To keep up with this, major road and rail upgrades that are planned or underway include ongoing expansion of the Interstate 4 and a new light railway, the Sunrail, linking Poinciana in Polk County with Orlando, making the area an attractive residential area with good transport links.
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