The Orlando/Orange County CVB keeps up the pressure to book more medical meetings. The outlook is healthy.

On Sept. 18, 2008, the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau Inc. hosted more than 100 community and business leaders at the inaugural Orlando Medical Meetings & Tourism Summit. It was the first such local forum on ways to market Central Florida as the leading medical meetings destination.

During the summit, a consensus was reached to focus on building a brand platform as well as developing an overall plan to pull in an even greater share of medical meetings.

Good timing.

As the Orlando/Orange County CVB begins to gain momentum on some of the initiatives set forth by the summit a year ago, other factors are stacking up in the destination’s favor. According to a recent study conducted by the Healthcare Convention & Exhibitors Association, Orlando hosted more medical meetings in 2008 than any other domestic destination — 225 meetings, representing 173,000 attendees and providing $111 million in visitor spending. Additionally, while the recent economic downturn has seen a decrease in Orlando meetings by certain segments, like corporate and government, medical groups remain mostly unaffected.

“Medical meetings continue to remain a strong market for Orlando, considering the weakened economy and the stepped-up competition from other destinations,” says Gary Sain, president and CEO of the Orlando CVB. “We’re ramping up our efforts to capture a disproportional share of these meetings while taking advantage of the opportunities we are being afforded due to some of the destination’s new and upcoming medical assets.”

The Orlando CVB has begun to implement some of the initiatives discussed at the summit and provided by subsequent feedback from attendees. It recently deployed two regional convention sales representatives to focus solely on the pharmaceutical and medical meetings market, a first for the organization. Branding collateral has been developed with assistance from the marketing professionals who represent Orlando’s medical community. And several familiarization tours of the destination, known in the travel industry as “FAMs,” have been set up specifically for groups of medical meeting planners.

Additionally, key medical meeting professionals will convene for the Orlando CVB’s inaugural Medical Advisory Board meeting Oct. 22-24. Planners were selected for this two-year commitment to help position Orlando as the ideal destination for the medical meetings. The event will provide them an opportunity to brainstorm with other planners during breakout sessions that will focus on some of the challenges in today’s meeting climate.

“The Medical Advisory Board is a great opportunity to hear from industry professionals on how to make Orlando even more appealing for medical meetings, short and long term,” explains Sain. “Combined with our branding program and directsales plan, we’re certainly on the right path to leverage our assets and hopefully book more meetings.”

Of course, no discussion about medical meetings in Orlando could take place without acknowledging the current medical community, as well as the upcoming research facilities that will be located at Lake Nona. Orlando’s existing network of highly regarded hospitals and clinics, such as Florida Hospital and Orlando Health, has long been a draw for key medical groups. And the more than 150 biotechnology and life science companies that call Orlando home also increase the destination’s appeal to meeting planners.

Nothing, however, has quite prepared the destination for the potential increase of medical meeting bookings more than the opening of the Lake Nona Science and Technology Park, also known as the “medical city.” Located in southeast Orange County, the 600-acre complex will offer education, research and treatment facilities. Tenants will include the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, the University of Central Florida College of Medicine, the University of Florida research facility, the Orlando VA Medical Center, the Nemours Children’s Hospital and Research Campus, and the M.D. Anderson Orlando Cancer Research Institute.

While the medical city’s infrastructure continues to take shape, its mere potential, as well as the destination’s ongoing sales and marketing efforts, suggest an even healthier future for medical meetings in Orlando.

To learn more about Orlando’s 2009 destination branding and marketing programs, visit www.orlandoinfo.com/cvb.